Spotlight's Mitchell Garabedian & Michael Rezendes Discuss The Film's Impact

[@peopleunite3605]

Spotlight heals. I am a survivor. Mitchell is a true American hero.

[@castinmeadows6956]

It's a miracle that any child who endured such horror survived it. Am beyond glad that you are among those who have indeed survived the nightmare. I can't begin to imagine the hell you've been through, both as a child and an adult. Just as I can't imagine how you must've felt when you first watched the Spotlight film. Perhaps the first of many viewings? From my heart and soul, I hope that you are healing well. You deserve every liberation from the traumas that were inflicted upon you as a child. That the Church systematically held its child victims in, and coerced the children's families and communities into, captive fear and silence is no less abominable for it being not surprising. Power corrupts, and corrupts absolutely. Prison is where the perpetrators and their willfully complicit, unconscionable enablers belong -- not you and your fellow targets/survivors. It's unfortunate that no prison is large enough to incarcerate the Church itself, for the countless crimes and horrors it has committed over the centuries around the globe; and which, in so many forms, it still does, and to the abject misery of countless billions of people across countless generations. And where the children suffer the most. I pray for your healing. You deserve to feel whole, free, happy, and at peace. May every blessing be with you.

[@peopleunite3605]

@@castinmeadows6956Greetings! I wish to thank you for your heartfelt and sensitive missive dear soul. While reading, I sobbed and sobbed. Your words were like water gushing over dry and parched land. Bless you, for caring and expressing this to me. I sent my son to the same catholic school I had gone to. I forwarded your beautiful message to him and then read it to other survivors at a SNAP meeting. May every joy be yours now and forever. Thank you.

[@castinmeadows6956]

@@peopleunite3605 Hello, Baba Yaga 5. I'm so heartened that my comment touched you. Good tears, as you've experienced, are healing, even cathartic. If that is how my words affected you, your son, and your fellow survivors at the SNAP meeting, then I am deeply humbled. I, too, am a survivor of childhood abuse. So, I know what it is to be truly heard, and for one's feelings and experiences of abuse to be sincerely validated by someone who understands -- especially from someone's own personal experience. Granted, the abuse I experienced was not abuse of my faith, or by a church member/representative; it was emotional abuse and severe emotional neglect by a parent, which left me with Complex-PTSD throughout my life. I am still healing from it. It is a long, arduous process, at least for me and many survivors of childhood abuse. But it's a dark forest which fellow survivors can get through. With the right moral support, especially of our fellow survivors, and proper resources, we can heal. I've mostly known only what it is to survive. The art of living has been a foreign language to me. But now I am moving beyond survival mode. And, I hope, one day to know what it is for me to thrive. This is my hope for you and your fellow survivors, and for anyone who has been traumatized by childhood abuse, and who still struggles with its horrible effects. I have watched "Spotlight" so many times, I have lost count. Easily, over 50 times. Sometimes two or three times in a row, even if it's just playing in the background. The film is a source of great comfort to me, because it is a genuine validation -- even for those of us whose abuse was not sexual. It is one of the finest films I've ever seen on the subject of childhood abuse, and certainly on child sexual and faith abuse. Like the work of the actual Spotlight team, and as guided and supported by executive editor Martin Baron, the movie is astonishing for its integrity. So much so, that I still find it hard to believe that this movie ever got made. Also, I find that the movie's tremendous power comes from its very understatement and restraint; which serves as a potent contrast to a subject matter that is already emotionally overwhelming, and no greater than for those of us who can personally identify with the subject. To me, the film is like a rare whisper -- from than one empathetic, emotionally intelligent, informed, and reliable friend we've so desperately needed all our lives. Someone who has your back; someone whom you can really trust. Because, for people like you and your fellow survivors (and me), we know that trust is e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. Hopefully, the number of people who do earn survivors' trust will increase throughout society. And the people who are best to help effect, define, and shape such necessary change are the survivors (if, that is, they so choose to do so, and when they are ready). We know that millions of children depend on such a sea change. Children all around the globe. There is no humanity without, above all, a child's sense of real safety. May your pain and anguish transform into a life that reflects the beauty already in you. Thank you for your blessing. I wish you likewise, and tender good care. And, too, that your faith can be, or has been restored; if, that is, you so wish, and in the form and expression that speaks most closely and lovingly to you. Smiles, happiness, joy, and peace await us. And, if we're lucky, where we can find these feelings (or which find us!) in the present. :)) We heal together. Whether far or near. To you and your fellow survivors, I send and share love and peace. And, I absolutely agree. Mitchell Garabedian is as true, tenacious, unrelenting and courageous an American hero as there is! People must find the guts to openly champion and support such warriors, instead of staying silent or turning the other way, as they do almost EVERY TIME when a child (and an adult) is being abused. Garabedian has stood up for what is right -- and against so many odds, against so much pressure, from the powerful, to stay silent, to "go away," with threats of being disbarred, and probably death threats as well). For someone to go up against the Catholic Church, over and over again, and all alone, on this very topic is RELENTLESS BRAVERY. Garabedian is a one-man defender of justice for the children and their loving family members. And who sought no publicity, and still doesn't. Getting the truth out, exposing such heinous crimes and institutional corruption. Just unbelievable!!

