THE LOST CHILD

Disclaimer: I guess I can't judge movies without thinking about their context and what they mean to me. The more context I have for a movie, the more likely I am to have a great deal to say about it. My reactions are personal and idiosyncratic. I do not rate movies here. Ratings are for Netflix. This is my place to discuss the impact of a movie on me.

THE LOST CHILD

This Hallmark Hall of Fame movie is based on a book called Looking For Lost Bird by Yvette Malenson. Looking For Lost Bird is a non-fiction memoir about Malenson's kidnapping from the Navajo reservation as an infant with her twin brother so that they could be sold to couples without children. The movie is a fictionalized account containing fictional characters. I read Malenson's book a number of years ago, and my reaction to it colored my view of the movie. A review on Netflix rightly pointed out that The Lost Child is a sanitized version. Yes, of course. It's a Hallmark movie. Yet even in this movie, we see that the adoptive mother knew that the child she called Rebecca had a mother and had written down the mother's name. Since this wasn't an official adoption, she had to know that there was something wrong with it. When I was reading Looking For Lost Bird, an adopted woman told me that she thought it was wrong to look for her birth parents. Her adoptive parents who brought her up and loved her are her real parents, she said. I would never dismiss the value of adoptive parents, but this child was stolen from her family, not voluntarily given up. I was outraged when I read about Yvette Melanson. One reason why I was particularly outraged is because the family that adopted her was Jewish. If anyone should understand that an ethnic minority needs its children to survive, it's the Jews. I am of Jewish heritage myself and I am familiar with Jewish history. Jewish children were stolen from their families and forcibly converted in Portugal after these families had been expelled from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella. Jews should not be instrumental in a Navajo child losing her heritage. That is truly vile.

Rebecca's quick acceptance by her Navajo relatives in the movie is admittedly unrealistic, but I found it moving because of some strong performances by Native American actors some of whom are favorites of mine from other movies. I found this movie on Netflix by doing a search for Irene Bedard who played Rebecca's sister, Grace. Tantoo Cardinal as Rebecca's aunt was also wonderful, and so was Michael Greyeyes as Rebecca's father, a Navajo holy man. I saw a review of this movie that objected that these actors aren't Navajo. I feel it's important that Hallmark Hall of Fame cast some of the best Native American performers working in the acting profession.

Michael Greyeyes' character Yazee had a relationship with Rebecca's husband Jack that evolved over time. It was realistic that Yazee had problems accepting Jack as a son in law. It was also realistic that Jack had problems accepting the idea that his wife is Navajo and that the reservation might be the best place for their family. His background with ranches allowed Jack to find a connection with the land. I thought Jack's moment of realization shared with Yazee that the reservation really is a special place was a great scene.

Another point that I saw in a Netflix review that I wanted to respond to is that the reviewer thought Rebecca gave up on finding her brother. I didn't have that impression. In fact, Rebecca said that she was putting off her Kinaalda, the Navajo women's rite, until she could find her brother. It would have been nice if the movie could have included Rebecca's reunification with her brother, but there is only so much that a two hour TV movie can do. The Lost Child chose to focus on the integration of Rebecca, her husband and daughters into reservation life. I thought this was a valid focus that worked for the movie.

The challenge by Rebecca to the reservation school's neglect of ongoing sexual harassment of girls may seem like she is imposing her values to some viewers. Me, I think, that standing up to sexual harassment is a good value for the Navajos to adopt, and actually not all that mainstream. I've seen a mainstream trend to view any feminist concerns as PC, and therefore retro. A culture like the Navajo where women own the land, should assert the value of women and girls by refusing to accept sexual harassment in their school. I liked the connection that Yazee made between Rebecca's struggle against sexual harassment and Rebecca's mother's courageous ride to gather up the family's herd in a bad storm. Yazee was helping to integrate Rebecca and Rebecca's perspective into family history. In this way, what Rebecca did became a Navajo thing to do because she was behaving like her mother.

I felt that The Lost Child addressed a number of issues that I find significant in a way that really got to me. I cried while watching The Lost Child. This is definitely among the most memorable movies of 2006 for me.