Like the other poster said, I did not see Masha being truly manipulative (in a sociopathic sense). ALL adolescents are manipulative at times, because they are naturally pushing boundaries whether from an orphanage or not. I actually saw Cami trying to be more manipulative at times - subtle things like melodramatically laying on the floor during the Father's Day home dinner party.
All the Diaz kids seemed like "good kids". They family of three was definitely very poorly prepared to accept three Russian orphans into their home all at once and without some basic Russian language, "attachment" training, and intensive orphan education (which is offered via home study in most states). However, with the help of the doctors/psychologists, they were able to come to a stable place where things are seemingly on a good trajectory. I hope Mrs. Diaz and Masha will find a way to become closer to each other, since it seems the mother had her own painful past and issues with intimacy. Perhaps they will heal together.
The parents will always adore Cami. They quickly expanded the family circle of love and eventual trust - not in the easiest way - but all of them should benefit in the long run. Hopefully. Ideally. We shall see.
The great thing about love is that you can never have too much...and you can never run out! Though having 4 children is more realistic, than say, the 19 "The Duggars" have at last count. While that "reality" TV family might have plenty of love, many of the children were raising the other children. That is less ideal than what this family is creating together.
And I certainly hope, the children were able to keep their names as much as possible. There was nothing odd about their names that would've caused bullying, and preserving their identity is WAY more important that Mom's desire for all her kids to have "C" names. Maybe "C" nicknames, but at the children's advanced ages, changing their name was clearly very hurtful and offensive to them. In interrupted the formation of bonding and trust.
If the Diaz parents had done any research before adopting the three, they would've known that it has shown that a first name change after being a toddler is ill-advised...unless for protective reasons, like a couple who adopted an Asian boy with the first name "Phuk" (yep, pronounced like you think). The bullying, giggles, and general discomfort for teachers was an avoidable problem. He is now a teenager and expressed gratitude for that change. The parents kept his original middle name, because adopted orphans need to have a link to their past and who they are biologically.
If Mrs. Diaz had succeeded at changing all the names completely and pushing out most links to their Russian heritage, the children would've been emotionally scarred. It seems, from the film, that they went easy on letting the children keep as much of their given name as possible...and as the children personally wanted. That's good, but the parents should have left their kids' first names completely alone in the first place. Perhaps only suggesting "C" nicknames in place of the Disney identities would have been better...if it really meant that much to Mrs. Diaz. I don't think the whole "let's have our children's names all start with the same letter" is particularly important in fostering family bonds, while it certainly does nothing for the children to establish their own identities. It's a "parent vanity project", really.
"Don't get chumpatized!" - The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
reply
share