Spotlight - A Movie Review
December 1, 2015
The movie Spotlight, directed by Tom McCarthy and written by Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy presents the story of the investigation team at the Boston Globe as they unraveled the disturbing evidence that there were a number of pedophilic Roman Catholic priests in Boston. As they unwind the very-well hidden story, the scope of the problem expands to be an increasing number of priests, victims, and the enabling hierarchy of the church. The movie focuses on the investigation and the deep pain of not just the victims, but also of the writers as they face this disturbing truth. The movie does not hide the hideous nature of the story, but does not sensationalize any aspect. Instead, the viewer is riveted by how confronting the truth can take courage and determination.
The Spotlight team was a small group – Robby Stewart (Michael Keaton), Mike Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Matt Carroll (Brian d’Arcy James) and Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams) - who were permitted to choose what they would investigate and were given the time that was needed to getting the story right. Instead of the breaking news each hour, the Globe generally permitted the team the space and time to do probing stories. However, even as the movie begins in 2001, the need to downsize the newspaper industry is apparent.
The movie has the structure and tension of a police procedural while keeping the camera tight on the journalists themselves. The church, the priests’ lawyers, the courts, the community, the journalists’ families, and many of the victims themselves do not want the story told. As is often true in police procedurals, even when it seems they recognize that they are on the right trail, the trail of lies and barriers expands. They begin by what seemed as inconceivable – that there was one priest, Father Geoghan, who sexually abused children and then find there were four and ultimately learn that there are many priests – many children. They recognize that the story is not about an individual or group of individuals, but instead about the archdiocese and the system itself. The journalists have to confront that they too have complicity because they have been given information about the abuse for years and have not followed the story. The movie contrasts their wrenching self-examination with the apparent lack of conscience from the lawyers who handled the cases, the court who sealed documents on behalf of the church, and the church leaders themselves who willfully and systematically hid the truth, yet permitted pedophile priests to continue to hurt children.
The movie can serve as a training film for journalists of the future – teaching the value of true investigation and of examining one’s own biases. Or, it could be used at Wharton or other business schools – teaching the value of having a management team that supports a team by staying involved. Or it could be used in law schools to teach about responsibilities to a community – not just to a client. But, for most viewers –the movie demonstrates the value of truth.
Perhaps the one element that should have been explored rather than just mentioned was the class of the children who were harmed. Many of the children were poor – struggling at an early age. The church seemed like a welcoming place to them, and so the abuse is so much more than just physical. One victim who was running a support organization for those who had been abused by priests explained that for some children all they had was faith and that the attention of a priest was a “big deal”. When the trust was broken, they lost their faith too. He explained that many live with ongoing shame. The authorities who had been charged with protecting the children, lawyers, newspaper men - dismissed the rumors because of reverence for priests and because these were poor children.
The Spotlight team was a small group – Robby Stewart (Michael Keaton), Mike Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Matt Carroll (Brian d’Arcy James) and Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams) - who were permitted to choose what they would investigate and were given the time that was needed to getting the story right. Instead of the breaking news each hour, the Globe generally permitted the team the space and time to do probing stories. However, even as the movie begins in 2001, the need to downsize the newspaper industry is apparent.
The movie has the structure and tension of a police procedural while keeping the camera tight on the journalists themselves. The church, the priests’ lawyers, the courts, the community, the journalists’ families, and many of the victims themselves do not want the story told. As is often true in police procedurals, even when it seems they recognize that they are on the right trail, the trail of lies and barriers expands. They begin by what seemed as inconceivable – that there was one priest, Father Geoghan, who sexually abused children and then find there were four and ultimately learn that there are many priests – many children. They recognize that the story is not about an individual or group of individuals, but instead about the archdiocese and the system itself. The journalists have to confront that they too have complicity because they have been given information about the abuse for years and have not followed the story. The movie contrasts their wrenching self-examination with the apparent lack of conscience from the lawyers who handled the cases, the court who sealed documents on behalf of the church, and the church leaders themselves who willfully and systematically hid the truth, yet permitted pedophile priests to continue to hurt children.
The movie can serve as a training film for journalists of the future – teaching the value of true investigation and of examining one’s own biases. Or, it could be used at Wharton or other business schools – teaching the value of having a management team that supports a team by staying involved. Or it could be used in law schools to teach about responsibilities to a community – not just to a client. But, for most viewers –the movie demonstrates the value of truth.
Perhaps the one element that should have been explored rather than just mentioned was the class of the children who were harmed. Many of the children were poor – struggling at an early age. The church seemed like a welcoming place to them, and so the abuse is so much more than just physical. One victim who was running a support organization for those who had been abused by priests explained that for some children all they had was faith and that the attention of a priest was a “big deal”. When the trust was broken, they lost their faith too. He explained that many live with ongoing shame. The authorities who had been charged with protecting the children, lawyers, newspaper men - dismissed the rumors because of reverence for priests and because these were poor children.