In “Martian Child”, David Gordon tries to adopt Dennis, a boy who believes he’s a Martian. David used to be a weird child too. He gravitated to science fiction where outsider characters like himself studied humanity. Through their eyes, he learned to fit in with other kids, and his love of stories became a successful writing career. He admits in a TV interview that the character most like him in his latest novel is not a human, but a creature.

So when asked how he will address Dennis’s issues, David says, “Fantasy is my business…It can be a survival technique…a way to deal with problems that are bigger than you….The short answer is…trying to find that balance between socializing him and letting him be who he is…on the one hand, help him out as much as I can, on the other hand…if this little guy wants to believe he’s from another planet…who am I to argue?”

Adoption agency representative Mr. Lefkowitz stands on the other side of the question. “This isn’t science fiction,” he cautions. “This isn’t a short story. Very often, with our children we don’t get to have a second draft.” Later, he expresses his concerns about David’s parenting. “You’re so eager to become the child’s friend you forget to be a parent, and Dennis needs a parent right now. He needs a strong role model. He needs someone to bring him down to Earth.”

Mr. Lefkowitz’s concern leads him to call for a review of whether David is fit to be Dennis’s parent. To keep Dennis, David will have to prove he can help the boy fit in with other humans. But when Dennis fits in, will he still be free to be himself?

Love Crosses Boundaries

How do you respond to a child who believes he’s from Mars? Most people just abandon Dennis. Occasionally, they psychologically evaluate him. David offers to love him. When his sister discourages him from taking on parental responsibility, David says, “I get all the arguments against it. I even get the one that says I don’t want to bring another kid into the world. But how do you argue with the logic of loving one that’s already here?”

Biblically, that’s the right answer. Scripture charges us again and again to love our fellow humans. For example: “7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8)

David and Mr. Lefkowitz both believe Dennis needs love, but each represents a different aspect of love. “Martian Child” shows David’s point of view, so we see through his strengths. David loves Dennis by trying to understand him.

“God is love.” Does God demonstrate love by trying to understand those He loves?

It’s almost a trick question. God doesn’t have to “try” anything in order to succeed. Without any effort, He knows each individual to the core. God could understand us perfectly without interacting with us once.

But that’s not what He did. God has invited us to a relationship with Him from the beginning of time. He communicates through His Word, delivered by visions, prophets, and the pages of Scripture, even after we sinned against Him. What’s more: “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,” (Galatians 4:4). God the Son entered the human life cycle, from the womb to the tomb, to understand how it feels to be human. He already omnisciently knew, but He wasn’t satisfied until He shared our experience.

Galatians goes on to tell us even more. Why did Jesus live, die, and rise from the dead? “5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” (Galatians 4:5-7) God understood us, then adopted us and gave us His Spirit so we can understand Him. Sin doesn’t have to separate us from God; He offers to redeem us from sin and make us His sons and daughters.

“Martian Child” is chock full of endearing scenes of David trying to understand his new charge. In one of my favorites, he finds Dennis doing a Martian dance in the living room. Dennis invites David to join in, and David stumbles through the steps after him. At the end, David looks inquisitively at Dennis. Dennis looks back, smiles, and says, “Nice talk.”

Love Establishes Boundaries

Mr. Lefkowitz urges David to make Dennis understand truth. His primary concern is to rehabilitate Dennis to human society. Mr. Lefkowitz wants David to deal with Dennis’s behaviors so the boy won’t face trouble in the future.

This is not David’s forte. The first rule David gives Dennis is that there are no rules. David has to amend his zero-rules policy when Dennis bumps into a sliding glass door wearing sunglasses: no sunglasses indoors. Dennis demonstrates his comfort establishing rules when David offers him a grilled cheese sandwich. “I eat Lucky Charms.” They stock up on enough Lucky Charms to survive an apocalypse a scene later.

David nudges Dennis toward fitting in when possible, but backs off whenever he’s confronted. “Be yourself,” he says, but Dennis sees the inconsistency between David’s words and his efforts. “Sometimes it’s okay to pretend, and sometimes it isn’t,” he tells Mr. Lefkowitz when the agency reviews his case.

But “pretend” means different things to David and Dennis. David wants Dennis to stop pretending to be a Martian, but Dennis thinks he’s pretending to be human so he can stay with David. In an emotional exchange, David tells Dennis point-blank that he’s not a Martian, but a little boy. He immediately withdraws, leaving Dennis alone to determine that his mission is over. It’s time to return to Mars.

Let me interject here that I have no parenting experience. It’s “easy” to decide what David did wrong because I have no idea how hard it is to raise a normal child, let alone a Martian. “Martian Child” presents a very difficult situation, and truth is often ineffective until the hearer’s emotions are addressed. The movie points out in various ways that life and parenting aren’t about being perfect, but reaching out to others.

That said, God, the perfect example of love, doesn’t shy away from truth or boundaries. God made clear to our first parents that there are consequences for disobedience, and didn’t withhold consequences when they disobeyed anyway. Human history is a living lesson in why you don’t rebel against God.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) This verse demonstrates God’s skill at both sides of love. On the one hand, it doesn’t mince words. We’re sinners. We’ve all made not only mistakes, but willful, rebellious choices against our rightful King. On the other hand, Jesus responded to this truth by crossing the barrier between deity and humanity to rescue us.

The focus of “Martian Child” on the understanding side of love makes its outcome lopsided. David finds himself at odds with those who want Dennis to face reality. David is jarred into renewed commitment with Dennis when his publisher rebukes him for failing to keep an agreement in an unrelated conversation. “Why can’t you just be what we want you to be?” she asks. Connecting the incident with Dennis implies David sees the adults in Dennis’s life as judgmental and arbitrary.

Our postmodernist society wants to grant everyone freedom to construct their own truth, but that’s not how reality works. God has established certain truths, like which planet we’re from, which cannot be denied without harm to ourselves. The outcome of “Martian Child” feels incomplete. We’re left to trust that Dennis eventually sheds his Martian delusions and embraces his humanity after the movie ends.

“Martian Child” is great if you’re looking for a feel-good family movie. It shines in showing the value of commitment to each other despite different backgrounds and beliefs. God has hard-wired humanity to seek His approval, and encourages us to share His love with other seekers. That means understanding each other’s beliefs and feelings, but it also means telling the truth consistently.

Content Notes

This section is for minor story elements that may present issues for Christians or families. “Martian Child ” is mostly clean, but David uses the word “heck” in a conversation with Dennis, and God’s name is used out of context near the end. David possibly swears under his breath in Dennis’s presence during an emotional moment, and his publisher later tells him she wanted a “Harry bloody Potter in space” instead of the novel he’s given her. In a private conversation with his dog, David makes a crude remark about canine hygiene.

“Martian Child” is based on a novella fictionalizing David Gerrold’s relationship with his own adopted son. In the book, David is a homosexual. In the “Martian Child” movie, David Gordon is a widower who develops a romance with his life-long female friend Haylee who helps him accept Dennis’s weirdness. David’s agent, Jeff, often crosses his personal space, wrapping an arm around his shoulders or holding David’s arms or face in excitable moments. David never pays attention to Jeff’s behavior, and the movie leaves it possible Jeff is just another quirky grown-up.

David offers Haylee to stay the night in one scene, then quickly clarifies he means in the guest room. She reminds him he has no guest room and he offers the couch. She excuses herself for the evening, but they share their first kiss–quick, awkward, but passionate–as she’s leaving. Both seem to view this as a positive experience, but this is as far as the romance goes in the movie.