Tuesday, March 25, 2008

The Whos are What?!

Warning -- this could be quite triggering to those who are adopted, those who have placed a child, those who parent an adopted child and do not believe that that child was unwanted by her first parents or hope for that child to become the image of the adoptive parents, and people who read. I hesitate to share it but it's one of those things that is so bizarre that if someone else doesn't say she's seen it, I will feel like it never happened.

7 comments:

Julie said...

I wondered at one time if the story was an allagory about abortion and looked into it. The thing is, however well it fits, Geisel did not intend the story to be used for or against abortion at all and, in fact, threatened to sue pro-life agencies for the use of his images and story to that end.

Not that it can't be interpreted or spun, but it's not intended to be a loaded political debate.

And that site was just...odd.

Erin said...

ummm what?

Okay. I'm pro life. I'm a Christian. Heck I even believe that God still speaks to us through prophets and dreams.

But, I'm not so sure that God is trying to change the world through Horton Hears a Who.

And suggesting adoption as a solution to abortion is insulting to adoptees, natural parents, and adoptive parents. The two are hardly related!

*sigh*

Christians annoy the snot out of me.

abebech said...

I could understand an allegorical reading, but yeah . . .
Thanks for being annoyed too.

littlebluecottage said...

That site was creepy, for sure.

Also, it disturbs me that people are teaching their ten year-olds about abortions to the point that that ten year-old is jumping to a brainwashed, I mean political conclusion.

Blech..

Julie said...

I hadn't finished reading to the bottom of the site when I posted my first comment but did later and wanted to add...

The connection to adoption ...yeesh, that's a sensitive subject! Our 2.5 year old adores reading Horton and Seuss in general (we will NOT be seeing the movie) and right now she loves "Horton Hatches an Egg" and we read it almost every night. But every night I cringe through the part where the egg hatches and looks like and elephant and the book proclaims the bird lazy and undeserving of her child and that Horton's diligent care earned him a child that looked like him. We're waiting for our son's adoption to be finalized so we can bring him into our family and I can't imagine reading him that and not having him ask about his birth mother and subconciously taking away some sort of message that she was lazy or undeserving of being his parent. I think that particular book may have to go missing from our bookshelf soon. I thought maybe it was just me, but obviously it's not.

abebech said...

Not you. And also (and obviously) Are You My Mother? has gone missing, as an anxiety provoking book.

erin said...

yikes! I was thinking of having Horton Hatches go missing for a while, too.

Have you read "Goose" by Molly Bang? I was going to review it on my blog -- My kids are entranced by it. A goose is raised by hedgehogs and feels sad and different, but doesn't know why. When she accidentally discovers she can fly, she finds out what's been missing all along. And she goes back to her adoptive family and shares her newfound skill.