I must confess that I did not enjoy watching the film “The Children Are Alright”, and that this might color how this review is perceived. I will try to be as kindly as possible during this review, but I ask for your forgiveness if I give any harsh opinions. They are mine alone, and just because I didn’t enjoy it, does not mean that you shouldn’t.
Our story starts back in the early nineties, with the certain venerations of one Jerry Lewis amongst the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) for writing a piece describing the plight of people inflicted with muscular dystrophy as “a steel imprisonment”. Jerry Lewis was the host of the telethon hosted by the MDA, and he would often bring young children with muscular dystrophy (MD) to generate sympathy on the telethon. The telethon is designed to assist people with MD and to fund cures for MD. However, the former poster-children of the MDA and Jerry Lewis, had grown up to develop a disdain for the Telethon, the MDA, and Jerry Lewis – calling themselves “Jerry’s Orphans”. The film follows Mike Ervin, one of “Jerry’s Orphans” who was on Telethon’s during the 60’s, who grew to resent the MDA’s manipulation of people with MD and their loved ones.
The MDA would tell people that the telethon was a necessary element of getting funding, but Mike Ervin and “Jerry’s Orphans” state that the telethon contributes little of the MDA’s funding and that the majority of the funds raised from the telethon go to organizing events, rather than to helping others with MD.
An interesting point is made by Mike Ervin during the film: the money raised from the telethon are supposed to be used to fund a cure for MD. But many of “Jerry’s Orphans”, after having grown up, have resigned themselves to the fact that they will never find a cure to their condition, and that they probably wouldn’t want one even if they had. “Jerry’s Orphans” don’t want to be pandered to or become the objects of pity from self-righteous philanthropists. This is perhaps the primary message of the documentary, and while they have my sympathies, I found they’re methods and rhetoric betrayed a violent need for retributive justice which I found displeasing. But I also understand their criticisms of the MDA, and that much of their anger is justified – having been manipulated by a corrupt organization that lacks transparency. I honestly have mixed feelings about this film, and I don’t fault anyone who does not know who they should support in this argument.
Rating 3.5 stars
Not bad, but didn’t enjoy it very much.
No need to apologize for your position in a review, which is by its nature subjective. I would have liked to hear more about your opinions, so long as you root them in the details of the text. You get at something interesting about the exigence here–what do Jerry’s Orphans really want? What is their objective? Is it venting negative feelings? Is it something else, like getting a “cure”? I think you’re getting at the heart of the ambiguity of this film.