Chapter 730

The outside world continues to expose various scandals committed by Catholicism in the United States. Gail gado stares at the news. Murphy is very relieved and can devote all her energy to the script writing of the new project. It is not easy for such a film with a clear theme and goal to make a success in the end.

First, Murphy identified the title of the project, which is "focus" on the news conference.

For him, this is a carefully selected film in a special social environment, and as early as when he planned his journey to Austria for the film "Diego Ross", he was almost sure to shoot "focus".

The film is deeply influenced by the social environment. There is nothing more suitable for the social situation of the film than now.

Not to mention the Hollywood interior stimulated by Catholic attacks, even most of the media are cheering for the film.

"Murphy Stanton's new film focus will become a classic film that interprets press freedom and highlights media power!"

The mainstream media, led by the New York Times, began to sing praises for Murphy before the film was officially approved.

To a large extent, the mainstream media basically represents the voice of the mainstream society. Although Catholicism has a considerable influence in the United States, a series of scandals have been exposed continuously, which has made them violate the sensitive bottom line that the mainstream society of the United States cannot touch - the protection of children and minors.

Even the Washington Post, which has never liked Murphy very much, stood on the opposite side of Catholicism this time and continuously issued articles urging Washington authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into this series of scandals.

Of course, it is not easy for these things to enter the judicial process. Just as the Kennedy family are devout Catholics and represent the interests of Catholicism, Catholicism still has considerable influence in the political territory of the United States.

In today's social situation, it may be exaggerating to say that Murphy's new film has attracted a lot of attention, but it is a fact that it is highly anticipated.

This is a good thing, but there is also a disadvantage. The higher the expectation is, the lower the fault tolerance rate of film production is. Especially for a film adapted from real people and true stories with extremely serious themes and contents, low-level mistakes are absolutely not allowed!

Therefore, before writing the script, Murphy should first make clear the whole story of the Catholic * * scandal reported by focus.

Since he has a plan, he will certainly make preparations in advance. Bill rosis has collected a lot of information before, and he has also established a smooth communication channel with Robbie Robinson, who actually led and participated in the news investigation in those years. All these are conducive to the writing of the script and reduce the probability of making mistakes.

Although she had seen movies several times, before she started writing the outline of the screenplay, Murphy flew to Boston to communicate with Robbie Robinson and others for a few days. After returning, she began to read a lot of materials.

The fact is the basis of the film's existence.

First of all, Murphy specially checked a survey on the Catholic Church. Seeing the above statistics, he also understood why the Archbishop of Marquez Costello was so eager and powerful to expand the influence of Catholicism.

Because according to the survey statistics, in today's United States, more than 50% of people who believe in Catholicism from childhood will stay away from Catholicism when they grow up!

What's the concept? In the end, at least half of those who grew up in or with Catholic families are no longer Catholic.

It is no exaggeration to say that this is a very terrible proportion, and it has been expanding in recent years.

As for the reason why these people leave the Catholic Church, there is a very high proportion - I grew up in the Catholic Church, and I was shivered by the hypocrisy and dogma of the Catholic church when I was very young.

Then, Murphy began to look at the specific information of the news events of that year. This news investigation can be described in one sentence. From 2001 to 2002, a column group named "focus" in the Boston Globe carried out a series of reports on the incidents of child abuse by priests, exposing the scandal of child abuse committed by Catholic priests in the United States.

It doesn't seem like a big deal. It's not much better than what Murphy did in "Diego Ross". But this kind of thing is totally different in Los Angeles and Boston.

The power of Catholicism is very different in these two cities!

Catholicism is the largest religion in Boston. It has a great influence in the local political arena, and often exerts pressure on various institutions. The Kennedy family is the most famous Catholic political family in Boston. The large-scale incidents of sexual abuse of children by priests in Boston have a lot to do with the local law enforcement departments' lenient punishment under the pressure of Catholicism.

Before writing a script, Murphy must make clear the cause and effect of the whole thing.

