Il Golfo II
Il Golfo, 1 settembre 2003
Q & A
Italian Journalist Oscar Pantalone once again interviews John Palcewski:
Q: Is it possible that Sophia gave
up a daughter for adoption but never wished to see her again?
A: It’s possible,
but we must remember the last movie Sophia made in 2002. It is entitled
“Between Strangers,” and she made it in collaboration with Edoardo Ponti, her
son, the director. In a role that she wrote for herself, she plays a
woman with a big secret. Which is that many years ago she gave up a
daughter for adoption and has been struggling with guilt for nearly 40
years. That suggests to me that Sophia is somehow trying to make contact,
after having failed to do so all this time.
Q: After the Il
Golfo interview was published, newspapers like Corriere Della Sera and The New
York Daily News picked up the story. What was your reaction?
A: I was happy to
see that so far the news coverage has treated this story with the seriousness
that it deserves. And of course I see it as a story of great pain
and sadness.
Q: You appear to
have very strong feelings about this story. Why?
A: My passion
comes from a deep personal understanding of what Maria is going through
now. Like her, I too was abandoned as an infant by my mother. My
father and others in his family said she was an immoral, sinful and wicked
woman. But later in life I found my mother. She told me the whole
story, which I will not get into now. But I soon came to understand that
she was not the evil person everyone made her out to be. And that is why
I now have great empathy for Maria. And for Sophia as well.
Q: Many have
suggested that perhaps your deep love for Maria leads you to believe this
incredible story is true. How do you react to the question?
A: Yes, I can
understand why some people would feel that way. But I have been a
journalist all my professional life, and when I first heard the story I was
skeptical. In my investigation, I was sure that I would quickly
find facts showing that the story is false. But to my great surprise I
found compelling circumstantial evidence that supported the story, and not a
single contradiction anywhere.
The
date of Maria’s birth fits perfectly with Sophia’s being in Naples filming
“Ieri, oggi e domani.” In Sophia’s authorized biography she acknowledges
getting pregnant at that time, but then said that she lost the baby in “the
fourth month of pregnancy.”
There
are many other things that led me to the conclusion that Maria’s adoptive
father did not lie when he revealed that Sophia is her biological mother.
Q: You have said
that Maria does not wish to speak to the news media about this subject.
Why?
A: Maria has asked
me to keep her identity and location secret because she does not want the
stress that would surely come from talking to news people.
Learning
of the adoption a year ago has affected her profoundly, and other emotionally
wrenching things have occurred both directly and indirectly from the
experience. Meanwhile she's quite conflicted and ambivalent in her
attitude toward Sophia.
On the
one hand she wants nothing to do with a woman who abandoned her. On the other,
it's possible that Sophia has tried all these years to find her daughter, but
failed. Fairness demands that Sophia be given an opportunity to do
so, or not, as she wishes. Which is why I agreed to do an interview with
you for Il Golfo. It was the only way I could be sure that Sophia would
learn that her daughter is alive.
When
Maria asked me to see if I could get in touch with Sophia privately, I told her
this might open her to further distress if, for example, Sophia decided to deny
that she is the mother.
For a
year I tried unsuccessfully to contact Sophia. Not even a friend of mine
at CNN in Atlanta could get beyond Sophia's manager in Los Angeles.
Q: I have heard
that a journalist has recently gotten in touch with Sophia about this story,
and she has replied that she will not comment on it. What do you think
that means? Obviously saying “no comment” is neither a denial nor a
confirmation.
A: We can
never know what is in the mind of another. A pessimist, or one who always
takes a negative view of life, would suggest that Sophia is not commenting
because she is trying to protect her reputation. She is, after all,
the Italian national symbol of motherhood and family values.
An
optimist, on the other hand, would say she is merely taking some time to
collect her thoughts and work through some extremely conflicting emotions. It’s
interesting to realize that as long as I’ve known Maria, she has always reacted
to difficulty and hardship in one way. And that is to run away for
several weeks, and be unreachable in her silence.
In my
nearly four years on Ischia I have learned this is a typical Italian
trait. But in my view, refusing to speak openly of painful things does
not lead to healing. Rather it unnecessarily prolongs the suffering.
Maria,
of course, is suffering, as she has for the year since she learned she was
adopted. And I do not doubt Sophia is struggling with her own
extremely painful feelings as well.
But
nevertheless I’m an optimist. I believe that honest and open
communication between two people, even about the most complex of difficulties,
will lead to resolution. As I've said to you earlier, Q, I
hope—pray—this story has a happy ending.
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