It has become a cultural phenomenon for the summer of 2023. Made in 2018 on a budget of just $14 million, The Sound of Freedom has grossed over $120 million at the box office since its July 4 release. .
The film stars Jim Caviezel as Tim Ballard. Tim Ballard is a former Homeland Security official who, according to the film, saved hundreds of children from child sex traffickers in Latin America.
If Ballard does half of what the movie portrays, he’s the ultimate hero.
Locally, Colorado River Regional Crisis Services and CRIT Behavioral Health Services sponsor free screenings at Bluewater Cinema. Their staff constantly provided information about child sex trafficking and what people could do about it.
There was a lot of talk about the film in right-wing circles. There are claims that Disney had the rights to the film after it merged with 20 companies.th Century Fox purposely didn’t release the film because it exposed how evil they were. They scoff at the possibility that this was a small film that got lost in company personnel changes.
Some have criticized the film for furthering the QAnon conspiracy regarding child sex traffickers. Some critics of the film say they must be pedophiles themselves.
A lot of the talk is that people should watch this movie because Hollywood didn’t want them to see it and tried to bury it. Judging by the box office success, this seems like a great marketing tool.
A natural question about the film is whether it accurately portrays child sex trafficking. The answer, according to experts working on the issue and victims, is that the description is incomplete and misleading.
Although the film is “based on a true story,” distributor Angel Studios themselves have acknowledged that “creative freedom” was taken.
First, you don’t have to go abroad to find child prostitution traffickers. That’s exactly what’s happening in our own community.
As an example of misleading information, The Sound of Freedom depicts children being forcibly kidnapped. The film’s opening credits feature grainy security camera footage of kidnapped children. But as Kristen Abrams of the McCain Institute told USA Today, a Baylor University study showed that less than 10 percent of child sex trafficking cases involve forced abduction.
Abrams went on to say that research shows that children who are victims of trafficking know and trust their traffickers.
In June, before the film’s release, Nick Bolter of the Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network gave a presentation on the issue in Parker magazine. A former Mesa police officer, he said traffickers don’t like kidnapping children because it draws attention to them. This is a business that prefers to “keep a low profile,” he said.
Bolter added that traffickers don’t have to kidnap anyone. They can find all the children they need.
In a Rolling Stone article, attorney Erin Albright and National Children’s Alliance CEO Teresa Hoysar found that many young victims are drugged by parents with substance abuse problems. and said most of the victims’ children were older than those in the film. . Most of them are displaced teens, seeking food and shelter in exchange for sex.
Bolter said traffickers use social media to find and locate victims. They go after children who grew up in unstable or broken homes, or who have been abused. They seem to offer them love and acceptance. Traffickers are great at making you feel wanted and belonging to their group.
Bolter said most trafficking victims do not understand what they are doing or how they are being manipulated. They may believe they are in love with or in a relationship with a trafficker.
Freedom Network USA’s Bolter and Gene Bruggemann both said LGBTQ teens are most at risk of being trafficked. In many cases, they have been rejected by their parents and families, seeking acceptance and just survival.
Albright and Hoysar told Rolling Stone that the depiction of child sex trafficking in The Sound of Freedom distracts from the harsh realities of trafficking.
The film ends with Caviezel urging people to take action to end child sex trafficking. He encourages people to use their mobile phones to order movie tickets so that more people can see them. But there is so much more people can do.
You can start locally by contacting the Colorado River Regional Crisis Service. CRRCS spokeswoman Erica Daniels said the agency has a lot of information about sex trafficking and offers services for victims and their families. They have access to information on training on how to spot signs of human trafficking and how to deal with it. Call us at 928-669-8620.
The Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network also has many resources and information. They offer all kinds of training on this subject. This includes training for people in the hospitality industry on how to detect human trafficking on premises.their website is aatn.org.
Bolter said people should call 911 if they see someone who may be in immediate danger. Some cell phones in La Paz County, especially those from visitors, may not be associated with the local 911, so the county central dispatch phone number is 928-669-. 2281.
For local resources and services for sex trafficking victims, please visit: www.sextraffickinghelp.com.
Hotlines for reporting trafficking situations include the Arizona Child Abuse Hotline. In this case, the victim can be a child. The number is 1-888.SOS CHILD or 1-888-767-2445.
The National Trafficking Hotline is 1-888-373-7888. The Arizona trafficking reporting line is 1-877- 4AZ TIPS.
