In this inaugural episode of JoBlo Scandals, we investigate the controversial child trafficking drama Sound of Freedom from Angel Studios.
No one could have predicted that Sound of Freedom would be one of the summer’s biggest box office smash hits. To put things in perspective, this $15 million indie outgrossed The Flash, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in North America. Not bad for a movie that was initially dumped by Disney and distributed by a small, faith-based distributor called Angel Studios. Yet, while the success of an independently financed drama should be something that’s celebrated, Sound of Freedom‘s success has proven to be wildly controversial, with its critics slamming the film as being “QAnon adjacent” due to the movie’s star openly embracing many of the conspiracy theory’s beliefs. However, the makers of the movie say it’s apolitical, with the director recently slamming anyone trying to peg it as something it’s not.
That aside, the film’s subject, Tim Ballard of Operation Underground Railroad, has also proven to be a lightning rod for controversy. So, what’s the deal with Sound of Freedom? Given how much of a hot topic it is, we decided it would be the perfect way to launch our spicy new series, JoBlo Scandals, which looks at some of the biggest controversies and scandals in a town known for them. It comes from writer-editor-narrator Taylor James Johnson and ace researcher/ writer Brad Hamerly, the guys behind WTF Happened to this Celebrity. In this premiere episode, we cut through all of the noise and try to examine Sound of Freedom and its release in a way that explores why both sides of the political divide have tried to turn it into something it’s not, threatening to obscure the very important message at the movie’s heart.
Let us know in the comments if you like our first episode and what you’d like to see covered next!
Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/joblo-scandals-sound-of-freedom/