Mark Ruffalo puts ‘Spotlight’ on Catholic Abuse Scandal in New Movie

By Raffi Asdourian (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
By Raffi Asdourian (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Mark Ruffalo hopes new film will provoke the Catholic Church to use ‘Spotlight’ as a way to heal victims of the church’s sexual abuse in Boston.

Spotlight is a new film directed by Tom McCarthy which features an ensemble cast with names such as Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo and Stanley Tucci, among many others. The film takes its name from a unit of investigative journalists within The Boston Globe called Spotlight. The plot revolves around their investigation and coverage of the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Boston, which eventually resulted in The Boston Globe receiving the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

This alone has been enough for people to pay attention to the film and reviews have been favorable, praising performances by every member in the cast, a collection of plots that are tied together in an effective way and an overall message of free press being needed for democracy to fulfill its purpose.

One of Mark Ruffalo's statements about Spotlight‘s controversial themes has also gained attention. The actor stated that he hopes “the Vatican will use this movie to begin to right those wrongs: not just for the victims and their destroyed lives, but for all the people who have lost their way to order a chaotic world for themselves”.

Mark Ruffalo hopes new film @SpotlightMovie helps to heal the Catholic Abuse Victims of Boston[/tweetthis]

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Ruffalo has been involved in political activism for a while and his comments should be an example of the importance media can have. Free press, in this case, was a great example of bringing serious concerns within the Catholic Church to public light, and now, more than 10 years later, a film helps in a similar way as to All the President's Men: make those unaware, aware, as well as making people notice that it is important to demand accountability from authorities, both public and religious.

The abuses investigated during the movie happened mainly during the 1980s and 1990s. The scandal involved not only the crimes themselves, but the church's will to cover them up and not force responsible parties to answer to the authorities right after they got notice of the issues.

Mark Ruffalo stated that this film should be used to help the victims of abuse and should inspire people, but it must be seen as a symptom too. For people to not notice something until Hollywood says something about it, demonstrates that people are missing critical issues in society, due to lack of press coverage, distractions, or cover-ups from those hurting others who are disguising themselves as sheep, when they're really wolves in nature.

Finally, it is important to watch the movie with an open mind and each person should judge it themselves. This should be done in order to understand part of this issue, but as with all informed decisions and judgments, many sources are to be considered, and the Spotlight should generate awareness and make people interested.

Ruffalo’s recent films range from Avengers Age of Ultron to Begin Again to Foxcatcher.

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