The Left and its Indefensible Stance on Human Trafficking

Against all expectations, the new cinema thriller Sound of Freedom is showing in sold-out theaters across the country. It even outperformed the latest Indiana Jones franchise film, Dial of Destiny, on its opening on July 4^th and made 40 million dollars in its first weekend. This is a sign of hope, as the film was primarily produced to educate the public on the horrors of child trafficking. GMC’s article last week presented the grim statistics of child trafficking and the vast number of unaccompanied minors released into the country through our porous southern border.

Despite Sound of Freedom’s early success, A+ Cinemascore, and 100% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, the mainstream media is now beginning to serve up some hit pieces on this film as well as its actors and production team. In a CNN interview, author Mike Rothschild claimed the film feeds into a “moral panic” and right-wing Q-Anon conspiracy theories. Both the Washington Post and Media Matters criticized the movie’s star, Jim Caviezel, for embracing and propagating fringe theories about worldwide child abuse.

Film critic Charles Bramesco of The Guardian labeled the Sound of Freedom as “paranoid.”  Not to be outdone, Miles Klee, a journalist for Rolling Stone, claimed the movie is “a superhero for dads with brain worms” and is “designed to appeal to the conscience of a conspiracy-addled boomer.” Interestingly enough, Klee had to lock down his Twitter profile due to the substantial backlash he received after publishing the article.

We might refer these so-called “journalists” to a 2014 CBS 60 Minutes segment with Tim Ballard (the founder of Operation Underground Railroad), on whom the movie was based. This segment shows the actual video footage of a sting Ballard set up with Columbian officials to bust five trafficking suspects who brought in 54 underage boys and girls to a tropical island for a sex party. This has been clearly documented and is certainly not a conspiracy. The sting scene portrayed in the film was a faithful rendition of actual events.

To all the left-leaning Hollywood types bashing this movie – we have not forgotten about Jeffrey Epstein, his island, his black book of elite friends, and the Lolita Express airplane. Information about what went on at Little St. James has been widely reported. Is it any wonder that the locals dubbed it “Pedo Island”? The only real conspiracy surrounding Epstein is his untimely death and why the only other person charged for crimes against children was his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.

We also have not forgotten about the Nxivm cult, where leader Keith Raniere, actress Allison Mack, and Seagrams’ heiress, Clare Bronfman, were convicted of keeping a harem of sex slaves as young as thirteen. So, give us a break with your paranoia and boomer conspiracy theory accusations. As much as no one likes to admit or talk about it, the things represented in Sound of Freedom are occurring, perhaps more often than we know.

But the question remains, why would anyone or a media organization be against a movie highlighting the exploitation and suffering of innocent children? They wouldn’t, of course – unless they were somehow complicit. One has to wonder about Disney, who, according to Variety, “shelved the film,” refusing to release it for five years.

20^th Century Fox filmed Sound of Freedom in 2018, a full year before Disney purchased the studio. Disney sat on the movie until Angel Studios purchased the distribution rights and crowd-funded the marketing and publicity before its release. One would think that the traditional premiere organization for children’s entertainment (Disney) would care enough about children to support a film like this. However, with the recent dark undertones at Disney coming to the surface, no one should be surprised. This is yet another reason to cancel your Disney+ subscription and stop financially supporting an organization that overtly supports the sexualization of children.  

Although Disney was not successful in the total suppression of Sound of Freedom, a report came out from North Carolina that a particular theater issued refunds to ticket holders claiming that they were having air conditioning issues. A movie goer posted a viral video claiming that her tickets were refunded. Surprisingly enough, she claimed air conditioning was in the lobby, the hallways, and the bathrooms. Could this be another orchestrated way to squash Sound of Freedom? Maybe – maybe not, but would you put anything past people who support those who intentionally sell and exploit children?

If you have not seen Sound of Freedom, please go to Angel Studios to purchase your tickets. There is even a free ticket option if you can’t afford it right now, or you can pay forward tickets to help others who may not otherwise be able to attend. If Sound of Freedom is not in your area now, you can complete a Theater Request form to bring it to your community.

Human trafficking is real and should not be a partisan issue. It is a modern-day form of slavery. To all those still concerned about the plight of enslaved people in the United States over 200 hundred years ago, you cannot do anything to change the human tragedy that has already occurred.  But you can put your passionate activism to good use and work to free the slaves living today, in your lifetime, perhaps right in your hometown. The trafficked children deserve our help and support as black Americans did during the Civil War. This is the human rights issue of our times, and by working to end child trafficking, you will not only uphold the dignity of the human person but also be on the right side of history.