How Spotlight (2015) Exposes Corruption, Challenges Faith, and Redefines Investigative Journalism
According to Filmaffinity, Spotlight won the award for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay in the 88th Academy Awards in 2015, it was nominated for six awards.
What happens when those we trust the most are the ones who betray us?
Spotlight, a soul-wrenching masterpiece by Tom Mcarthy, unearths the disturbing reality behind one of the most shocking scandals in modern history. It is a story based on true events. It revolves around the pedophile priest scandal that the journalists of the Boston Globe uncovered in 2001 and 2002. The film shows Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Robby (Michael Keaton), Sacha (Rachel McAdams) and Matty (Brian d’Arcy James) as the investigative journalists of Spotlight. Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber), the new editor of the Boston Globe, makes everyone uncomfortable with his unpredictable personality and further puzzles the team of Spotlight by asking them to investigate on the sensitive issue of child molestation happening under the Archdiocese, which puts his colleagues into a dilemma, as this would mean that the Boston Globe is questioning the Church’s authority and this might not be good for their image as the majority of their audience is Catholic.
The Bitter Truth Behind Angelic Figures
As the film unravels, the audience understands the case’s sensitivity and grimness. The case, which starts with the speculation around one priest molesting a child, in no time, becomes the biggest scandal of its time, with the possibility of about 90 pedophile priests alone in Boston. The writers of the film, Mcarthy and Josh Singer, handled the survivor interrogation scenes in the film pretty delicately, making the audience sympathetic to their guilt and grief. As a viewer, your heart goes out to all the survivors of the scandal. The apologetic, blurry but humiliating memory of the atrocities always linger in their eyes. This is conveyed by their impatient desperation to get their news out and the disappointment because of the pushback due to the 9/11 attacks, which speaks volumes about their silent struggle.
Spotlight on Investigative Journalism
A rather notable moment in the film is when Mark Ruffalo’s character breaks down in front of McAdam’s character, where he says that going to the church as a child was one of his fondest memories and now it feels like it was all untrue, this emotion is familiar to everyone, as when someone questions our fundamental beliefs and tries to snatch them from us, we feel suffocated and helpless. Investigative journalists make difficult choices daily with the increasing restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression in various countries of the world, Journalists face political threats of defamation, public killing, false criminal charges, etc. The recent murders of journalists reporting on corruption and illegal motives of the government stand testimony to the rising encroachment over the public’s right to know the truth and then form an opinion.
Perception and Prejudice
The film is an infallible representation of investigative journalism and also gives us a peek inside the life of a journalist. Keaton’s character, Robby, comes under immense scrutiny when the team realizes that they had been informed about this case earlier when he was the metro. Still, due his negligence their chance was missed, at this crucial point, Baron says, “Sometimes it’s easy to forget that we spend most of our time stumbling around the darkness, suddenly light gets turned on and there is fair share of blame to go around”, this makes the audience realize the amount of maturity and professionalism his character embodies. One of the most pivotal characters of the story is the lawyer fighting the case of the victims played by the veteran Stanley Tucci. Initially shown as an uptight and curt man, Tucci’s character transforms into one of the most meaningful and smart characters in the film. In a poignant scene with Ruffalo’s character, he says, “If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one”, this shows us how empathetic he was towards the case and its victims even after being termed as an ‘outsider’ because of his Armenian identity.
Something to Think About
Can faith move mountains? Or is it just us, meek humans, trying to find refuge in the act of leaving our worries, some divine intervention? Spotlight re-emphasises the duty of the followers to question faith as well as the brokers of the faith rather than following them blindly. The film has several scenes where the audience is left awestruck by its nuanced writing and seamless acting. It is a known fact that such films require intense research, and Spotlight has aced this requirement. At no point of time will the audience ever feel that the film is mundane; every scene grips the viewer with tension, suspense and amazement. Spotlight is one of the finest films of its time.