As most of you have noticed, I don’t write about my personal experience with adoption much here. There is a reason for that. I don’t know what my personal experience with adoption really is.
I know what I experienced, but I don’t know why it happened. I’ve never assumed that I know others motivations. Without knowing why people did things, I don’t feel like I can give an accurate account of my own experience.
I’ve heard the stories surrounding my adoption. They don’t make sense to me. I know the players, the time line, the basic events. I just don’t know their motivations. It’s like a movie without direction. There is a story, but there is nothing to make me care about the characters. It comes off as one dimensional.
There would be no Academy Award nominations for anyone involved in my adoption biopic. The actors all seem to be totally without conviction. They speak of desires, regrets, and deep feelings, but come off cold. It’s as if they are only reciting.
Maybe they had told to the story too many times before I could ask. Maybe it was over rehearsed.
It is hard to pull off a piece where the title character doesn’t speak. It leaves the other characters to struggle for relevance. It is easy for the actor to forget that it really is about them, not the title character. They forget that it’s all about their reaction to the situation. The title character is only a catalyst. They approach the role not realizing that it’s an ensemble piece. It makes for a poor performance.
Whatever the reason, I am unmoved.
If I had known, I would have never taken the role.