{"id":7189,"date":"2022-05-02T09:48:14","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T13:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=7189"},"modified":"2025-08-24T10:59:57","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T14:59:57","slug":"spotlight-a-terrible-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2022\/05\/02\/spotlight-a-terrible-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotlight: A Terrible Truth"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cSpotlight\u201d: this 2015 film tells the story of a journalist team, who, <\/span>in 2001, gets assigned to investigate allegations against John Geoghan, an unfrocked priest accused of molesting more than 80 boys. Led by editor Walter “Robby” Robinson, reporters Michael Rezendes, Matt Carroll and Sacha Pfeiffer interview victims and try to unseal sensitive documents. The reporters make it their mission to provide proof of a cover-up of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church. This movie will leave you on the edge of your seat and with a bitter taste in your mouth.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After watching this film, viewers may be wondering: Prior to watching this movie, would many people be aware of these issues going on in the church? The answer is a bit complicated. Yes and no. Throughout the last 20 years or so, you would always hear jokes about priests and little boys. It was common knowledge that members of the church took their power and used it to attack young children, but not to the extent that it actually was. People knew, but did not <\/span>really<\/b> know the real damage that was being caused to these children and the extent of how many children were being taken advantage of.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What can people learn from this film? A lot. This movie leaves a very sour taste in the mouths of people who are Catholic. Their beloved religion was tainted by men who have sick urges. People will learn the extent of the problem. Even the journalist team did not realize the extent of this issue until further investigation. They believed there to be about 15-20 priests who sexually abused children. The number ended up being around 250 priests, however, which is sickening to think about. This movie also sheds light on the trauma that is caused to the victims of sexual assault. The personal interviews that were conducted in this film can become very intense and leave you with a pit in your stomach, filled with anger.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Each principal character had to give up something in order to pursue this heinous story. Robby, Mike, Sacha and Matt gave up their sanity in some sense. Most likely, the team who uncovered this sex scandal lost their ability to sleep soundly for the rest of their lives. Thinking about the tormented victims would keep them awake at night. Especially considering that <\/span>when the story becomes bigger, they realize that there is a molestation ring within the Boston Archdiocese and that the priests were being protected by Cardinal Law. <\/span>This was discussed in class, with the ripple effect. How the trauma from a victim can give journalists second-hand trauma.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Despite losing so much, the team did gain something, something huge at that. Not only did the team become internationally known to the world and the Catholic Church, bringing them fame, but they gained something much more. They gained a sense of accomplishment and personal gratitude for exposing the atrocities committed by the priests and bringing light to the subject. They were also able to help bring the victims closure. This is much more valuable than any worldly possession.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So, all-in-all, why should you watch this movie? If you have a weak stomach and are in tune with your empathy skills, this movie will be hard to watch. If you do watch it, however, you are left with two polar opposite feelings. You gain a sense of gratitude\u2013that \u201cAH-HA!\u201d feeling as the priests get brought to justice and the victims are able to find closure. Yet you are also left with a bitter taste in your mouth and a knot in your stomach. These poor people really had to deal with such things and just continue to live their lives. It is truly saddening and humbling.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cSpotlight\u201d: this 2015 film tells the story of a journalist team, who, in 2001, gets assigned to investigate allegations against John Geoghan, an unfrocked priest accused of molesting more than 80 boys. Led by editor Walter “Robby” Robinson, reporters Michael Rezendes, Matt Carroll and Sacha Pfeiffer interview victims and try to unseal sensitive documents. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7189"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8144,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7189\/revisions\/8144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}