Tragedy compounded by tragedy

It was just four months ago, in early October 2008, that popular South Korean actress Choi Jinsil [최진실/崔眞實] committed suicide. 

In 1991, the troubled Ms Choi was the star of Susanne Brink's Arirang, a movie that depicted a very unflattering picture of overseas adoption of Korean children. I blogged about that movie and the issue here. 

Now comes news that the real-life Susanne Brink, on whom the movie was based, has passed away on January 23, at the age of forty-five. The influential adoptee activist changed how adoption of Koreans — and probably other country's children — was perceived. (Hat tip to djkimcheelove)

I admit that I don't share the conclusion that all overseas adoptions should be stopped, but I do think that the process — who was adopting, how (if at all) they were screened, who was being adopted, and especially how they came into a position to be adopted — needed much more scrutiny. Susanne Brink's work and the movie about her brought that spotlight. I hope others will continue it in her absence.