by Kiran Sundal
1. Introduction
In the world of cinematic storytelling, films often delve into political content, serving as a mirror for the socio-political climate of their respective eras. Although explicit political language and intent may not always be present, themes with inherently political undertones are frequently explored in film subject matter. Movies such as Sound of Freedom carry a significant weight in their subject matter, transcending mere entertainment. The film industry often confronts the challenge of portraying sensitive topics without implicating intrinsic politics; however, this film tackles the issue head-on, offering insight into the reality of child trafficking while unveiling the political undertones at its core.
Sound of Freedom achieves this by presenting meticulously crafted scenes that highlight the underlying motivations of its characters. Additionally, the film employs camerawork techniques and the strategic placement of props to hint at political issues. Directed by Alejandro Monteverde, the film loosely draws inspiration from the life of former government agent, Tim Ballard, and his efforts to rescue trafficking victims.
The movie commences with a former pageant queen luring a Honduran family into a trafficking scheme disguised as a modeling opportunity. She informs the father that she is an entertainment agent and can transform his children, Rocío and Miguel, into successful models. Homeland Security agent, Tim Ballard, participates in a sting operation to apprehend a pedophile and rescues Miguel in the process. Upon learning that his sister is still being held captive, Ballard vows to rescue her. With the help of other anti-traffickers, Tim embarks on a risky expedition in the Colombian jungle, where rebels engage in illegal activities. There, Rocío is among many other exploited children and is ultimately rescued by Ballard.
While this film addresses child trafficking, this essay argues that Monteverde uses the characters in Sound of Freedom to unveil injustices cultured from power dynamics that surround child trafficking. The film will be analyzed through the exploration of characters based on their dialogue and motivations, supported by texts on politics, genre, and child trafficking. These include (respectively) Projecting Politics by Haas et al., Approaching Film Genre by Barry Grant, and Child Trafficking, Youth Labour Mobility and the Politics of Protection by Neil Howard. First and foremost, this essay will establish how characters in positions of power use ethnocentrism as a means to neglect pertinent issues and lives. Next, it will explore how the main character embodies the white savior concept, and how supporting ethnic characters serve to bolster this concept. Lastly, it will acknowledge how the film’s characters demonstrate a lack of accountability by downplaying their contribution to human trafficking through discourse in an attempt to diffuse the political presence.
2. Ethnocentrism Surrounding Child Trafficking
Sound of Freedom presents child trafficking, a very real problem that is not a mere “social debate”, as a “form of threat – violent or otherwise – to the social order” (Grant 16). As noted by Grant, all genre films do this — they draw from real life and turn it into formulaic narratives. When applied to Monteverde’s film, the crime/thriller genre serves as a platform to shed light on trafficking as a socio-political issue, as this viewpoint suggests a bias or prejudice against Latin Americans.
Ballard presents the case of Rocío to his boss, Frost, who tells him, “We’re homeland security, we can’t go off rescuing Honduran kids in Colombia… [rescuing one kid] is a career-capper, take it and move on” (Sound of Freedom 00:42:35) which reveals the government’s aversion to child trafficking, namely in Latin America. Frost is a minor character but perpetuates the notion of rescuing foreign individuals to be a means of advancing one’s career. This undermines the importance of the lives of Latine children because they are not from his country and are the responsibility of Latin American governments. If the child was American, or if the trafficker was American, it would be a different story, as mentioned by Frost himself in a phone call to Ballard (Sound of Freedom 00:55:23). Concerning mise-en-scène, the placement of the American flag behind Frost in the aforementioned scene may be a motif of American righteousness and nationalism, both of which are contributors to ethnocentrism. Predominant discourse on child trafficking “is reductive and ethnocentric” (Howard 130) and his attitude affirms this trend as he implies Americans to be superior. Americans will alienate Latin America until they can benefit from them, as noted by Projecting Politics, “Hollywood, like the nation, ignored Latin America for a long time, venturing south of the border only occasionally for [big movies] or for settings…” (Haas et al. 209).
3. The “White Saviour” Concept
Tim Ballard, a white American man, is the hero in the story, saving Latin American children who are victims of exploitation. In the context of the genre, Ballard is adhering to the romantic mode according to Northrop Frye’s concept of modes. Through this lens, “the hero is superior in degree, marvellous but mortal” (Grant 18), thus reinforcing the cultural power dynamic present. The centering of his character gives rise to the question: What of the Latin American heroes with the same goal? Three men who desire to save victimized children work alongside Ballard — a Colombian cop, wealthy citizen, and former cartel criminal, Vampiro. This approach is similar to the films Missing and Under Fire, which are about Americans, not Latinos, with white heroes. Haas notes that these films “would have been strengthened by the presence of [Latino] characters, but chose characters with whom Americans would identify” (211) which is what was done to Sound of Freedom. The case of Missing is similar to Monteverde’s film, as “focusing on Chileans would have diverted attention from [the] primary concern, American involvement” (211), and in Sound of Freedom, the focus is the United States’s complicity in child trafficking. A simple way to convey this without being explicitly political is by having this white American man be the liberator of captive children. Tim Ballard being the saviour — white saviour, to be exact, is what persuades American audiences, as his superiority comes from his whiteness.
