So, those of you who read my blog (and sorry for all the non-ColdFusion entries today, if it bugs you, use the category filters :) know that my wife and I are the proud parents of three adopted children from South Korea. Therefore, every now and then I'll post an adoption-related entry. My wife and I have a subscription to a nice little magazine called Adoptive Families. The magazine is decent enough, if a bit light on content at times.

One of their most interesting sections, though, is their Thumbs Up and Down article. Each month they highlight various adoption-related news bites, or quotes, and give either a thumbs up or down to it. So for example - they give a thumbs up to Nia Gill, a senator from New Jersey who is sponsoring a bill to recognize adoptions finalized in foreign countries. (What folks don't realize is that in some states - you have to adopt both in the foreign country and in the local state.)

What gets me though is one of their Thumbs Down entries:

The TV show, Six Feet Under. In the season premiere, Nate wonders about whether parents love "adopted kids" as much as "their own" while discussing his brother's plan to adopt.

So - holy crap - am I crazy or is that nuts? Yes, adoptive parents love their kids as much as biological parents do. But does AF (the magazine) truly believe that everyone feels that way - or doesn't have any doubt? If a friend told me this, I would make it very clear that, yes, I do love my kids just as much as any other parent. Would I be surprised by someone saying this? Heck no. People who haven't adopted only know what they hear from others, read in the paper, and hear on TV. So maybe AF is worried that people will hear this and think it's what the show producers think? Come on. Nate isn't anyones role model. He can't seem to keep himself to one woman for one thing. He is imperfect, just like anyone else. Shoot, every person in that family is pretty screwed up, which, again, unless I'm crazy, is what makes the show so fun to watch.

I'm reminded of a few other examples. I remember folks were upset over the use of the "N" word in Pulp Fiction. I also remember there was controversy when a character in Barber Shop said something negative about MLK. So what - we can't have characters who are ignorant and racist? How boring it would be to watch perfect people!