MovieChat Forums > The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom (2012) Discussion > the very ending scene (possible spoilers...

the very ending scene (possible spoilers)

posted 11 years ago by angloo
4 replies | jump to latest

Although the film was fairly enjoyable I had two questions:

a) What happened in "Minneapolis"? Why did Lizzy start seeing Dollys everywhere, and what caused her to run out of the theatre, wasting all that time travelling and all that money her mother spent on her to actually SEE Dolly???

and even worse:
b) the last shot shows a slightly older Lizzy at a courthouse, supposedly advocating the "rights" of the children to "know" their biological parents. I have never understood this. UNLESS the parent wants to be found and consents, this could dredge up some awful, even traumatic, memories for the birth mother (and worse, affect and upset her whole life, especially if she has since started a family of her own). Surely the idea of adoption is supposed to be private and sealed, and if children start knocking on their "real parents"' doors, this will start a trend of fewer people adopting out their babies, and aborting them instead. I see this as a very ugly and completely unnecessary trend. The ONLY information the child should be "entitled" to is the parent's medical history. In many cases, they simply DO NOT WANT TO BE FOUND and I find it appalling that "children's rights" should suddenly trump a careful, painful, possibly gut-wrenching decision by an adult years before.
Am I completely wrong in this, or did this girl become this kind of "advocate"?

[–] shantaar-2 11 years ago

yep end sucked sweet movie otherwise

[–] shayg 10 years ago

I wasn't sure either exactly why she ran out. It seemed that everyone else attending was also dressed up, and Lizzy saw that everyone thought of themselves as related with Dolly. Before she had a personal idea that she was Dolly's child, and now this was erased with all these other people relating in a similar way. It lost its meaning.

And yeah, she should have addressed the belief that one's biological parents are so significant in knowing oneself, that one is empty without knowing them. Like you say, having them sealed encourages more people to give up babies they won't be able to properly care for, to someone who can care for them. It makes that a more viable option as compared to other ones like abandoning the baby on the street or killing it.

[–] cookiela2001 8 years ago

I find it appalling that "children's rights" should suddenly trump a careful, painful, possibly gut-wrenching decision made by an adult years before.

And what if an ADULT adoptee finds it "painful and gut-wrenching" to not know the circumstances of why they were given away, or what their birth family's history/identity is? (Birth info isn't given to minors even if they petition the court...)

(And incidentally, not all mothers who give up their kids are, as you claim, adults. In fact, the mom being underage and unmarried is often a key factor in the decision.)

I don't know why you would think it's "ugly" to desire to meet the person who brought you into this world. It's completely natural. Can you imagine never having seen your mother's face, or having heard her voice?

Do you know what your ancestry and history is....Do you know who gave birth to you, and why? Do you value that? Then why would you think it's in any way your place to deny that fundamental knowledge and identity of another?

If I may suggest, you might consider minding your own damn business where other people's families are concerned : )

.

[–] Alexandra_Shulgin 8 years ago

I concur with Cookie's statement. I was adopted at birth just like the main character, but UNLIKE the main character it was into pretty horrible circumstances. Needless to say I no longer talk to either of them. I wish I could find my real mother, not just for medical reasons, but to have an actual blood relative to call my own! Unfortunately the records are sealed and possibly even burned from my old hospital going through a fire in the mid 80's. Everyone I know has somebody they're related to, so it's almost inhumane for an outsider like the OP to not realize this is what happens when bad adoptions... go bad.

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