[@HypocritesRoundTable]

He is a hero. His organization took down my HS principle who has since been defrocked.

[@mariarohmer2374]

So nice to see and hear from Mr. Garabedian. He is an amazing warrior.

[@castinmeadows6956]

So true. It's those who risk -- who make incredible personal sacrifices, with character and selfless integrity -- who make the most important and necessary changes in the world. Truth to power. Change that honors, and fights vigorously and vigilantly for, the people denied justice.

[@BOKO20101]

He merits a Congressional Medal of Honor. He is a true hero.

[@mariarohmer2374]

@@BOKO20101 Wow, I could not agree more! He needs to be nominated.

[@mariarohmer2374]

@@castinmeadows6956 Beautifully said. I'm sorry I missed your comment when it was first written. I completely agree with your statement.

[@muratsarsenov2008]

Garabedian is THE MAN!

[@sandycheeks7497]

Hands down one if the best movies I ever seen

[@2340Vegas]

There are a lot of follow-up videos on KZbin which creates interest in re-watching the movie. It now tops my list of "The Most Times Watched Movie" surpassing The Godfather.

[@HelioWakasugui]

Hah, I can see Stanley Tucci did a great job playing Garabedian

[@Ed30675]

Totally agree...they were all outstanding...

[@Hecate2011]

Love these guys, love real journalists, love their dedication including good and ethical lawyers like Garabedian.

[@bivio1]

Mitchell Garabedian is automatically in the Book of Life. God Bless Him!!!

[@earthscrammedwithheaven]

Amazing to see Rezendes’ mannerisms and how Ruffalo replicated him, a relatively unknown man, just for the sake of his commitment to the real story.

[@mzaphod64]

I just don't see it, the resemblance. Great movie, acting, story. Good job.

[@Ed30675]

Though i thought all the actors were brilliant, Ruffalo was for me the stand out, closely followed by Stanley Stucci.....

[@castinmeadows6956]

@@mzaphod64 Ruffalo certainly didn't short Mr. Rezendes's commitment, passion, and integrity.

[@castinmeadows6956]

@@Ed30675 Agree! And, if I may add, Liev Schreiber as well -- for his spot-on portrayal of Mr. Baron. Schreiber inhabited his role with compelling, understated power. But, yes, what a superb ensemble of actors. We may never see it matched again, with similarly hard-hitting material, and a script and direction to match.

[@Ed30675]

@@castinmeadows6956 I echo all of your comment... I continue to recommend this film to all my friends... It is a high calibre film that deals with such a difficult subject and should be seen by all...

[@jammiedodger]

Both actors did such a good job at portraying their real life characters.

[@josephdow5428]

Mitchell is doing the work so many have been afraid to take on and he's winning the battles.

[@christopherjames375]

An absolute terrific film .lknew stuff like this went on . But it opened my eyes . That it was world wide thing .perhaps . If they used medieval methods . Like hot tar and feathers over them in front of the congregation .

[@dianerosegrecoallen4935]

How would I get in touch with these gentlemen, especially Michael Rezendes? To this day there are repurcussions of what is still occurring in the Catholic Church and the distrust. My mother and sister died for their faith in the Catholic religion. There is so much more to this regarding mental health. Not only that but from deeper connections to misunderstood practices.

