The magazine Rolling Stone prompted controversy this past weekend after it published a movie review of a faith-based film about child sex trafficking that slammed fans of the movie as “conspiracy-addled boomer[s].”
Sound of Freedom was released on July 4. The film’s synopsis reads:
“After rescuing a boy from ruthless child traffickers, a federal agent learns the boy’s sister is still captive and decides to embark on a dangerous mission to save her. With time running out, he quits his job and journeys deep into the Colombian jungle, putting his life on the line to free her from a fate worse than death.”
For an independent and partially crowd-funded film, Sound of Freedom proved a sleeper hit at the box office, tripling its budget in less than a week and rising to No.3 on the domestic charts, according to Dexerto.
“We’re getting messages from all over the country telling us about packed theaters, sold-out theaters and spontaneous standing ovations for the film in numerous locations. Seeing this film has become a must, thanks to incredible word-of-mouth,” said Brandon Purdie, head of theatrical distribution for Angel Studios, per Variety.
Rolling Stone writer Miles Klee, however, criticized not only the film but also the subject matter, the personal beliefs of the actors, and the audience that attended.
Klee wrote that Tim Ballard, the real-life protagonist upon whom the film is based; Jim Caviezel, the lead actor in the movie; and “others of their ilk” had been “fomenting moral panic for years over this grossly exaggerated ‘epidemic’ of child sex-trafficking, much of it funneling people into conspiracist rabbit holes and QAnon communities.”
“The mostly white-haired audience around me could be relied on to gasp, moan in pity, mutter condemnations, applaud, and bellow ‘Amen!’ at moments of righteous fury, as when [the protagonist] declares that ‘God’s children are not for sale,'” added Klee, whose review went on to accuse the film of taking attention away from other social issues.
“There is visible suffering all around us in America. There are poor and unhoused, and people brutalized or killed by police. There are mass shootings, lack of healthcare, climate disasters. And yet, over and over, the far right turns to these sordid fantasies about godless monsters hurting children,” Klee lamented.
Supporters of the film pushed back against the review and its publication, accusing Rolling Stone of effectively minimizing the seriousness and scale of child sex trafficking internationally.
“Rolling Stone claims the sex slavery trade is not real,” alleged one Twitter user, Wesley Mahan.
Others referred to the magazine’s review of the foreign film Cuties, a controversial movie that some claimed hyper-sexualized child actors.
“Do you want to know what movie they supported and called ‘bold’ and ‘a movie that deserves to be seen’? Cuties. A French film released in 2020 that portrayed preteen girls teaching each other how to twerk and dance sexually in front of an audience,” tweeted Sarah Fields, president and director of advocacy for the Texas Freedom Coalition.
Another Twitter user wrote, “This is an in-your-face example of what both the publications/sites are about. I will not support them, nor will I take seriously anything I read from them.”
Still, some on social media defended Klee and criticized the backlash he and the magazine were receiving.
“Critics who gave it negative reviews are being hounded by masses of people accusing them of being pedophiles (and accusing their friends and partners of being pedophiles). This is, of course, the sign of a totally normal fanbase. So, I guess it might be good to ask yourself, is the chance of maybe seeing a good movie worth the chance of being harassed if you don’t like it?” wrote one anonymous user on Reddit.
According to the child advocacy organization 10.18 Strategy, as many as 250,000 children annually are trafficked for sex in the United States.
