'Bull' deals honestly with adoption and feeling 'disconnected'

Lorraine

Last night I caught a few moments of Bull, about a trial consultant who takes on hard cases of course, it's a TV show. What he seems to do best is figure out how to pick and work the jury. Bull consults on jury selection or voir dire, a phrase I love using and saying. It rolls off the tongue most pleasantly. When I tuned in, about 20 minutes to the end of the show, a distinguished black man in an expensive suit and with a nice wife is being railroaded for a murder he did not commit.

But the DA had DNA. A match. Bull gets the DA to agree to 15 to life, if the suspect will plead guilty. He has 24 hours to decide. The man, a doctor from what I gleaned, is there with his wife, protesting total innocence....Of course we believe him--it's a TV show about protecting the innocent, right?

Fade to the morning. Bull goes into his office and finds two of his assistants have been there all night working. One says, Dr. X said something about feeling "disconnected" and so I came to the office and spent the night looking....


Bull says, and you associated with that feeling of disconnection because you are adopted....

Whoa! I say, never heard this kind of adoption honesty on a show like this.

The blonde assistant nods. She says, so I got to thinking, and called the other attorney, and she agreed to help me and look what we found:

The doctor was adopted when he was 14 months old. And he has an identical twin brother, who was an addict and in and out of prison, and their DNA is identical....

Cut to the doctor and Bull, who tells him he was adopted. Doctor has no idea that he was. This startling data, with a photo of the other brother from his mug shot, is presented in court and the DA agrees to drop all charges. Later, the doctor says that there were many similarities in things he and the unknown twin brother did--apparently the doctor was no angel growing up--and the doctor wants to find him. Bull says, we did find him, unfortunately in the morgue, he [conveniently] died two days ago of an overdose or some such ill-fated end. For a jury consultant, he has a lot of authority and a whole office--I think they usually work alone, but never mind.


And all right, the ending was more than a bit simple-minded--it's a popular TV show, let's not leave the audience wondering what happens next--but holy moly, that's the first time I've seen the issue of "disconnectedness"--let's call it alienation--accepted as a matter of course for adopted people.

I've always said the way to change hearts and minds is to get our story into mainstream media. Looks like it is beginning to happen. This Is Us also deals with adoption issues head on, as one of the main characters is adopted. His non-adopted sister recently said something about wanting to have a child--not adopt one--because it would be a way to have a part of their father, who is dead. The adopted son took offense--because she meant his biological kids couldn't be a part of their dearly loved father--and she did mean that, but brother and sister worked it out. What I liked about this small vignette is that it dealt with how people actually think and talk about adoption in their own families, when the guard is down.

Progress.--lorraine dusky

Just a mini blog here tonight...Jane will be back soon.
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TO READ
Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA

Richard Hill's journey to find his family through DNA.

.0 out of 5 starsGreat Story, Great Resource

By Katherine Thompsonon September 23, 2018

I loved this book because the author tells his story mixed in with telling the reader how to search for relatives and ancestors. It is a must-read for anyone building a family tree, searching for unknown relatives, or just wanting to know more about their own heritage. The DNA testing guide at the back of the book is very helpful because he explains DNA in an easily-understood way. He also specifies which tests are the most beneficial for your needs.