Commentary
Sometimes art influences life. A dramatic case is the recent movie “Sound of Freedom,” which is pushing into law California Senate Bill 14, by Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield). In the bill’s language, it “would include human trafficking of a minor within the definition of a serious felony for all purposes, including for purposes of the Three Strikes Law.”
The movie is about a Department of Homeland Security agent, played by Jim Caviezel, rescuing a young girl from sex traffickers.
We can see the movie’s influence from recent events and the voting timeline at the California Legislative Information website: July 4: “Sound of Freedom” was released.
July 11: SB 14 failed in the Assembly Public Safety Committee. The vote was 2-0, with six No Votes Recorded (NVR). A majority is needed to pass a bill in a committee, in this case five votes. NVR effectively counts as a No vote, but allows politicians to say they didn’t vote No.
July 12: USA Today reported, “Why ‘Sound of Freedom,’ Jim Caviezel’s controversial child sex trafficking film, is a hit.”
July 4-12: Left-wingers began attacking the film. The Guardian headlined on July 6, “Sound of Freedom: the QAnon-adjacent thriller seducing America,” while the Rolling Stone headlined on July 7, “‘Sound Of Freedom’ Is a Superhero Movie for Dads With Brainworms: The QAnon-tinged thriller about child-trafficking is designed to appeal to the conscience of a conspiracy-addled boomer.”…