Three Identical Strangers
There are spoilers ahead and you will be shocked.
If you haven’t seen the documentary Three Identical Strangers, I suggest you leave this article right now, borrow a hulu account, and watch it. But make sure you come back! Or watch this preview…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM5TQ4f7ycw
On Sunday I decided to watch this documentary after seeing a preview online, and I am so glad I did. This documentary had me shocked the entire time and really opened up my heart to these triplet strangers. I feel like a gained a greater insight to humanity, it’s like the parent trap but way darker, and I can promise you- you won’t forget this story. This story is heartbreaking and unfortunately will never be truly understood by the public until 2066. At first, what seems like a fairytale followed by glee and love, quickly turns into a chaotic, and disturbing tragedy. Note that there are a few things in this article that I won’t mention. Here are my thoughts and reactions while covering this story.
At the beginning of this documentary I could not stop smiling. I mean, could you imagine being nineteen and finding your long lost twin, that you never even knew existed? Poor Bobby was probably so confused when everyone was saying hello to him (thinking he’s Eddy) on his first day of college! Is this actually happening? AND THEN DAVID SHOWS UP!
The joy and discovery of the brothers is shown during the first part of the film. The discovery of the siblings is so unbelievable at first, but quickly news broadcasts and home films of the brothers first days together, show the “perfect” reality of this story. You can’t help but smile for these boys! Everyone was so caught up in how spectacular this was, especially the brothers.
But after some time, it is obvious that all three sets of parents are very confused and upset, but how could you not be? When discovery struck, the boys weren’t as curious as to what happened to them when they were babies. Thankfully, their parents decide to set up a meeting with the adoption agency they all used. After the meeting with the adoption agency and parents, the parents were pretty much left empty handed. The agency claims that they believed nobody would take all three and therefore separated the triplet babies in the early 1960’s. It broke my heart hearing this, because all the parents claim they “would’ve taken all three.” After the meeting, one of the fathers left his umbrella inside and rushed back inside to get it. He then saw the members of the agency, popping bottles of champagne, cheering, and “dodging a bullet.” What bullet?
During all this, the boys are partying and living it up in New York which made me happy to see their true connection as brothers. The stories of their party days told by the brothers (now older) makes it even better. Even though the parents are dealing with all this news, the boys initially didn’t freak out and ask why they were separated. It was definitely weird for them, but at first there was nothing out of the ordinary that made them feel uncomfortable. The triplets received a lot of fame when their discovery was first aired by the media, it is safe to say the boys took it all in, and didn’t think deeper into their genetic relations. From New York Times articles, interviews, and talk shows, I quickly forgot about the possible sick truth that was going to unfold, and I think the triplets did too. They literally were in a movie with Madonna. Can you believe that?
Looking back, I never thought this documentary was going to be a deep story. I believed it was just going to be a happy story about three long lost triplets, who find each other, and thrive for the rest of their lives. I was wrong.
Once the partying of the boys dies down, things start to get weird. Facts that were thrown at me in the beginning of the documentary started to come back. I mean small details such as how all three brothers have older adopted sisters, all 21. I didn’t find that sketchy until it came back around. Everything is strange and eerie at this point of the documentary. Then, we find out some really odd information. All three kids were separated by the same adoption agency in New York City. It was a “coincidence” that the triplets were all placed in all different economic households. One blue-collar, one middle-class, and one better off on an island. It was obvious that the boys were different in that way, proving it by the difference in cars they each owned. Also, all three boys claim to be “visited” by strange people in their early lives (aliens?), and all of them live in a 100 mile radius within each other. All of this information made me think… how is this even possible? Could someone really do this and get away with it? Why would someone even want to do this?
At this point I am literally gasping every ten minutes. I can’t help but say “oh my god” out loud. We find out that the boys lives were documented for almost two decades, and were part of a social experiment partially funded by the government. Luckily, this all unravels thanks to a researcher who found information on this specific private study being done in New York. The researcher was shocked, and was able to get in touch with the three identical strangers who were going viral. The agency initially lied to each set of parents and claimed that the “study” that they were doing on their child was solely based on how adoption affects children. The entire study they conducted was a bareface lie to the parents and children over the years.
The study was suggestive towards nurture vs nature. The man who created this study wanted to find the differences and similarities in success/ achievement and record mental illness in each child based on their mothers mental illness, and the family dynamic they were placed in. The study is supposed to conclude results of the triplets and how their lives were drastically different, with the constant that they were all genetically identical. There are tons of records of each of the boys, and other adopted twins (some of which still to this day don’t know each other exist.) It also turns out that the study ended once the boys found each other. At this point of the documentary, I was really mad and disturbed about the truth. Honestly, I’m still mad.
When the boys got older, Eddy wanted to find their birth mother. Eventually they did, and it was obvious that their mother had some sort of mental illness. All the boys discussed with each other about their mental sufferings growing up, agreeing that all of them had separation anxiety as babies. It turns out that all three boys proved to have some sort of mental illness in their past, and unfortunately Eddy was unable to overcome his own mental health in his future. Eddy’s suicide proves the immorality of this social experiment and I honestly blame the dude who came up with this idea. I don’t even want to include his name, you can google it to find out.
We are told towards the end of the documentary that there was more than one suicide reported during this experiment, and the head honcho who conducted this experiment, decided to tuck away all of the records at Yale University Library until 2066. Even though he died in 2008, his goal of keeping these records sealed was so that the “lab rats” would die before they found out, or if they did, nobody else but them would be able to access the study. All of the records (including videos, photos, and the actual study results) belonging to the triplets were eventually granted. It took a lot of fight to get access to them, and sadly, there are still records belonging to other identical strangers that will never be known of until it’s too late.
With that all said, this story is really really corrupt and evil. There are a lot of ethical violations that were crossed. I think it’s horrible and I don’t think I will ever forgive the man who came up with the idea. I feel hurt and I wasn’t even involved. The man who did this is hiding these results for a reason- because he did something immoral, unethical, and downright wrong. Sadly, the people that it will matter most to will be dead before they ever get a chance to find out. All we can do is hope that this story will be heard, hope that it will never be repeated, and hope that more adopted Americans born in the 60’s will take action in finding out more about where they truly came from. I hope that this experiment is never repeated ever again, and that in 2066 hell breaks loose in America when the results are leaked. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
Giphy.com
https://goodtimes.sc/santa-cruz-arts-entertainment/review-three-identical-strangers/
http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2018/6/26/doc-corner-three-identical-strangers.html
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/22/entertainment/three-identical-strangers-oral-history/index.html