***SPOILERS****
So mister goes back home with his mom and to school and that's that? What about Pete? That kids probably getting his ass kicked on a regular basis. I wish they would've at least shown Pete getting out of the group home and being adopted by mister's mom or at least a loving family.
I felt the same way. I wish he would have at least been placed in a loving foster home. Too bad there wasn't proper supervision in the Youth Home.
shareI agree. Maybe they could show Pete being adopted by Mister's mother and then maybe them writing their story together.
That's way too much of a generic Hollywood ending. The way they ended it was much more realistic.
I think they were seeking to make it authentic instead of having a fairy-tale ending. In reality, most kids in those situations don't have a happy ending. That's what makes this movie so great, it's an eye opener for the unfortunate lifestyle for many Americans.
shareI think they were seeking to make it authentic instead of having a fairy-tale ending. In reality, most kids in those situations don't have a happy ending. That's what makes this movie so great, it's an eye opener for the unfortunate lifestyle for many Americans.
In some ways, I agree with you about it sometimes being better not to call the authorities ... I'm not sure most foster homes are a better alternative ... why did they ever get rid of orphanages? at least the children were probably safer there .. and this film shows children can survive to a degree on their own. It would be tough, but I believe there are millions of children who do it every day in third world countries.
I actually was a little disappointed in the ending, though, precisely because I didn't really feel it was all that realistic. Mom cleaning up her act and kicking drugs in two to four months or however long it was seemed a bit of a fairy tale to me. Of course, movies have to do things sort of in short-hand. What might more often happen is Mom tries to straighten out several times before finally figuring things out, although by that time, kid is in foster care and she has the devil's own time getting him out; or she's dead, if she can't get away from her addiction; or any variation in between. In the movie, though, Mom was much affected by her son's view of her so I hope that is a powerful incentive in real life.
I have good friends and close family members who teach in public schools and work with foster care kids, and they say the same thing, "why did they ever do away with orphanages?" The sad truth is because children in institutional care were rarely ever treated individually. And abuse and bad living conditions in these places occurred, and was horrible.
I'm not saying this is a good forum to talk about the way to fix our broken foster care system. But individual families in foster care do occasionally do it for the money, and the children they receive are often the worse for it. That is not all of them.
I just wanted to comment because I rarely hear someone echo what I've heard so often,
why did they ever get rid of orphanages? at least the children were probably safer there...share
Hmmm ... well, I'm glad to hear that many foster homes are good; I guess there have to be bad apples in everything including, as you say, orphanages. I think many were run by nuns who could be pretty tyrannical, for one thing.
I once read an absolutely heart-rending book, apparently a true story, about a boy who was left at an orphanage by his mother who promised to return but apparently never did. I tried to find it with a few search terms and ran into something called They Cage the Animals at Night, published in 1984, which may be it, but I'm not sure because a review says the children's stuffed animals were taken away and locked up at night. That is the opposite of what I remember, in that I thought I remembered that the animals were locked up during the day and given out at night and that the children absolutely clung to them all night long. So I'm not sure it's the same book. Here's the Goodreads link about They Cage the Animals at Night: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19412.They_Cage_the_Animals_at_Night. Apparently the author passed away in 2013. I'd have to read this to see if it's the same book, but, anyway, apparently this author spent a lot of time in foster homes, too. Perhaps you know of the book. Or just FYI.
why did they ever get rid of orphanages?
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Well, don’t ask for two miracles even on a film.
A drug addict recovered, a boy writing an essay, a lovely reencounter that's enough.
That's a pink end, however marvelous acting from the kids.
I too was hoping Mister's mum would take Pete but that would be a happy ending story which this isn't. Truth is child protective services tries to keep abused children with their family first, they don't want to break up the family, and if that is a problem then they try to get the children to stay with family members.
I knew of three children in NJ whose mother was a drug addict and they eventually ended up staying with their grandparents legally.
It should've ended with Mister refusing to go with his mom.
share