Hollywood has a history of making us squirm, and doing it well. Movies like “The Omen” and “The Bad Seed” work particularly well on parents, playing on our insecurities and bringing to light all of our sometimes unspoken fears.
What is more innocent than a child? They bear a similar status in our minds as our pets do — they are unaccountable for their actions, and therefore blameless. So when terrible things begin to happen in the aforementioned movies, the parents can only blame themselves. The alternative is just too horrible to contemplate seriously. Yet, in the new movie “The Orphan”, starring Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga, a couple decides to adopt an older child, never realizing that there’s something different about her. Different … and deadly.
Now, after watching the trailer, I’d made up my mind not to go anywhere near this movie. I’m a fan of both Sarsgaard and Farmiga, and I have no doubt the performances all around are great — especially that of the titular Orphan herself, Isabelle Fuhrman — but there are some things I just don’t want in my psyche. I have no trouble with horror movies that feature violent action, as long as only adults are involved. But when children are put in jeopardy, a switch gets thrown inside me somewhere, and I can no longer regard what I’m seeing as entertainment.
See, as a father, I want desperately to protect my son from all manner of harm, no matter what the source. Yet, I know intellectually that to develop a healthy caution, he’ll have to put himself into slightly risky situations. No one’s ever mastered riding a bicycle without falling down a bit, or learned to climb by staying on the ground. I never want him to break a bone, but it’s statistically likely that he will at some point in his normal play. I have to be okay with that.
But the idea of bringing a dangerous force home, where it has access to my loved ones, simply fills me with dread. I can’t enjoy feeling helpless, even if it’s by proxy. So, a warning to all parents out there: make sure you’re ready for the nasty knocks you’re going to receive when watching “The Orphan”, and be prepared to go home afterward and hug the stuffing out of your kids.
