Changeling

I thought at first it was wrong spelling but when I googled the word I found that it's for real. Changeling means a child secretly exchanged for another. This 2008 movie is based on a true story. Directed by Clint Eastwood and starred by Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich. A story based on the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders.

The story however focused on Christine Collins who dared what no one else had the guts to do. It depicted and detailed the fight that Collins went through against the LAPD in search of her lost son - Walter. The police thought they found the boy and had solved the case. Incidentally, the boy that they found in Illinois told the police that he was Walter Collins. Christine told the police that it was a mistake but the police didn't listen to her. To make it worst, they threw her in a psychiatric ward to cover up for their mistakes. With Collins determination and some help from concerned citizens, she brought to an end to the Coop Murders by fighting it in court together with the conviction of Gordon Northcott (the suspect). She won the case but still she wasn't able to locate her son.

CHangeling is one of the best drama movie that I've seen this year. When Angelina Jolie spoke to Gordon in the prison and asked him if he killed her son, I felt the agony, grief and hopelessness during that scene. As a mother, I've sympathized with what she went through just to look for her son. Every cast in that film gave justice to the story behind the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders.

Upon watching said movie, I did some research and interestingly found out some trivia. One of them is why Gordon Northcott
murdered those boys. At the back of my mind, I was sure that Gordon had some psychological problems because no sane person would even think about doing those things to those poor boys. I read that Gordon was not onlya product of incestuous action but that he was molested and abused as a child by the entire family.

Another interesting fact was the reason why the boy that the police found in Illinois pretended to be Walter. His name was Arthur Hutchkins and recounted the story when he was asked by the police if he noticed or knew Walter Collins. At first he said he didn't know Walter but when he heard the police mentioning California, he changed his story because he wanted to go to California to escape from his stepmother, Violet. (Left : Walter Collins; Right : Arthur Hutchkins)