Sound of Freedom speaks volumes

In Ecclesiastes chapter 3 it says “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens,” including a time to speak. The time is apparently now to speak about child sex trafficking, which is a global problem and billion-dollar industry.

There is no longer a time to be silent and for Alejandro Monteverde, who wrote and directed the film, “Sound of Freedom,” the time to speak out on the topic is now.

According to a Department of Homeland Security report, “Countering Human Trafficking: Year In Review (October 2020 to September 2021), in a message by Dardell T. Morant, Director of the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking, “Human trafficking is the crime of exploiting another person for compelled labor or commercial sex acts, typically through force, fraud and coercion, or inducing a minor under 18 into commercial sex.”

Human traffickers victimize an estimated 25 million people worldwide with 80% in forced labor and 20% in sex trafficking, adults and children. Traffickers have an estimated annual global profit of $150 billion.

In the movie the statement is made that a child, unlike a bag of drugs, can be sold five to six times a day for 10 years or more.

There have been TV crime dramas that have dealt with the topic of children being trafficked for sex. In 2019 the Northern Wyoming News wrote about the efforts of Karen Fettig to spread awareness about human trafficking and its victims. She has been working to raise awareness since 2004. In the story in 2019, Fettig told the Northern Wyoming News, “I think [human trafficking] is getting worse, maybe because of the media, social networking makes it easy. Human traffickers can make millions off just a few women.”

The message has been told but “Sound of Freedom” seems different. Perhaps because it is based on the life of former DHS agent Tim Ballard but Monteverde, according to media reports had written a script regarding human trafficking of children and then heard Ballard’s story and rewrote the script. Perhaps it is just the right message, delivered in the right way at the right time.

It is a powerful movie with a powerful message that brought this non-cryer near tears.

The motto of the movie is “God’s children are not for sale.” Jim Caviziel, who plays Ballard, utters these words when asked why he was searching for missing children being trafficked for sex.

At the end of the movie there is a time that says there is a special message coming. Caviezel discusses the need for the movie to be seen and the story to be told. He says the story is not about him or Ballard but it is the story of the children who need rescuing, who need freedom from being sex slaves.

While we should give kudos to Monteverde for writing and directing the film, kudos to Angel Studios for getting the movie released and kudos to the Dykstras and Washakie Cinemas for bringing the movie to Worland, Wyoming. (Sunday’s matinee was packed and the movie will run here for another week). But Caviezel is right, the story that needs to be told is not about these people. It is about the victims of human traffickers around the world. And it is a story that needs to be told.

Think about how long there have been missing and murdered indigenous women and once people started telling the story the bigger the movement and the more help is available. I first learned of the MMIW when on vacation in South Dakota and saw a performance at the Crazy Horse Monument. One of the dancers talked about the symbol of the red hand on her face and that it was for the MMIW. Then a guest speaker at Indigenous Peoples Day at the Washakie Museum discussed it. Then there was the movie “Wind River” bringing light to the issue.

This year there was the TV series, “Alaska Daily” whose primary plotline was around MMIW.

Stories matter.

The story in “Sound of Freedom” matters. The more we tell the story, the more we can exact change in the world.

Yes, the film, of course, is steeped in some controversy because, sadly, that is the world we live in.

The facts are 20th Century Fox had the rights to the movie and when Disney bought Fox they shelved the project. Five years later Angel Studios out of Provo, Utah, acquired and released the film, which has been No. 1 at times among U.S. sales as it is only available in the U.S. at this time.

There are social media claims about AMC Theaters turning off the air conditioning to discourage movie goers but Angel Studios has come out in support of AMC Theaters.

There are social media rumors and posts thanking Mel Gibson for the movie. Fun fact, Gibson has nothing to do with the film except to have reviewed it for his friend Caviezel. Gibson also has come out in support of the film and against human trafficking.

Who knows why Disney did not release the movie, the point of the movie is the message, not who released it. The point is not the conspiracy theories, it is the message.

It is a message that needs to be told. A story that needs to be heard. Let’s hope the message is heard loud and clear through all the noise.

God’s children (no matter what age) are not for sale.

Take a moment to check it out and help tell the story.