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"You're my son now, Dave"
The Sun reckons it's got quite a scoop this morning, running pictures of a somewhat unhappy looking child being hauled on Madonna's back. The headline?
Madonna's Ray Of Light: She adopts year-old orphan called Davie
But has she? There's not actually been a formal "adoption" yet. And what about the child? The Sun reports that everyone's happy with the deal:
THE desperately poor father of the African tot being adopted by Madonna last night declared he was “so happy” the child was being whisked into a world of wealth.
Hang about a minute... they spoke to the orphan's father?
Yes, it turns out that he's not an orphan at all, but Madonna has effectively decided to take the child away from his family. Don't worry, though, there'll be visits:
The dad has not met Madonna, who chose Davie during visits to the orphanage where Yohane sent him.
But he was told his son — who he could not afford to bring up — was being adopted by a “famous US musician”.
He said: “I know he will be very happy in America. We are told David will be coming back regularly to know his roots.”
So: she's not had the decency to even ask the kid's father. They've just told him what's happening - and somehow given him the impression that Madonna lives in America rather than England. I suppose it doesn't matter much - Yohane has very little prospect of ever being able to make a trip to see his son wherever he's living.
2 comments:
Um, yes.
I'm not really sure why you're so horrified about the whole thing. The kid's father had him put in an orphanage HOPING he'd be adopted, so someone else could give him a better life.
The kid's life will be full of opportunities he wouldn't otherwise have. He'll have food, education and the chance to help others in Malawi when he grows up.
Personally, I think Madonna's an egotistical, wizened old hag with a seriously inflated sense of her own cultural importance. BUT I can't see how she's done anything objectionable here.
Anon...
Well, yes, if the kid thrives, that's one thing.
But look at it this way - we don't know why Davie's Dad put him in a home, but I suspect he didn't do so with any joy. He, most likely, would have done it because he couldn't afford to keep his family together.
Madonna has wooshed in and is now wooshing this kid off, turning a break in the family into a permanent snap.
For less than the cost of the airfare to Malawi, she could have sponsored Davie to stay with his family. She could have made a difference to an entire community.
Instead, she's decided that a life with her in Wiltshire is "better" for Davie than being able to stay with his family. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But it doesn't seem that either Davie or his father were given a choice in this.
The whole think reeks of the worst sort of Imperialism - the rich, white woman knowing what's best for the poor.
Its people from the developing world as fashion accessory. It's not very edifying at all.
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