God Grew Tired of Us

[MyLittleWonders]

Has anyone seen this? Dh and I rented it and watched last night. What a powerful (and sad and thought provoking) movie. The "boys" were captivating ... I cannot even begin to imagine (or want to imagine) what they have been through in their lifetimes. What got me though was when one of the boys that had been relocated to Pittsburgh went missing. When he was found a few days later, he was despondent and ended up arrested and then admitted to a psychiatric ward. Why weren't these boys receiving more counseling, therapy, and general help? At least from the movie, they were given 3 months of assistnance, what looked to be no real training of any sort, and then told they better be able to support themselves, pay back their travel expenses, and deal with life in a society/culture so unbelievably different from *anything* that had ever known. Didn't anyone think that maybe they'd need a bit extra support? Maybe a little bit more hand-holding in a sense to help their transition?

So many thoughts I have ... I don't know if I could begin to get them all down ...

[orangebird]

I saw that. great movie! I don't know where to begin either, lots of interesting things were brought to my mind when watching it.

[granolalight]

I loved this movie too. I watched it with 7 yo dd. Yes, so many thoughts and feelings came up for me too. I loved it when one of the boys opened a bag of potato chips (when they were getting an orientation into their apartment) and said, "It is ready to eat?"

I guess what struck me is that they lived in such extreme poverty with absolutely NO luxuries AT ALL. Folks who live like that probably fantasize about America and all the opportunities and adventures that await. But, when you look at it through the lens of this filmmaker's camera, America (to me) looks like it is filled with junk, isolated people and living conditions, absence of rituals and community, nothing sacred, junk food, red tape, beaurocracy, etc. Although I would never want to live in the conditions the boys came from, I often long for a simpler, lovlier place to live and raise my children.