Twist of Faith

This comment is both a review of the film and a response to the comment left by "braindog."

The review aspect exists in the depth of the following argument. The issues raised by the film are painfully highlighted by braindog's comments.

Dear "Braindog,"

I went through a range of emotions as I read your comment on Twist of Faith. It began with anger, then disbelief, and finally pity. No, not pity for you. I don't know you at all. I feel pity for the endless line of children who are being sexually abused or will be in the years to come. A war on child sex abuse is like the war on terror or drugs; complete victory isn't possible, but that doesn't mean we stop fighting. Comments like yours are sheltered, insensitive, and dangerous. I pity the children who will be harmed because of a mindset like yours. The pedophile's best weapons come from other people. The public's silence, ignorance, and fear speaking against the popular view let pedophiles hide and endure because people won't attack child sex abuse head-on.

How old are you? How would you react if an authority figure, trusted, loved, friendly, advanced on you when you were 15? It's easier in today's instant-message, on-demand, Internet-savvy world to dismiss the filmmakers' stories. It is harmful to think that because teens "know" about sex that they are mature enough to make the right decisions or have the strength to make sense of an insane reality, even today when sex and teens are synonymous in pop culture.

Do you know the filmmakers? Do you know their families, go to their churches, attend their schools? I did. The film showed you the new reports, the testimonials, the tears, and the arraignments. What more did you want from it? This is a documentary, not a work of fiction.

When you're older and perhaps have a teen-aged child of your own, maybe you'll begin to understand how young they are, how impressionable and vulnerable they are. You comments sickened me. They are children, and they need to be protect. And they need to be believed.

As someone who was raised Catholic in Toledo, I found this very well-done, low-budget film to be incredibly compelling and real. While I personally never experienced abuse, many of my classmates and I had very strong relationships with the priests that worked in our parishes and schools. Watching on film the Archbishop (who was present at my Confirmation) so badly handle the revelation of the abuse was hard. But this film helped me understand the full ramifications of the abuse scandal. I liked that the film never allows itself to overly dramatize what is an incredibly painful and divisive situation. It simply shows the real impact of sexual abuse on a single man and his family. I just read another comment for this film, and it was less about the film and more about a particular viewer's political views on Church abuse. That anyone could watch this film and question the motivation of Comes is really difficult to imagine and sad. But of course -- as the film shows -- many people find it easier to further persecute victims of abuse than face the truth about the leaders of their faith.

A great, moving movie! Kirby Dick's films have always shown not only a light touch but an unerring impulse for the right emotional detail, revealing gesture and sense of when to pull back. In "Twist of Faith" he lets the points make themselves: the Church condones child abuse, they cover their tracks and lie about it. Dick's use of church music is especially telling, as is his judicious implementation of his "chain camera" technique: giving subjects their own video-cams to record their thoughts, document outward aspects of their lives and make occasional but heartbreaking confession. If only Art could make Change! Now THAT would be a Twist.

I found this documentary to be well done, saddening, but also in the end inspirational. It seemed at least that this family committed to working things out even though things were difficult. I also found it to be a stinging indictment of the conduct of church officials, conduct unfortunately not limited to this particular circumstance. In my opinion, the Church as a body has not done nearly enough to express its sorrow and regret at the wholesale lack of action taken against known child abusers. I think that the RICO statutes should be used to prosecute many church leaders who took part in these cover-ups. The Church in Rome basically acts like none of this happened and still wants to hold itself out as some sort of moral authority. I don't buy it.

I thought the documentary was excellent. But to reply to the person who stated that the documentary "hurt the people telling the story" I have a question for you. Have you yourself ever been a victim of abuse? If you had you would find yourself facing a cornucopia of emotions ranging from anger to shame and guilt. Victims of this type of abuse are typically reluctant to come forward. Tony Comes himself states that he didn't know what it meant. Did he mean that he was gay? You cannot sit there and judge these people for not coming forward earlier. It is not a black or white situation and I hope that no one in your family ever experiences something like this. If they did they would have to steer clear of you... God bless Tony and his family...