We finally went to see “Spotlight,” which tells the story of the Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy, and how it was known but covered up for decades not only by those within the church, but also with community, political power structures, and even the media.
If you haven’t seen it, the film is still showing at the Kahala theaters.
It’s really an extraordinarily good portrayal of an investigative team in action. The reporters combine the pursuit of human sources with the documentary power of public documents, while confronting the question of how such things could have gone on for so long without being disclosed and confronted publicly.
Michael Keaton was perfect in the role of the team’s leader, and he wasn’t alone in treating the viewers to a fine performance.
The film was focused more on the process of journalism than the underlying crimes against children.
One review in the Atlantic points to the film’s powerful “moral of humility.”
There are so many things that we don’t know, so many assumptions that we don’t recognize as such, so many questions that we haven’t even thought to ask. Spotlight cautions us that we almost never know the whole story, if such a thing is even possible. It’s a worthy reminder, and not only for journalists.
Yes, always a good thing to keep in mind.
Of course, as investigative journalism becomes a scarce commodity, Spotlight’s depiction of an newspaper investigation done right takes on a rather poignant quality for those who have watched, or experienced, the gutting of the news over the past couple of decades.
If I had read the reviews before seeing the film, I might not have been surprised to see Pierre Omidyar as part of the executive producer team for the film. Omidyar is the founder and continuing backer of Hawaii’s Civil Beat as well as First Look Media, home of The Intercept.
In any case, Spotlight is an excellent film that provides an engaging portrayal of what turned into a major investigative project. The movie winds up its run on Thursday. But today and tomorrow, it is showing at the Kahala and Dole Cannery theaters.
Discover more from i L i n d
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Speaking of Pierre…..whatever happened to his 300 million dollar big splash media deal he announced a year or so ago??? Is First Look it??? yikes…if so. He was gonna change the world I thought?
Pope Francis said the Church itself estimates two per cent of priests are paedophiles, according a private conversation he had in 2014 with an Italian journalist, details of which the Vatican later contested.
“This figure should calm me, but I must tell you it does not calm me at all,” the pope was quoted as telling the veteran founder of La Repubblica daily, Eugenio Scalfari.
While the Church’s attitude to such cases has changed radically since the election of Francis, who has vowed to root out abuse, Robinson and Rezendes suspect the culture of secrecy still runs deep.
“There have been big changes in how the Church deals with this in Boston,” said Robinson. “There are even classes for children in how to recognise molesters. But not so much (has been done) in other dioceses and around the world.”
Rezendes said the real problem was Church’s attitude to sex and its insistence on a celibate clergy.
“Because priests are people, many – maybe most – are having sex with women and men, and some with children. Because all sex is illegal in the eyes of the Church it is kept secret.
“A priest who is having sex with a woman or a man is not going to tell on a priest who is having sex with a child. Because all of it is wrong in the eyes of the Church, they protect one another,” he said.
http://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/catholic-church-child-abuse-scandals-tip-of-iceberg-say-real-life-stars-of-oscar-tipped
breaking news:
Hell is also suffering from Global Warming. Population is too big.
How very timely, given the breaking news about molestations for years at Kamehameha. Who knew what, and when? And what did they do, or not do, about it?
Today’s Civil Beat
http://www.civilbeat.com/2016/01/hawaii-catholic-church-sues-insurer-over-sex-abuse-payouts/