Changeling-換子疑雲

Cheesehead and I watched the movie on Thanksgiving night.  Cheesehead claimed before we watch it that it's MY movie, MY kind of drama.  It got me thinking- maybe I will like it AND it's not a SciFi.

 

Turns out-- I did like the movie. 
                                                                                                             

 

 The movie is about a single mother, Christine Collins, found her son, Walter Collins, missing after she got back from work one day.  It took the police about 5 month to locate the kid in a village somewhere in Illinois and to bring him back to LA.   The overjoyed Chrsitine only to find that the kid that was returned to her was not her actual child.  To cover their rear, the LAPD insisted that it was a mistake that Christine made that she was not able to recognize her own son-- even though the kid is 4 inches shorter than Walter before he was missing.  Christine, in efforts of getting the LAPD to keep searching for her missing child, got into trouble with the police department and was committed into a mental hospital by the police captain, to keep her mouth shut and not to endanger the already-ruined reputation of the LAPD.

 

Angelina Jolie starred the single mother Christine.  Most of her movies seem to do everything they can to hightlight her sexy lips and hot body.  In this movie, they actually did something nice for a change-- it made her looking fragile, but very strong and persistant inside.  It was not so much about her lips and body.

 

The movie also reminded me of what I learned from American media of similar things that happened in China.  In order to quiet some protesters against the government,  the government put these peole in mental hospitals and torture them with electric shocks.  After they are released from the hospital, other people tend not to believe what they say because their words do not have as much credibility if they are or once are mental patients (in another word, they are CRAZY).  So that was the strategy the government used to make the country seem peaceful-- cruel but effective.  During Olympics, they put the people who are highly likely to protest in mental hopitals to reduce the chances of riots.  So here I want to say to the American media-- when criticizing China being not democratic and no human rights, remember similar things have happened in the US.

 

One thing that's worth mentioning is that the movie is a true story that happened in the 1920s, the same time when US was under prohibition.  By making it illegal to drink, the byproduct is a more corrupted government and less orderly society.  When people are trying all kinds of ways to get alcohol, it encouraged bribe and hence corrupted government and police department.  They are there not to serve its people, but only to make themselves look good.  They don't care if some kid is out there in danger, but only to care that they "solved" aonther case and to let the rest of the world know about it-- even if it's a lie.