JC
The link to a short film named “Chinese Baby” has been circulating via email (thanks to Dave and Kathy for the heads-up!). I am sure that the maker(s) intended it to be funny. Unfortunately, it’s not. iFilm’s synopsis of the short reads: “Discover the new way young couples are getting their hands on a cuddly little infant.”

It stars a couple who doesn’t want to go to the trouble of “making a baby,” so they look to Chinese-baby.com for a solution (don’t bother looking — it’s not a real site). They find a service that offers different “styles” of Chinese babies (e.g. “38-inch Ping,” “42-inch Lu Kang”) — some come with microwaves, some are labeled “will clean” to entice customers. It’s basically a spoof on an adoption service which will send you a “new or refurbished” Chinese baby in a brown cardboard box in 3-4 business days.

It also explains that dissatisfied customers can send their babies back within 30 days for a full refund. It shows the husband wrapping the baby back up in plastic wrap and tape, then shoving the package into a mailbox and running away.

It ends with one of those typical ridiculously/quickly muttered disclaimers — what I find to be the worst part: “Chinese-baby.com not responsible for babies delivered D.O.A. …Japanese-baby.com coming in 2006.”

This is so tasteless. It doesn’t even work as a sarcastic piece made to critique transracial adoption. It’s just bad all around. It may be worth responding, but there isn’t any information on who made the piece. Check out the site to see the film and respond on the message boards. Looks like most viewers are similarly horrified.