Right now I'm watching tonight's SVU. It's about street families and although the show is getting some details right, I'm disappointed to see the kids described as starving. According to
Rene Denfeld's book All God's Children: Inside the Dark and Violent World of Street Families, food is surprisingly easy to come by. So much so that even vegans don't have trouble finding food that meets their dietary requirements.
SVU's also missing the boat on the emotional drama that lies underneath the families' interactions and their personal identities. In large part, no matter how outlandish and illogical a person's life story, it will be accepted at face value by the other members of the street family. We're seeing part of that on SVU, but far less than what goes on in real life.
