Spotlight on Spotlight

When the story first broke of child molestation within the church in 2002, I had just graduated from high school - a Catholic high school - a year before. I'd been going to Catholic school since Kindergarten, and had just entered college; my very first experience in a public school setting.  I don't remember the actual Boston Globe articles that broke the story, but I do remember the ripples it made.

It was hard to see just how enormous the problem was - this wasn't just something that hit Boston.  After the Boston Globe article ran, it seemed archdioceses from around the world admitted the same sort of abuse within their walls.  It was heartbreaking to hear stories of survivors being victimized by the church - a church that was supposed to protect them and keep them safe. As a character in the movie Spotlight says "How do you say no to God?"

There was and is a lot about the church's response to this issue that's turned many people away, including me. I knew a bit about the cover ups based on news stories.  And based on what I was hearing in church and in the news, even after the story was out there, the Vatican just wasn't dealing with the problem.  They stuck to the code of silence as they still seem to be doing today.  

So when Spotlight came out, I was happy to see the survivors were getting the chance to share their story and get the attention they so rightly deserved.  But I was a bit worried too that the movie wouldn't do them justice.  They've dealt with so much, having their story told incorrectly would just be another injustice.

Apparently, though, I worried for nothing.  Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer researched their hearts out on this movie and wrote a beautiful screenplay.  They didn't go overboard or sensationalize what happened.  They told the story of a group of reporters who were dedicated to telling a story correctly - never choosing to break the story before the facts were in.  Which, it seems, is exactly how they went about writing their story.  They stuck to what happened, not what would be the most exciting. 

And the cast!  What can you say about the cast?  Each member of the ensemble fit perfectly into their roles.  They really worked together and you could just picture them as part of a real investigative team.  Michael Keaton particularly was outstanding as the head of the Spotlight unit. While Rachael McAdams and Mark Ruffalo deserve their Oscar nods to a certain extent, I think Michael Keaton may have deserved one more.   He was just extraordinary in his role.  The actors playing the survivors were also particularly well-cast. They seemed to take it upon themselves to reach out to their real-life counterparts to hear their stories and get their portrayals right.  Your heart broke hearing those stories told and thinking of the real people behind them.

It truly is a beautiful movie and I'd recommend it to anyone; specifically Catholics.  It opened my eyes to just how much the church has been hiding.  Don't get me wrong, the Catholic church has done a lot of good in this world, and I still call myself Catholic, but there are problems that desperately need to be addressed before the church can move forward. Seeing as the Vatican screened this movie during a Commission on Abuse in the Church meeting, means they may be moving in the right direction.  But they still have a very long way to go.