I remember a few years ago being rather excited when I saw Jack Thompson advertising a new TV show called ‘Find my Family’. I’ve been a fan of Jacks for many years. He has a commanding voice, so instantly I gave this show some credibility, given that an Australian icon, who like me is also an adoptee, was going to host each episode.
If you haven’t watched the show, it’s about people searching for long lost relatives or adoptees and adopters looking for biological parents or children respectively. I started searching for my biological family around 30 years ago without any luck. So it goes without saying I was looking forward to the first episode. I even jumped on the web site Jack mentioned in his monologue to register – now that was in 2008 – I’m still waiting for even an acknowledgement email, but please don’t bother. You’ll see what I mean as you read this blog – “Find my ‘feral’ family” – this show has done nothing for the profile of adoptees.
I remember in one episode, the birth mother met her daughter in what appeared to be a caravan park. The mother was sitting on a fold-up camp chair dressed in tracksuit pants. Her curly hair, although appeared to be brushed, certainly did nothing for her appearance. We all know that you don’t brush curly hair; you scrunch it while damp while applying styling moose and blow dry with an attached diffuser. Or how about this for an idea – go to a frikkin hair dresser – you’re going to be on national TV! But alas, she certainly wasn’t outdone by her receiving daughter – biology certainly has a lot to play in offspring characteristics.
Unfortunately, the episode outlined above isn’t an isolated example. The list of undesirables that appear on this show makes me more and more depressed. Don’t get me wrong, there has been a few who appear to be ‘normal’, but for the most part, each week, it doesn’t disappoint in disappointing.
And let me point out that, on a whole, the research required to find the families they represent on this show wouldn’t take more than a couple of hours. So I gather I won’t be hearing from the producers of FMFF. The little bit of information I supplied wouldn’t turn up anything if ran in a Google search. Besides, my family have already said they wouldn’t join me on the show because it would be embarrassing to be shown along side the cretins you see week in, week out – thanks guys.
But rest assured if they do call me up for the show, I would certainly book in for a make-over and Tony & Guy hair-do. Someone’s gotta raise the profile of the show and it might as well be me.
