Post by BungalowDweller on Aug 26, 2005 7:53:53 GMT -5
I loved the scene where Eunha went back to the orphanage and she was having a last meal with all of the children, the caregivers, clergy and Andrea. When they were all sitting around the table eating and laughing, they were all a family.
This is a good picture of what much of orphanage life is like. And was like here in the States 30-40 years ago. Kids supporting one another. The mixed ages. Frankly, I was dismayed with the abolition of most orphanages here in the States. The advent of the foster care system has been a disaster for orphans--they go from "placement" to placement, never knowing the stability, albeit loneliness/sterility of an institutional setting. Once 18, they are "cycled out", read thrown out of the system with no money, family, friends, place, PAST! It is horrible and inhumane.
Foster care was created to alleviate child abuse that occured in some orphanages but I believe that this current system has far exceeded the abusiveness found in the orphanages. In the orphanage setting, kids grew up Together. They depended upon one another and if the institution was good, like the one in LL, they had good caregivers. If it was lousy, they banded together and faced the abuse together, giving one another emotional support. Once they grew too old for the orphanage, they typically lived like Andrea and Eunha did at the beginning of the program--renting together and taking care of one another in a brotherly-sisterly way.
Notice how both Eunha and Andrea have come back again and again to the orphanage. It was an anchor for them--that's one reason why Andrea is going thru this agony of being a priest. It represents stability and surity--so much for the stereotype of the orphanage as a snakepit, inhabited by child molesters. To this day, many orphans who grew up in Roman Catholic orphanages that have since closed hold yearly reunions that are heavily attended. It may have been an orphanage, but it was also a Home!
I find it interesting how the institution paid for Eunha's and Andrea's educations--what do modern orphans have in the States today?
In the past 20 years there have been outstanding longitudinal research conducted on the subject of orphans. Institutionalized orphans like Eunha and Andrea have typically turned out successful; they are over-achievers who tend to achieve financial success. They marry once and stay married--divorce among institutionalized orphans is rare. They are highly successful as parents and seem to have little residual baggage.
This is in sharp contrast to the plight of American orphans today. They remain marginalized, at the fringes of American culture--many with mental problems and drug addictions or in and out of jail because they can't function in society. Also, may of the kids in the system are not true orphans, but rather throw-aways. An orphan is clinically defined as any child who loses one or both parents through death. Both types-- orphans/throw-aways have significant problems but they are different ones.
I was what is called a full-orphan--losing both parents in childhood--so I feel qualified to rant about this topic. As you can see, the Love Letter setting has deep meaning for me. This is why I love this series so much. Any orphan can intimately understand the inner lives of Andrea and Eunha--they are real and represent many of us!
This is a good picture of what much of orphanage life is like. And was like here in the States 30-40 years ago. Kids supporting one another. The mixed ages. Frankly, I was dismayed with the abolition of most orphanages here in the States. The advent of the foster care system has been a disaster for orphans--they go from "placement" to placement, never knowing the stability, albeit loneliness/sterility of an institutional setting. Once 18, they are "cycled out", read thrown out of the system with no money, family, friends, place, PAST! It is horrible and inhumane.
Foster care was created to alleviate child abuse that occured in some orphanages but I believe that this current system has far exceeded the abusiveness found in the orphanages. In the orphanage setting, kids grew up Together. They depended upon one another and if the institution was good, like the one in LL, they had good caregivers. If it was lousy, they banded together and faced the abuse together, giving one another emotional support. Once they grew too old for the orphanage, they typically lived like Andrea and Eunha did at the beginning of the program--renting together and taking care of one another in a brotherly-sisterly way.
Notice how both Eunha and Andrea have come back again and again to the orphanage. It was an anchor for them--that's one reason why Andrea is going thru this agony of being a priest. It represents stability and surity--so much for the stereotype of the orphanage as a snakepit, inhabited by child molesters. To this day, many orphans who grew up in Roman Catholic orphanages that have since closed hold yearly reunions that are heavily attended. It may have been an orphanage, but it was also a Home!
I find it interesting how the institution paid for Eunha's and Andrea's educations--what do modern orphans have in the States today?
In the past 20 years there have been outstanding longitudinal research conducted on the subject of orphans. Institutionalized orphans like Eunha and Andrea have typically turned out successful; they are over-achievers who tend to achieve financial success. They marry once and stay married--divorce among institutionalized orphans is rare. They are highly successful as parents and seem to have little residual baggage.
This is in sharp contrast to the plight of American orphans today. They remain marginalized, at the fringes of American culture--many with mental problems and drug addictions or in and out of jail because they can't function in society. Also, may of the kids in the system are not true orphans, but rather throw-aways. An orphan is clinically defined as any child who loses one or both parents through death. Both types-- orphans/throw-aways have significant problems but they are different ones.
I was what is called a full-orphan--losing both parents in childhood--so I feel qualified to rant about this topic. As you can see, the Love Letter setting has deep meaning for me. This is why I love this series so much. Any orphan can intimately understand the inner lives of Andrea and Eunha--they are real and represent many of us!