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The movie is based on a true story, but there is something I do not understand about the true story, that I was wondering if anyone could clear up. Basically in the movie, about 90 priests in Boston, give or take, are being investigated for sexual assault of minors.
A lot of parents of the minors went to complain to the church about it, but the church never ended up doing anything about it. But why didn't the parents just go to the police and tell them about it, and rely on the police instead of the church? I mean for random example, if I was sexually assaulted by someone who worked at an engineering company, and I wanted to file charges, I wouldn't go complain to the engineering company about it, and rely on them for justice.
I would take it to the police. It just makes more sense to do that, rather than leave the rely on the perpetrator's employer to do something about it. So why didn't any of them go to the police instead?
It's been a while since I have seen that movie, but from what I remember, victims DID tell the police on some instances, and the movie addressed that. The police turned a blind eye to the abuse because the church was so interwoven in the community. I would imagine that if word got out that you could report abuse, but the police won't bother doing anything, less and less people would be willing to go to the authorities.
Okay thanks. But weren't the police afraid of potential backlash? I remember a case near where I live, where the police turned a blind eye to a rape, but then the victim went to the media, and reported the rape, and she showed pictures of the alleged rapist, reporting it to the public, but she also gave the names of the police and the prosecutor she talked to, who turned a blind eye, and publicly embarrassed them to the point where the prosecutor felt compelled to do something to save face in the public eye.
I cannot recall the name of the victim in the case, in order to look the case up, but I remember that happening a few years ago. So couldn't the victims just do something like that, to compel the police, or weren't the police worried about public embarrassment for turning blind eyes, not just one one rape, but over dozens of cases, as in this true story?
They could have, but I think a large part of the reason why this abuse continued to go on for so long was simply the time/era in which it occurred. A lot has changed in people's mindsets and attitudes towards rape since the 70's and 80's. I think there was more of a stigma going public (which baffles me why anyone would look down on someone who has been raped- especially kids). Victim's rights and public attitudes have changed significantly since then, so what seems crazy today (ie. not reporting abuse), was normal, and dare I say encouraged, back then.
I also think the church was a larger influence in people's lives back then. As we move more and more away from organized religion, and we see that priests (and other religious/organizational heads- I'm Catholic, I'm just using priests as an example) are not infallible, they do not have the same clout and ability to intimidate individuals and communities like they have in the past.
RCC ran Boston. It was the only large, majority RCC city in America.
I was raised in RCC. Several decades ago, priests were revered, never questioned. Pedophile priests used that as a means to get away with these crimes against humanity.
The RCC will properly never recover from this self-inflicted damage of epic proportions.
It wasn't (and perhaps isn't) just the Church in Boston, although that is quite a sordid story. The movie 'Spotlight' does expose the relationships among the major institutions of that time: the Church, the Boston PD, the local districts attorney, and even the press. It wasn't easy to get that story into print, even with all the everwhelming evidence, but this group of reporters, their editors and senior management at the Boston Globe finally did print the story, and the backlash continues to resonate even today. Look up the story of the disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in disgrace over this story. It's a shocking story not only because of the actual crimes that occurred, but also because of the societal and institutional refusals to acknowledge these crimes.
For another similar look into institutionalized rape and how it affects the victims, read Jon Krakauer's excellent book 'Missoula', in which he looks at the culture of sexual crimes in major college football. The book not only dissects in detail the issue of date rape at the University of Montana, it depicts the everwhelming difficulty of victims trying to tell their stories. There are similarities between this story and the Boston RCC story.
Unfortunately, these two excellent works (the movie 'Spotlight' and the book 'Missoula') are only the tip of the iceberg. Just look at the stories emerging from the 'Me Too' and the 'Never Again' movements.
Okay thanks. But weren't the police afraid of potential backlash? I remember a case near where I live, where the police turned a blind eye to a rape, but then the victim went to the media, and reported the rape, and she showed pictures of the alleged rapist, reporting it to the public, but she also gave the names of the police and the prosecutor she talked to, who turned a blind eye, and publicly embarrassed them to the point where the prosecutor felt compelled to do something to save face in the public eye.
I cannot recall the name of the victim in the case, in order to look the case up, but I remember that happening a few years ago. So couldn't the victims just do something like that, to compel the police, or weren't the police worried about public embarrassment for turning blind eyes, not just one one rape, but over dozens of cases, as in this true story?
Quote:
Originally Posted by cbr11
They could have, but I think a large part of the reason why this abuse continued to go on for so long was simply the time/era in which it occurred. A lot has changed in people's mindsets and attitudes towards rape since the 70's and 80's. I think there was more of a stigma going public (which baffles me why anyone would look down on someone who has been raped- especially kids). Victim's rights and public attitudes have changed significantly since then, so what seems crazy today (ie. not reporting abuse), was normal, and dare I say encouraged, back then.
I also think the church was a larger influence in people's lives back then. As we move more and more away from organized religion, and we see that priests (and other religious/organizational heads- I'm Catholic, I'm just using priests as an example) are not infallible, they do not have the same clout and ability to intimidate individuals and communities like they have in the past.
I was just going to say that....different time and era, culture.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BobNJ1960
RCC ran Boston. It was the only large, majority RCC city in America.
I was raised in RCC. Several decades ago, priests were revered, never questioned. Pedophile priests used that as a means to get away with these crimes against humanity.
The RCC will properly never recover from this self-inflicted damage of epic proportions.
Oh yes, priests were considered godly back then. I was raised RC too, I remember those feelings. My oldest bl was molested in the N Attleboro church by a priest who was on the news. Can't remember the name. My bl is homosexual. Coincidence??
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brookboy
It wasn't (and perhaps isn't) just the Church in Boston, although that is quite a sordid story. The movie 'Spotlight' does expose the relationships among the major institutions of that time: the Church, the Boston PD, the local districts attorney, and even the press. It wasn't easy to get that story into print, even with all the everwhelming evidence, but this group of reporters, their editors and senior management at the Boston Globe finally did print the story, and the backlash continues to resonate even today. Look up the story of the disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in disgrace over this story. It's a shocking story not only because of the actual crimes that occurred, but also because of the societal and institutional refusals to acknowledge these crimes.
For another similar look into institutionalized rape and how it affects the victims, read Jon Krakauer's excellent book 'Missoula', in which he looks at the culture of sexual crimes in major college football. The book not only dissects in detail the issue of date rape at the University of Montana, it depicts the everwhelming difficulty of victims trying to tell their stories. There are similarities between this story and the Boston RCC story.
Unfortunately, these two excellent works (the movie 'Spotlight' and the book 'Missoula') are only the tip of the iceberg. Just look at the stories emerging from the 'Me Too' and the 'Never Again' movements.
Bernard Law did not resign as Cardinal. The Pope transferred him to Rome.
I was just going to say that....different time and era, culture.
Oh yes, priests were considered godly back then. I was raised RC too, I remember those feelings. My oldest bl was molested in the N Attleboro church by a priest who was on the news. Can't remember the name. My bl is homosexual. Coincidence??
Bernard Law did not resign as Cardinal. The Pope transferred him to Rome.
It was, in essence, a promotion, which tells you how (sar) seriously Vatican City takes these Crimes Against Humanity to be.
I watched The Keepers first then Spotlight. I thought Keepers did a better job of showing the whole culture of a city with a heavy RC influence and population. Of course the Keepers included police that were involved with the rapes too so there is that.
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