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I recently watched "Sound of Freedom", a film about a US federal agent going off without the support of his job to free children, victims of child trafficking. It follows him primarily with a small group of like-minded individuals trying to save a brother and sister, freeing many others as well. The story is based on real events, but it is a scripted, dramatic film. The film came with plenty of controversies, from lawsuits to bad press and delays in release.
The film was initially supposed to be distributed by 20th Century Fox, but after Disney acquired it, it was reported that, allegedly, Disney did not want to follow through with distributing the film. People got quite upset, and a lot of criticism followed, with people thinking that Disney dropped it for specific reasons like the subject matter. However, the filmmakers have debunked this, saying that it was, in fact, that they were just caught up with this major acquisition between studio giants, and it wasn’t for any specific story reason. Anyway, the film is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime today.
Lawsuits and bad press also came down on the film, specifically surrounding its accuracy, which I thought was rather interesting. One of the characters, who was a child trafficker in the film, was based on a real person, going by a different name. This person sued the filmmakers for defamation. Also, others in the federal office, industry and journalists have spoken about how unrealistic and dramatized the film is compared to what really happens in that world and how some aspects are misleading and do more harm than good. This is an interesting ethical topic to dive into because, from a legal standpoint and creative standpoint, it’s sometimes hard to know where you can draw the line. Movies that are “based” on real events sort of have the freedom to stretch that truth of the real event as much as they want; at the end of the day, it’s not a documentary or journalism; it is a fictional, scripted, dramatic film, which is sometimes forgotten.
This film’s subject matter was extremely important to be shown on the big screen. I think there’s often a hindrance to this type of subject matter because it can be uncomfortable and difficult to discuss. I hope to see more awareness in this area as it is such a huge worldwide issue.