It is impossible to disregard the fact that this film is not about survivors and children, as it centers on a mission that depends on a white man who is perceived as a saint among hypocrites. Following a sting operation, Ballard remarks that the world is messed up, and the agent he collaborates with forces him to admit that he has found 288 pedophiles but has failed to locate any children. As a result, Ballard states, “Our job is to get the pedophiles, and that’s it” and the agent uses Tim’s own words against him, echoing his earlier statement that it is a messed up world (Sound of Freedom 00:11:27). There is evident hypocrisy explained by Howard’s postulation that “the ultimate consequence of…individual decisions made by anti-traffickers is to ensure that we remain exactly where we are” (131). This inconsistency makes Ballard a hypocrite, but when he meets Miguel, he is confronted with this hypocrisy and chooses “to take the risk of fighting back” (Howard 132). However, the question remains: why does Ballard choose to fight back? Ballard is quite literally thought of as a saint by Miguel when he shows him his San Timoteo necklace and gives it to him (Sound of Freedom 00:27:40), a moment in the scene that is emphasized by the cinematic choice of transitioning from a shot of the necklace in a hand to a medium two-shot of Ballard in focus and Miguel in the corner. This technique provides clarification that Tim is Miguel’s equivalent of a saint. This perception sustains his white saviour complex, which drives his desire to fight back. In light of this, American involvement is also shown as a good thing, although it contradicts the complicity by disguising America as a nation that others rely on for salvation.
4. Defusing the Political Role in Trafficking
In relation to Ballard’s mission, there is only discourse surrounding the protection of children and hardly any action on behalf of the government. Genre films, as such, introduce a problem that disturbs the world and must be solved (Grant 16), and in the world of Sound of Freedom, the problem is the government defusing its political role in trafficking. The white saviour complex aside, Tim’s choice to fight back and resign from Homeland Security illustrates the government’s failure to protect vulnerable populations and assume accountability for its role in the continuation of trafficking. Frost actively denies America’s involvement when he says: “We’re gonna let Colombians mop up Colombia” (Sound of Freedom 00:42:28) since it is a case expressed as their people, their problem. As seen in text at the film’s end, the United States is among the largest consumers of child sex (Sound of Freedom 01:59:51). Despite this, their government does not want to intervene, as shown by the insufficient operations because “it’s too ugly for polite conversation” (Sound of Freedom 01:02:55). This suggests a dissonance between rhetoric and action, where statements create the illusion of concern, but action to cease the continuation of trafficking is lacking.
Projecting Politics describes politics as a medium of words (Haas et al. 31) merely for persuasion and influencing perception. The political discourse around child trafficking attempts to convince the American nation, Ballard included, that trafficking is not actively occurring in the United States and that there are only pedophiles present in the country. The USA is superior, after all, so how could it ensue? This is the reason for Ballard initially dismissing victims. Solely acknowledging part of the problem is part of the problem, as “material exists independently of, but only has meaning on, the plane of the discursive” (Howard 12). The significance of this is that trafficking exists objectively, whether it is spoken of or not, but the perception and understanding of the issue are reliant on discourse attributed to the topic by those in positions of power. This can be shown through the cinematic integration of actual clips from Ballard’s testimony, which “led to the United States Congress to pass legislation increasing international cooperation in child trafficking cases” (Sound of Freedom 01:59:35). The film implies that since a former government agent testified, trafficking finally became a concern in America.
5. Conclusion
Monteverde’s direction of Sound of Freedom effectively navigates the balance between narrative and social critique, providing a glimpse into the realities of child trafficking. He reveals the socio-political nature of injustices encompassing trafficking, which are rooted in dynamics of power, through crafting revelatory scenes with principal characters in Sound of Freedom. To hint at the criminal industry’s political aspect, Monteverde employs subtle camerawork techniques and prop placements as aids. Certain shots are tailored to implicitly provide clarification of themes and include motifs for these themes.
Perhaps most significantly, Sound of Freedom compels viewers to confront the uncomfortable truth that the continuation and expansion of human trafficking is a symptom of systemic neglect. The conflict is not simply regarding a child being held captive as a slave—the problem at hand is the government’s failure to address the children, and the film does so with characters in positions of power who defuse their complicity. A major way in which this is done is through ethnocentric mindsets, ultimately leading to hypocrisy, ignorance, and the notion that America is the only source of salvation. With its inherent political content, Sound of Freedom is more than a film. It is a mirror of society, exemplifying the power of cinema not only to entertain but to unveil the underlying roots of international issues.
Works Cited
Costa-Gavras, director. Missing. Universal Pictures, 1982.
Grant, K. Barry, Film Genre: From Iconography to Ideology. Wallflower Press, 2007.
Haas, Elizabeth et al. Projecting politics: Political Messages in American films. Routledge, 2015.
Howard, Neil. Child Trafficking, Youth Labour Mobility and the Politics of Protection. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
Monteverde, Alejandro, director. Sound of Freedom. Metanoia; Santa Fe Films, 2023.
Spottiswoode, Roger, director. Under Fire. Cinema ‘84, 1983