Customer Reviews

Mockingbird Don't Sing

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The thinly veiled story of 'Genie' the '70s L.A. Wild Child, Mockingbird Don't Sing discards the more poignant elements of the story for tacky made-for-TV sentiment (this is at its worst in the 'Lifetime network-esque' attempt to explain why the little girl was abused in the manner as she was found). It's unfortunate that 'Genie' has gone the way of the more intriquing characters in tabloid obscurity. The once hauntingly beautiful mute who inspired such stories as 'Nell' and 'Wildflower' now resides in a nursing home forgotten by the public and professionals who at one time hailed her as a miracle. If you're truly interested in her story, avoid this pricey DVD and go read one of the numerous books on the subject. Hopefully, Hollywood will eventually get some apt minds behind this story and produce a better film.

I am a college student in a introduction to sociology course. We learned about Genie, who this movie is based on, and everyone in the class was extremely interested in it. If you are interested in sociology, human development, feral children, or linguistics, this movie is a must see. While it does come across as a "made for TV" movie, that aspect does not take away from its message.

First, a couple technical details which are not included in Amazon's technical details info... the DVD is presented in full screen, although clearly the movie was filmed in widescreen. Surprisingly, although presented in full screen format, the audio is presented in true Dolby Digital 5.1. The audio quality is very good, although there is nothing particularly challenging in the soundtrack content to tax one's system.

That out of the way, I must mention that the overall acting calibre in this film was only a touch above what one would see in a "made-for-TV" movie. The story itself is interesting, but the half-hearted acting never let the story get completely off the ground and into your soul. The twenty minute Dr. Susan Curtis interview will completely bore you to tears unless you are an aspiring linguist. If you insist on watching it, at least keep your eyes closed because the doctor is, how to put it kindly... well, more than a bit freaky and weird in appearance and mannerism. I can't comment on the director's commentary, as I did not want to watch the movie a second time with the commentary. Considering the full screen presentation and lackluster acting in conjunction with the high asking price of the DVD, I would have to recommend against purchasing this DVD.

This movie brought back some very strong memories as I was going with Susie Curtiss at the time she began working with Genie. No, the movie is not exactly the true version of events as they were, but the overall impression is correct. For this reason, and because the subject is such an emotional one, I feel that it is definitely worth seeing.

One thing I do have to say is that Susie Curtiss is the one person who without a doubt was totally sincere in her feelings about Genie and her desire to help her. Susie worked with Genie as an aspiring linguist, but she always had Genie's interests at heart.

Genie's real name by the way is Suzie. In order to eliminate confusion for the young Suzie, Susie Curtiss simply used the name "Curtiss", which is how the young Suzie (Genie) referred to her. Simple and to the point, without any pretensions.

This is one of the most disturbing movies I have ever seen. It documents the abuse a young girl suffered at the hands of first her father and then of the welfare authorities {in this case California's} who are charged with protecting such children.

I think it is beside the point to get bogged down in whether this movie is successful as a artistic creation. And whether it is fully true. The movie's power comes from watching this helpless child being shuttled from one inadequate environment to another.

The young actress who played the child, Katie, was superb in a very difficult role.

this is a very important movie with great performances about a girl who was kept in isolation for the first 12 years of her life
by her insane parents. most of the movie is about what happens
to her after she is discovered by the child authorties. she is
sent from home to home as nobody knows quite how to deal with her
and the sientists also don't know know what to do with her. i was abused as a child too and this is the best movie i have ever seen about this problem. the girl is great and the woman who plays her main therapist is also great. i like most the parts with the therapist and her boyfriend and when they are taking the girl out of the hospital and the butcher who sees the magic in the girl. also I like the scene on the beach between the therapist and the spooky mother and the end where the mother finally tells why the girl was held prisoner for so many years. anyone who cares about children should see this movie!!

Mockingbird Don't Sing (Harry Bromley Davenport, 2001)

This film was, shall we say, something of a surprise. To date, the only other Harry Bromley Davenport film I've been able to track down has been his first, the brilliant, gruesome sci-fi shocker XTRO. Upon finding out he'd done a film about "Genie," the famous feral girl discovered in California in 1970, I expected something quite different than what I got.

