‘Sound of Freedom’ criticized by liberal media despite box office success
‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ co-hosts discuss the success of the ‘Sound of Freedom’ movie and backlash from liberal media.
The culture war has gotten so bad that the left even pretends a movie against child trafficking is somehow controversial. Actor Jim Caviezel plays a real-life government agent who fought the hideous practice around the world. And journalists have tried desperately to keep the movie from being a success.
They failed. Big time.
To say "Sound of Freedom" has been well-received by the public understates the case. It has a 100% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes (with more than 10,000 ratings) and even a 74% rating from the critics willing to see the film. CinemaScore gives it an A+ and it has already reached $85 million box office and is estimated to push close to $100 million once the weekend tallies are in. This weekend, it only lost out to Tom Cruise’s new "Mission Impossible" film.
That hasn’t stopped the leftist media from trying to kill the movie. They call it "controversial," "divisive," "propaganda," a "hype machine," "a Superhero Movie for Dads With Brainworms" and, of course, they tried repeatedly to tie it to QAnon conspiracy theories.
The attacks are unsurprising given how Hollywood and the liberal media have long embraced exploitative movies about children and sex from Brooke Shields in "Pretty Baby" to the twisted "Cuties."
‘SOUND OF FREEDOM’ ACTOR CALLS OUT MEDIA ATTACKS ON HIT FILM
The hypocrisy around "Cuties" is a great comparison because it is so recent. The French coming-of-age film was about an 11-year-old girl and was deemed so offensive that it spawned a massive protest against Netflix. "Cuties" only has a 15% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, but critics gave it an 87% rating, defending it aggressively against criticism.
The Washington Post ran the argument from culture columnist Alyssa Rosenberg urging viewers to see "Cuties." "The people freaking out about ‘Cuties’ should try it. They might find a lot to like." And Post Style reporter Monica Hesse called "Cuties" "one of the more compelling movies you’ve likely seen in months. Funny and deeply uncomfortable, sweet and sometimes sad."
But produce a movie that depicts pedophilia as evil and watch the media attack.
Rolling Stone said, "Sound of Freedom" is "designed to appeal to the conscience of a conspiracy-addled boomer." The outlet didn’t stop there, blasting even the idea behind the movie as, "this grossly exaggerated ‘epidemic’ of child sex-trafficking." Experts estimate there are 4.5 million victims of sex trafficking worldwide. So, yes, epidemic is correct.
Rolling Stone still complained that "conservatives remain obsessed." I think that’s an escalation from saying the classic media claim of "conservatives pounce."
The most common criticism was trying to tie the film and its star to conspiracy theories. The QAnon comparison was used so often that it’s a reminder that journalists are obsessed with the conspiracy group. Not ordinary Americans.
CNN is a perfect example. In one two-minute, one-second segment, CNN used the term "QAnon" 10 times. "CNN Tonight" host Abby Phillip, undermined the film’s very real premise. "And the ‘Sound of Freedom’ does focus on a real issue of sex trafficking. But that theme, it's sort of like that kernel of truth that feeds the QAnon conspiracy theory."
Miami Art Zine film critic Ruben Rosario called it "self-aggrandizing propaganda with its heart in the right place." And Slate was upset that some in the audience, "acted like they were at ‘Top Gun."
The Guardian tried to pretend the film beating the new Indiana Jones movie over the holiday was just a brief blip. "But for a fleeting moment this past Fourth of July, while the intended audience of Indy’s latest outing was presumably spending time with their families and friends at barbecues or in other social situations, an unoccupied fandom rallied by the star Jim Caviezel claimed the day with a $14.2m gross versus Dial of Destiny’s $11.7m."
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But this past weekend, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" was eclipsed by "Sound of Freedom." So much for that blip.
The Guardian also bashed the film’s funders, tying the film to, "a more unsavory network of astroturfed boosterism among the far-right fringe, a constellation of paranoids now attempting to spin a cause célèbre out of a movie with vaguely simpatico leanings."
The legacy press only attacks people who support a movie that journalists don’t want made. There is little criticism of all the money from communist China invading Hollywood – even though China is committing genocide against the Uyghurs, squashing democracy in Hong Kong and threatening free Taiwan.
"Sound of Freedom" is based on the life of former Homeland Security special agent Tim Ballard. He battled sex trafficking and even founded a group called Operation Underground Railroad, devoted to saving children. In 2014, CBS News raved about Ballard and a raid that saved more than 50 people, many of them children. That inspired the movie.
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CBS’s Elaine Quijano explained nine years ago, "Jim Ballard has one mission: to track down child traffickers." Quijano ended the piece saying, "liberating one child at a time."
"Sound of Freedom" doesn’t just highlight those important victories. It shows how Americans are gradually being liberated from the grip of the left. The press tried hard to squash this film. Instead, it’s going strong promoting the kind of values even liberals used to support – faith and freedom.
Only now, movies like this are succeeding without the legacy media.
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