Customer Reviews

Struggle For Identity (Special Edition)

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This video brought abstract ideas into focus by showing their impact on real people in everyday life. I used it in a class on adolescent development dealing with identity formation and social differences. The young people who were interviewed echoed many of the issues we were reading about, especially those complicated by multiple sources of identity, including race and gender.
It was challenging for some students because they had to consider problems associated with interracial adoption beyond the very real & well meaning perspective of white parents and siblings. It opened up opportunities to discuss race in new ways, especially for majority students.
Just a great teaching tool. I also think it would be very helpful for counselors and others working with biracial families, adoption and interracial families and children.

Struggle For Identity is an incredibly nuanced film. Technically, it is a conversation amongst several transracial adoptees, discussing their personal experiences as children and in some cases as parents themselves. Though the set-up is quite simple, the depth and breadth of the conversation is poignant. The participants discuss the ways in which their adoptive parents were and weren't prepared to raise children from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, what might have been done differently and what worked. They candidly discuss the social minefield that is navigating racial identity, looking at where they felt they belonged, and where they felt they didn't. The topics -- though centered around transracial adoption -- resonate further in our increasingly multiracial, multiethnic society.

The special edition DVD includes the original film in its entirety, as well as numerous bonus features. Several segments which were ultimately not included with the original release have been included as bonus scenes. Most interesting however is a new film featuring two of the original participants, a decade later. Seeing what has changed for them, what has remained the same, and how they have chosen to live their lives, build their families and their careers is particularly interesting.

In addition, the DVD includes several PDF materials and links to related websites.

My partner and I watched this video. We've been thinking about adoption for a long time, and while I have always considered transracial adoption, it was a new idea to my partner. Happily, not only did it challenge my partner, but it also challenged some of my preconceptions. Fortunately, it didn't turn us off - rather, it gave us a realistic perspective on transracial adoption and ideas to consider as we proceed.

Through the discussion presented in these two short films one can quickly gain a basic understanding of the trials and tribulations that a child of color will go through as an adoptee in a white family. John and Michelle, appearing in both short films, have an incredible screen presence and such a depth of understanding on the topic of transracial adoption that you'll find yourself sucked into their story. Additionally, for every child in this situation and every adult considering adoption, this video will give invaluable information right from the mouths of those experiencing the same things. It was an exceptionally powerful piece, and I encourage EVERY parent considering transracial adoption to watch this video before taking a child into their home!

From a technical standpoint, it was very well edited and the music was well done so as to create a very personal atmosphere that complimented the content very well.