Brilliant "Spotlight" Shines Light on Abuse in Catholic Church Tribble Agency
By Ariel Lynch Tribble Agency November 13, 2015 http://tribbleagency.com/2015/11/13/brilliant-spotlight-shines-light-on-abuse-in-catholic-church/ [potlight is the film McCarthy has been building towards. The film's story and perspective match that sentiment throughout, focusing on the dismantling of first amendment roadblocks for the victims of sexual abuse put in place by a religious institution that most - legislative branch included - would not (and did not) think twice about challenging. Having nailed that scene - and its attendant whiff of economic insecurity - with anthropological care, McCarthy proceeds to get everything else uncannily right, from the over starched shirts and pleated khakis worn by the Globe male reporters to the drudgery of looking up old clips and cranking microfilm. The problem of pedophiles within the priesthood was not new or unique to Boston and had been written about elsewhere; it was well-known in law enforcement and among networks of abuse survivors. Consistently gripping, Tom McCarthy's Spotlight tells the true story of an investigation by the Boston Globe newspaper that had far-ranging implications. Catholic leaders, both ordained and lay, said in an op-ed essays they welcomed the attention certain to be paid to the Catholic Church upon the nationwide release of the movie "Spotlight", which chronicles the Boston Globe's uncovering of the clergy sex abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston in 2002. "But Baron, now the editor-in-chief of The Washington Post, warned that news organizations" financial concerns often force cuts to investigative reporting teams. The paper hasn't shied away from covering the one-off cases over the years, and there's a well-earned weariness in agitating the church. A solitary, soft-spoken, ultimately poignant figure, Baron is the closest thing "Spotlight" has to a hero, no more so than when he resists the temptation to run with a particularly juicy piece of information, preferring to keep the team's focus on the system rather than on one individual. Newspapers are dead, except in the hearts of anyone who has ever loved them - which means that there are still narrow slivers of hope. The lead ensemble shines, too: The actors capture the efficient, shorthand communication that exists between reporters and editors who have worked together for a while, and the movie is able to fill us in on the private lives of the journalists just enough for us to get a handle on who they are without distracting us from their primary assignment. "I still feel really connected with the [Catholic]
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