Movies of Possible Interest to RAD Parents
(Reviewed and Sent to Us by RAD Parents)
Problem Child- stars John Ritter
Although this movie is supposed to be comical, this adopted kid is RAD for sure.
When he first comes home he catches his bedroom on fire on purpose, he sabotages
the neighbor girl's birthday party because she was mean to him, and his idol is a
murderer in prison that he penpals with. It even has a sequel or two.
Girlhood
A powerful documentary film that tells the story of two teenagers, Shanae and Megan, and their dramatic journeys through the juvenile justice system and back out on to the bleak streets of East Baltimore, Maryland. With unprecedented access to the system and to the complex interior lives of the protagonists, the film provides shocking insight into the world of young women struggling just to survive teenhood.
In my view, at least one of these young ladies is very RAD like. I believe she never knew her father and her mother was a drug addict. Megan was often times in the care of her grandmother who had unresolved issues from being abandoned. The history of attachment issues chain from the grandmother... to the mother... and down to Megan who ends up in 11 or 12 different foster homes as well as a juvenile detention center. I found it to be a very touching documentary, although it does contain some scenes of vulgar language.
Losing Isaiah
For those of you who are trying to educate your child about what can happen to babies when a mommy is abusing drugs... I highly recommend using this as a teaching tool for your kids. I would view it alone first so that you are ready to answer the questions... and explain... as things come up. My child watched this one at age 10... and I think it really helped him to understand WHY he couldn't continue to live with a mommy who abused drugs. I liked this movie because both my son and I were able to feel the bio-mothers
pain, and we both sincerely felt sorry for her for what she had done; and how that had affected her life... as well as Isaiah's.
If you haven't seen this one... you really should.
Good Will Hunting
Good Will Hunting is the story of a young man and his struggle with both himself and personal relationships, trying to work through his problems so that he can open up to others, and begin putting his immeasurable intellectual potential to work.
Flicka
This young woman finds a RAD HORSE (or actually it's a wild mustang who behaves very much like our children do) and named her FLICKA. This young woman goes against her father's wishes for her to stay away from this horse, and sneaks out in the night to attempt to earn Flicka's trust. Despite getting hurt time and time again... this young woman refused to give up on FLICKA.
Honestly, I almost felt as if I was that young woman (with a little more grey hair)... and my son was that beautiful wild horse that just needed to be broken. Sure enough, FLICKA was definitely a RAD TYPE STORY. I don't want to ruin the movie for those of you who have not seen it yet, but... there was a line in the movie when this young woman told her father something as he turned to walk away from her. Oh my... I really FELT her words. I mean, I REALLY FELT them. : ( This movie is a MUST SEE for parents and children.
An Officer and A Gentleman
"An Officer and a Gentleman" is an older movie, but it has been one of my favorite movies for a very long time; even BEFORE I ever knew about Reactive Attachment Disorder. In my opinion, this is an awesome film with a great performance by Richard Gere, who plays the character of Zack Mayo. Zack Mayo was a very troubled young man who joined the Navy after being raised by an abusive and neglectful military father. Louis Gossett Jr., who played the foul mouthed, domineering character of Sergeant Foley; used some pretty intrusive techniques to break Zack down and to increase his vulnerability. In the end, Zack learned to respect this GIFT that Sergeant Fowly was giving to him, which eventually helped him take hold of his destiny, and helped him to become the man that he really wanted to be. I believe this to be a "Parent's Only" movie, due to the sexual nature of this film, and also because there was a suicide scene in this movie that I definitely would never want my child to view, for obvious reasons.
Taming Andrew
In this heartfelt drama, Seth Adkins played the role of five-year old Andrew, who was abducted by his father on a weekend visit. Andrew was held captive for five years before he was returned to his mother, Gail. Once I could make myself see beyond the annoying whiny voice of Park Overall, who played the character of Gail; I really began to like the message that this particular movie had to offer.
In the beginning, this movie portrayed a fairly normal five-year old boy, but after spending five years with an abusive and neglectful father; Andrew returned home as a very troubled young boy who was unable to express himself emotionally or socially. His mother soon realized that in order to help her son and prevent him from living out the remainder of his childhood in a residential treatment facility (which was being recommended to her), she would have to quit her job and devote all of her time and energy to finding a way to reach Andrew… and attempt to reconnect with him.
The Miracle Worker
The Miracle Worker is the true story of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan. It is a very old movie in black and white and can be very difficult to find. In this movie, Patty Duke, who plays the role of Helen; is stricken with scarlet fever which leaves her blind, deaf, and unable to speak. Helen’s parents kept her away from the rest of the world and avoided disciplining her, even when she would fly into uncontrollable rages and tantrums.
Annie Sullivan (played by Anne Bacroft) came to the aide of this family and took control of Helen in some very intrusive ways. I have to admit that I should have previewed this one again before sitting down to watch it with my son, because I had to do a lot of explaining when Annie slapped Helen across the face. Although I do not believe in the use of violence to get through to an emotionally disturbed child, and this movie certainly doesn’t even begin to show what we are doing here in our home with the holding and attachment piece; it does do a good job of showing a parent how emotionally out-of-control a child can become if we never set firm limits and guidelines on them. So, please do NOT watch this movie with your child unless you are prepared to sit down and explain to them that Annie Sullivan was doing a good thing… but she was wrong to use physical violence to get the child’s attention. Attachment therapy and Holding a child to keep them and everyone around them safe has nothing to do with using physical violence, and has everything to do with gently keeping a child safe until they are able to calm down and make wise decisions on their own. With all this said, you can decide if this is a movie that is right for your child to view.
The Antwone Fisher Story
Our son’s Attachment Therapist actually recommended that I rent this movie and watch it with my son. I will admit that there were a few scenes in this movie that I was NOT prepared for, so I would suggest that a parent always preview this movie and consider fast-forwarding through the scene where the young man is shot attempting to rob a store. Other than that, I really feel that this movie helped to uncover some hidden memories of sexual abuse and really helped open up the lines of communication between my son and I.
Derek Luke, who played the role of Antwone Fisher; a young Navy sailor was about to get booted from the military due to a horrible temper, and was ordered to mandatory psychiatric sessions. It was then that the horrible abuse from a past foster home experience was uncovered. As it turns out, Antwone had been physically abused by a very mean and domineering foster mother, and had also been sexually violated by a teenage foster sister. As therapy sessions continued, Antwone and his psychiatrist, Dr. Jerome Davenport (played by Denzel Washington) began to form a trusting father-son type of relationship and Antwone eventually found the strength to work through his anger. He also found the courage to developing a personal relationship with a young woman that he was interested in.
I will admit that this movie triggered some severe emotional responses from my son as he became aware of the sexual abuse between Antwone and his foster sister. I will also be honest in saying that it sort of threw us into a bit of a spiral for several weeks. Yet, I am a firm believer that in order to help these children get well… we must be willing to address some of this hard stuff with them, and somehow try to help them sort through it; with the help of a really good Attachment Therapist. So, do not let our own personal experience with this movie scare you away from viewing it. I found this to be a wonderful movie, and a really good tool in helping my son address some very traumatic past sexual abuse issues, and I think that it may be able to help you too. PLEASE view this movie privately though, and then talk to your child’s Attachment Therapist to get their opinion as to whether or not they feel that your child is at a point in therapy where he might benefit from viewing it with you.