At the end of July 2001, Marty Baron, a member of the New York Times Group, was just transferred from the Miami Herald to the Boston Globe. He was still a newcomer to the newspaper. He noticed a report in the legal column that "the priest was suspected of being involved in a sexual assault scandal". When he was preparing for a more in-depth investigation, he was told that the judge had sealed up the court On the spot recording, which is undoubtedly preventing the personal files of the priest from being made public, Marty Baron immediately realized that what he was facing would be a real big news!He launched a "focus" team headed by Robbie Robinson and began to investigate father John Jorgen.

The results of the survey are shocking: the Catholic priest has sexually assaulted more than 130 boys in his six-year career! What's more surprising is that his affair has not been exposed, but he still retains his original work as a priest for 30 years after being exposed to molesting young members of the church.

The focus team compiled the investigation into father John Jorgen into a report entitled "the Catholic Church has allowed priests to abuse children for many years." the report caused a sensation in Massachusetts, but it is only the tip of the iceberg of the Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Boston.

At first, the reporters of the "focus" team thought that there were about 15 to 20 priests who had done the same indecent things. But after investigation, they found that nearly 250 priests in Boston had done the same thing in the past few decades.

What's more infuriating is that the church shuffled the clergy from one parish to another in order to prevent things from being exposed. These clergy continue to do indecent acts against children in the new Parish, making more and more people victims.

It is worth mentioning that during the investigation, a pastor named Ronald Paquin personally admitted what he had done in an interview.

This is of great significance to the whole incident, because although the investigation results were known at that time, no clergy involved in the case positively admitted the crimes they committed, and almost all clergy kept a secret about it. It is self-evident how much repercussions father Ronald Paquin's public recognition caused among the public.

He said he had been molesting boys until 1989, before the archdiocese transferred him from Boston, which lasted for 15 years, involving two different parishioners.

But he said, "yes, I'm stupid, but I've never raped anyone and I've never been happy about it myself."

In addition, Ronald Paquin also revealed that he was raped by a Catholic priest when he was a teenager.

The scandal finally came to an end. From January 6, 2002 to December 14, 2002, the Boston Globe made a series of reports about "sexual abuse of children by clergy", and won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003. The reports inspired more victims to stand up bravely. In the end, 249 priests and priests in the Archdiocese of Boston were publicly accused, with more than 100 alive victims 1000 people were killed.

It is worth mentioning that the original source of news, Father John Jorgen, under the protection of three cardinals and many church bishops, continued to commit crimes for 34 years, but he was beaten up and died in prison in 2003.

"We all know the secret truth, which comes from the dissuasion of religious friends and even the resistance of family Until the Last Shocking report was finally released, "focus" undoubtedly showed the tenacious strength of journalists' professionalism in this process. "

This is the Pulitzer Prize's comment on this news event.

Murphy has been engaged in a similar profession. In today's society, the vast majority of journalists pursue news and explosive news. It can be said that they have no bottom line like him at the beginning, but it is undeniable that there are still some journalists who have a sense of justice and social responsibility.

Anyway, the courage of these reporters is commendable. After all, more than ten years ago is not now.

At that time, just entering the new century, the church was far more powerful than it is now. For the "free" American society, the freedom of public opinion is naturally an important link. You can report government scandals, criticize the corruption of officialdom, and criticize the gaffes of public figures. But challenging the church is another matter.

The "focus" group of four challenges not only one or two priests who commit crimes, but also the whole church system that protects these stigmatized priests. Therefore, it is not difficult for Murphy to understand the huge repercussions after the publication of that year's report.

Unfortunately, the original church power, especially in the northeast of the United States, was quite powerful. After a brief sensation, it was managed to be suppressed by the Catholic side, and now it is gradually forgotten.

"The destruction of the body is far less than the destruction of the mind."

At the beginning of the script outline, Murphy specially added a sentence, ready to be used at the beginning of the film, "the so-called media should not be the media of praising virtues, but should be the eyes of justice, insight and disclosure of the evil of the world!"