[@wendiummackenji1607]

Survive beside spotlight

[@benandlilyann]

Crikey it shows how well this movie was cast too

[@OkayMaybe-vq4yr]

Spotlight changed lives. I remember when the news first broke about the sexual abuse scandal. Like somebody punched me in the gut.

[@garyd250]

Maybe Mitch, these priests should be publicly confronted. As a minor who has been assaulted and abused by a Catholic Priest, I would never have told anyone what was done to me. I would've have been laughed at, scorned or even more abused because of it. You certainly don't say anything bad about a "Priest" A man of God! Holy Shit! The mind set of the generations 40, 60 even 100 plus years ago was these people walked on water! Never mind the thought of the destruction they caused in the lives of many many people. I finally decided after 42 years to get up and say, I have enough of the nightmares, the pain of living with what happen to me. I'm not afraid of these people who attacked me, and I am no longer afraid of confronting this anymore. I was assaulted and sexually abuse by a Catholic Priest, in a small town in Massachusetts, and so was my brother. I sent a letter to the Fall River diocese and the Boston Diocese because If continue to stay silent then that means that they have power over my life for what they did and I will never see relief from the humiliation and embarrassment I and my brother have suffered in our life time. As a result of my assault, I have had to bare and repress the anger and frustration and deal with a lack of trust toward these people and I have had to live with a sense of social dysfunction because of what happened to me and also knowing what another priest did to my brother who died as a result.

[@castinmeadows6956]

Thank you so much for sharing about you and your brother. You've expressed so well the many terrible aspects of the horrific crimes done to you and your brother. But you've also demonstrated your resilience and incredible courage to confront the church, and demand justice. To no longer be held captive by the silence and terror that their unchecked corruption of power (implicitly or explicitly) imposed and coerced upon you. "As a result of my assault, I have had to bare [sic] and repress the anger and frustration and deal with a lack of trust toward these people and I have had to live with a sense of social dysfunction because of what happened to me and also knowing what another priest did to my brother who died as a result." Powerful! More than legitimate anger, for sure. If it were me, it would take everything in me to restrain myself of rage in any confrontation with the church's representatives. The tragedy, unfathomable misery, trauma, and consequences that you, your brother, and millions of children have endured over the centuries (and still are, in silence, without voice or justice) is incalculable. You have my every felt compassion. And respect. And may your brother truly rest in peace. The last part of my response to babayaga108's comment, above, is what I sincerely wish for you as well.

[@christopherjames375]

It was going on years ago . But a priests word was gosbel .to the public it was unthinkable that a priest would sexually abuse kids . If a child made an allegation about a priest . He was made to give a letter of apology to the priest . Slapped around the face . Then sent to bed without any tea .in later years if he was married with kids . He would be ashamed to tell any 1 . He had to live with that 4 the rest of his life . While the perpetrator. Lived nice cushy life in a retired priests home . Personally I would a,gone around . And done the bastard with boiling water and suger .the sugercrystalises in the air .and sticks to there face when they put there hands to there face . It comes off in there hands . They look like Freddie Krueger. Seen it done to some 1 . Absolutely horrific .

[@castinmeadows6956]

The pain, horror, and rage... the honest emotions and truth that you speak... There are no words. Please know that, by your sharing, you are not alone. Nor alone in others' compassion for you. You deserve every justice and peace of mind. The Church, its representatives, and its apologist-enablers have denied you both. I can only hope that, in this life, you may know some justice, some peace mind. And, in the next life, every justice and all peace of mind that you so very much deserve.

[@luccecalixte7564]

Bonswa miche se lucce calixte ou te dim ou tap edem jwenn jisti sa pa janm mache mw toujou rete nan mize

[@davidamos7114]

Hmmmm

[@M60gunner1971]

Not a democracy, a Republic.

[@HKim0072]

Don’t be obtuse. Yes, we don’t have a democracy like the ancient Greeks, but yes, we are a democracy. www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democracy

[@M60gunner1971]

@@HKim0072 no STUPID. Look it up dumbfuck liberal. Constitutional Republic with the Rule of Law. Obtuse, dude you are a ducking idiot.