Genie (whose name in the film is Katie Standon) spent the first thirteen years of her life being brutally abused by her father, before her mother (played with chilling effectiveness by Better Off Dead's Kim Darby) left him, took her, and went to the social services office looking for welfare benefits. The woman at the desk took one look at the child, called the cops, and the rest is history. The film focuses mostly on what happened after the child was rescued from her initial environment; for a number of years she was in the care of a number of doctors and observers from Childrens Hospital, Los Angeles. The main protagonist in this film is Sandra Tannen, real name Susan Curtiss (played by singer Melissa Errico), a linguistics grad student from UCLA assigned to document Genie's ability to learn language despite having passed what is known in psychology as the critical period; screenwriter Daryl Haney (who, oddly, usually writes softcore movies) and Davenport based the movie around, according to the DVD's liner notes, Curtiss' version of the story.

Therein lies the movie's major failing. Even without reading the liner notes, it's obvious that Curtiss (or Sandra Tannen) is the hero of this piece, the one untarnished person in the child's life. This leads to the story feeling incredibly biased, as well as having the other characters sometimes act in rather bizarre fashion (for example, Darby's character goes from throwing her out of the house one second to launching into a lengthy explanation of her husband's mental state the next, then slips right back into evil-bitch mode once the explication is done). Thus, the very structure of the film itself should be leading the viewer to question the authenticity of the story which, despite being obviously docudrama, is marketed as a true story.

Definitely not Davenport's best work, but an interesting artifact in the world of film. ***

If you haven't seen Secrets of the Wild Child, look at that one first. That documentary answers a lot of questions that this film leaves unposed. I confess I like documentaries better in general. As a film that tries to capture the spirit of the real case, it isn't bad.

I have this movie on a homemade video tape and I don't know how long I have had it. I have watched my tape a few times over the past 10 years or so and frequently wonder why there was never a follow-up on how Katie (Genie) did after being separated from Ms. Curtis, the only person who seemed to be able to reach her. Katie's childhood was certainly not geared to raising a normal child, chained to a potty chair and fed by an abusive, mentally-ill father who barked at her and a mother going blind from cataracts who did nothing to stop the abuse. I couldn't help drawing similarities between her daughter's living conditions and those of a character on a Star Trek episode titled Miri played by Kim Darby. One poster called the mother "spooky" and I thought that fit her to a Tee. However much the movie's depiction of Katie's abuse and linguists' inability to teach her language, I still wish it had ended with a means viewers could use to find out in later years how Genie was able to survive in our world. I did search the 'net and came up with: Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2003 19:48:16 +0000. From: Sandino L <delfin@garza.uatx.mx>
Subject: Genie. Thanks to all those who replied to my query (Linguist 14.677) about Genie. I was offered interesting ideas, but most important, I received a mail from Susan Curtiss with up-to-date information about Genie: "I understand you have asked Prof. Brunetti whether Genie is still
alive. She is indeed still alive, lives in a good board-and-care home, and is, I hope, happy and thriving... And keep your fingers crossed. I'm trying to find a way to see her and have some hope that this could happen some time this year. I've been dreaming of this for years, so if this should happen it would indeed be a dream (more accurately "many dreams") come true. Best, Susie Curtiss" Since that was over five years ago it (if even truthful) does not answer the question Is Genie alive now? I can only hope that if she were to have died, it would have been made known to the public, so I hope it is a case of "Reports of my death are greatly exagerated." I also taped the Nova episode on Wild Child and urge viewers of Mockingbird Don't Sing to purchase it as it covers several feral children in different countries and would give them a wider picture of how children came to be feral and to what extent they can be rehabilitated.

First, let me say that the posted product description is terribly misleading. This is a true story and the young woman referenced did not grow up to be a "beautiful young woman." This is misleading at best. This young woman was passed from foster care home to foster care home throughout her adolesence, and now remains in an adult foster care home at the age of 52. I'd hardly call this the success story that the description leads you to believe.

Now, on to the movie. Actually, I found it well done. Good acting, realistic, and the plot threads well from segment to segment. The plight of the young student follows an excellent sub plot. Well acted, well directed. I think it is well worth viewing. However, if you don't have the stomach for horrible abuse of a child, do not watch this. The opening scenes are shocking - at best.

Finally, for the topic. All people are children of our God (however you define Him). We have great worth and value. Anyone who treats a child like this is a criminal in the worst way. To top it off, our American system for handling these children is inadequate at best, staffed with generally low paid government officials. This provides yet another example of how government cannot do the job necessary to "take care of the people." There are other ways, but I will refrain from sharing those here. I simply pray for all children like this little girl who find themselves in abusive homes. May they find a way out and eventually become productive, happy members of society.