Project Recognize

Here is where I will be noting instances of orphans, parentless children, adoption, and alternative family formation in popular (American) media.



Books:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë: The main character, Heathcliff, is an orphan found by Mr. Earnshaw. From wikipedia: Found, presumably orphaned on the streets of Liverpool and taken to Wuthering Heights by Mr Earnshaw and reluctantly cared for by the family. He and Catherine (the daughter and main character) grew close. Their love is the central theme of the first volume. His revenge against the man she chose to marry and its consequences are the central theme of the second volume. Heathcliff has been considered as a Byronic hero, but critics have pointed out that he re-invents himself at various points, making his character hard to fit into any single "type." Because of his ambiguous position in society and his lack of status—underlined by the fact that "Heathcliff" serves as his given name; he has no surname—his character has been a favorite subject of Marxist criticism.


Cider House Rules by John Irving: the entire novel describes an orphanage and hospital, St. Cloud's. The main character, Homer Wells, is one of the orphaned children living at St. Cloud's who has several failed foster placements in Maine in the 1930s. There are many storylines in the novel that deal with orphanhood, abandonment, foster care, and adoption as the orphanage is the first and primary setting of the novel.


Television:


American Dad!: On American Dad!, the wife, Francine Smith voiced by Wendy Schaal is adopted by Chinese parents. From Wikipedia: Francine was born to a wealthy South Carolina couple, Nicholas and Cassandra Dawson. She was abandoned by her birth parents because they were not allowed to bring a baby into first class with them, and so casually left her at the airport.


She spent her early childhood in a Roman Catholic orphanage. She is naturally left-handed but this was literally beaten out of her, with a side of beef (or a mackerel on Fridays), by the nuns working there who saw lefties as "the devil's minions." As a result she took to using her right hand and was conditioned to hate left-handed people.


She was adopted at age 7 by Bàba and Māma Ling, Chinese Americans, who first saw her at 5 years old, but she was too expensive at that point so they waited for the market to fall. She speaks fluent Chinese, and often speaks in it to her parents to disguise their conversations in front of Stan much to his annoyance. Her parents have their own biological daughter, Gwen, who they are ashamed of for being supposedly very attractive but quite stupid (as Bàba puts it, "Imagine a Chinese girl [who] can't do math!") However, Stan makes it a habit of lustfully moaning and proclaiming his sexual attraction to her, much to Francine's calm frustration.


Friends: On Friends, Monica Gellar-Bing and Chandler Bing, played by Courtney Cox and Matthew Perry, respectively, are unable to become pregnant. As a couple, they decide that adoption is the route to parenthood for them. The show chronicles their process of adoption, including an episode where: Monica and Chandler are having a lot of trouble figuring out the adoption process so Phoebe sends them to a friends of hers who have adopted. Monica and Chandler meet them and Monica instantly gets along with the mother. Chandler accidentally tells the child that he is adopted. He then pays the child to not tell his parents but of course, he tells. Their homestudy through the adoption agency is also part of the show, including getting recommendations from their friends, and Joey's sleeping with their homestudy social worker. The show also shows the process of being chosen by birthmother, Erica, played by Anna Faris. In the season's (and series') final episode, Erica delivers Monica's and Chandler's baby, although—to their surprise—she actually had twins, a boy and a girl. Monica and Chandler name the children Erica and Jack (after Monica's father).


Bones: On Bones, FBI psychiatrist Lance Sweets, played by John Francis Daley, is a former foster child who was adopted by an older couple when he was a teen. In the show, he is meant to have experienced a very traumatic childhood, including the display of significant scarring on his back from abuse. His foster care history is often an asset in speaking to children wary of authority, and he often describes his gratitude for his adoptive parents.


The Office: The Office's character, Erin Hannon, played by Ellie Kemper, joined the cast in 2009. Erin's character was in an orphanage, and grew up in foster homes. The show is comedic, so it is meant to be funny when Erin tells her coworkers that "her hair was her room." Her character will comb her hair to cover her entire face, for privacy, in times of stress.


Grey's Anatomy: In Grey's Anatomy, married characters Dr. Derek Shepard and Dr. Meredith Grey, played by Patrick Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo, respectively, have an adopted daughter from Africa, Zola. In the story, the infant is brought from Africa (country unknown) to Seattle Grace Hospital for medical treatment for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus.


On the same show, Dr. Alex Karev, played by Justin Chambers, is a former foster child. His parents were alcoholics, and his mother had schizophrenia (or some other severe mental illness) and he "grew up in a bar." He was kicked out of 17 foster homes before he was in juvenile detention.


Dr. Josephine "Jo" Wilson, played by Camilla Luddington, is also a former foster child on the ninth season of the show. Her character was kicked out of a number of foster homes until she ended up living in her car (presumably before medical school).