Do you remember when posturing about child trafficking was all the rage? QAnon had a coming out party and all their people were invited to politicize. Because if you didn’t LOVE Sound of Freedom, that meant you were PRO-trafficking, you monster!
You know what I disliked most about Still Hope? It’s not that it’s a bad film. I mean, it isn’t a good film. It’s too rooted in blind faith and gives too much credence to -quite frankly- the iffy treatment “horse therapy.” But, hey, I understand these things might be the things that pull you back from the edge, so I’m not not gonna bust them. No, the thing I truly HATE about Still Hope is it came with no hype.
Still Hope was a Fathom Event thing. It played one showing in one day and disappeared. Three years ago, the QAnon crowd would have pushed this like Melania. Oh, you motherfuckers where all so hot and bothered then, weren’t ya? You railed about child trafficking and sex slavery and did that asshole thing the Right always does, which is picking an issue with such ferocity that there’s an assumption the other side is against it. Sometime you flat-out lie about it (i.e “Biden had open borders!”), but in the case of child trafficking, you assumed that if you shouted loud enough, you’d create an opposition, and then you assumed that opposition was the same people you voted against.
NOBODY is for child trafficking. NOBODY is for sex slavery. Well, I guess that was true when you were scoring political points off such … but it sure isn’t true any more, huh? The second you assholes discovered that Trump might be involved in such, you are a pedophile’s best friend, aren’t you, QAnon? It was never about protection of innocents, was it? It was always about power. And you know how we know? Sound of Freedom was all about Central American children being trafficked. Show me anyone on the Right under Trump II who gives one shit about any non-American Hispanics. Go ahead. I’ll wait. ICE can’t disappear them fast enough for your tastes. You know what? Some of those kids you deport are gonna turn out like the kids in these movies …. precisely because of Trump policies … the ones you voted for … yes, you did vote for them. We fucking warned you.
Ok. Movie. Hope (Luna Rivera) is smitten with a douchebag. He takes her bowling, gives her a necklace, and then leaves her to be abducted by sex slavers. She has a few chances to run away, but her new overlords insist that if she does, they will hurt her family. It is enough of a threat to keep her in chains for years. Still Hope is based on a true story, and I’m certain stories similar to this still happen all the time … and they’re
gonna happen more the more we put unnecessary resources into DHS instead of actual law enforcement. Yes, I sure know how important it is for the FBI to get some good deportation photo ops instead of catching honest-to-God villains, but, hey, whatchagonnado? This is what you voted for. YES YOU DID.
What I liked about Still Hope was that Act III was devoted to rehab. Here you have a true mixed blessing. People sold into trafficking never fully recover from such. That’s one of the reasons it is such an awful crime. A crime WE SHOULD ALL HATE. And while it is wonderful to end an abduction picture with an arrest, a sigh, and a hug, that doesn’t begin to describe the actual grief that goes on. These victims are scarred for life, and kudos to the picture that recognizes such. OTOH, the excitement of the picture has long since drained, and rehab on film is about as fun as praying on film, of which Still Hope has both. I am truly sad for the Hopes of this world. May they all find freedom and solace. But Still Hope was made with a political agenda in mind. An evil one because it doesn’t conform to moral standards or accountability, which is exactly why few will ever see this film … because the agenda that promoted it no longer sees it as politically valuable.
There once was a teenager named Hope
Who found a boy with whom she could elope
He left her that night
Thugs took her from sight
And now sell her between sessions of dope
Not Rated, 126 Minutes
Director: Richie Johns
Writer: Mitch Hudson, Randy McWilson
Genre: Modern day evil
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The kind of people who think you can pray evil away
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Epstein defenders; yes, that means you, every Republican right now
