Real intimacy
This year, the Oscars honored three films that are poignant meditations on a person's agency in falling and staying in love.
This year, the Oscars honored three films that are poignant meditations on a person's agency in falling and staying in love.
Nearly 15 years ago, the Boston Globe broke the story of the priest-pedophilia and bishop-cover-up crimes. The film Spotlight, which chronicles the investigative reporting behind the newspaper’s Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage, is now up for a Best Picture Academy Award. While this new film shines a light on what happened then, watching it now reveals how the Catholic landscape has changed (and not changed) since the story broke in 2002.
While the reporters depicted in Spotlight initially pursue the stories of particular priest-pedophiles, the editors see the bigger picture: the bureaucratic system, the hierarchy, and the mindset that allowed these priests to be moved from parish to parish without legal intervention.
In Jessica Jones, the superhero villain's control over people is chilling because we recognize it. It plays out in ordinary abusive relationships.
One might expect Spotlight to be fascinating because of the victims' stories. But it's the focus on clerical and legal institutions that grabs the viewer.