Category: Culture

Taylor Swift’s Movie Success Is More than Meets the Eye

Taylor Swift has an unusual entertainment tale to tell.

It’s a pretty sure bet there are plenty more chapters to her Hollywood story.

She’s already recognized the world over for her performance skills, songwriting ability, and business sense.

It is factors such as these that have procured her millions of devoted fans, the likes of which few celebrities have enjoyed.

The seasoned star has now added another notch to her celebrity belt.

She has taken a concert performance and plastered it on the big screen, where it has been met with blockbuster success.

Shortly after wrapping up a record-breaking concert tour, a film version of her live performance, titled “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” made its debut in theaters.

Unlike most past and present Hollywood films, Swift made the decision to bypass the studios and instead deal directly with movie theaters. The results have been remarkable.

The film has already grossed $140 million worldwide and $110 million domestically, making it the highest-grossing concert movie of all time. And it only cost $15 million to make.

Here’s some background on the celebrity herself.

Swift spent her early years on a Christmas tree farm that her stockbroker father had purchased from one of his clients.

She attended pre-school and kindergarten at a Montessori school, which was run by the Bernadine Franciscan Sisters.

As she grew, so did her music aspirations. Influenced by a documentary she had seen on Faith Hill, she felt drawn to Nashville, Tennessee.

The opportunity to visit Music City arrived at age eleven. Accompanied by her mother, demo tapes were pitched to various record labels, but the efforts were unsuccessful.

In order to help his daughter’s dreams materialize, Swift’s father sought a job transfer to an office located in Nashville. Fourteen year-old Taylor and family packed up their bags and moved to Tennessee, and the rest is music history.

Swift’s recent movie success has a lot to do with the unique manner in which she has structured her career.

She seems to have understood at a very young age that art has an intrinsic “mission.” It’s not enough to merely be created. It must be shared.

It is in the sharing that a relationship is formed. And it is in the relationship that mutual appreciation and admiration blossom.

Consistent with the artist’s mission, Swift dutifully placed her audience first. As a result, she acquired a highly dedicated fan base, many of whom continue to endure.

“Swifties,” as her devotees are called, feel a profound sense of connection with her, as she seemingly does with them.

The film provides a way for fans to come together in a communal interactive experience. Viewers sing, dance, and connect with the onscreen presence as well as with one another.

The movie features performances of songs from all of Swift’s “Eras,” taking viewers on a trip through her life from her country music beginnings to her current creations.

In addition to the varying musical and stylistic periods of her career, each era is represented by a distinct visual aesthetic, costume design, and set list.

Here’s an “Eras” sampling:

– The Country Era features Swift’s early hits about first love (“Tim McGraw,” “Our Song,” and “Love Story”).

– The Fearless Era focuses on love found and love lost (“You Belong with Me” and “White Horse”).

– The 1989 Era appears to be a significant turning point as Swift enters the world of pop and rap, and optimism turns to cynicism (“Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” and “Bad Blood”).

– The Reputation Era moves significantly to the dark side both musically and lyrically (“…Ready for It?,” “Look What You Made Me Do,” and “Delicate”).

To me, Swift’s life story so far appears to be part fairy tale and part misfortune.

The lyrics to her songs across the eras give the impression that they emanate from personal understanding.

Her trademark first person perspective makes the listening experience highly relatable for audiences, meaning her story is our story.

Young Taylor initially wrote and performed songs that primarily focused on the search for the one with whom she could find true love.

As time passed, the music and lyrics changed, possibly a reflection of transitions occurring within her own life.

In any event, darkness, cynicism, and coldness, which are reflected in the melodies, lyrics, and video imagery of later eras, reveal a hardened heart.

Whether or not this is the case in Swift’s personal circumstance, it is important to keep in mind that along with fame comes responsibility.

This is because fans put the recipient of their admiration on a pedestal and are influenced by things said and done.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who is hoping for a Swift return to her songwriting roots.

And a resurrection of the artistic mission she was graced with at the start.

Why Historical Statues Need To Be Preserved

We are living in truly disturbing times.

Although much could be said on this topic, in the interest of time the following commentary will be limited to a discussion of the destruction of historical monuments and statues that were intended to commemorate past individuals and/or events of national importance.

Centuries old historical figures and their counterpart statues are presently being deconstructed by activist left-wing zealots.

Rather than focusing on the character, courage, and altruism of former civic ancestors, those bent on destruction are purposefully displacing them from the context of their respective historical time periods, only to hold them to modern-day standards.

The following example is one that is currently in the news.

The Democrat-led New York City Council has advanced a bill that, if passed, will result in the removal of works of art, including statues that depict some of America’s most influential historical figures.

Statues of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Christopher Columbus, and many others are on New York City’s potential chopping block.

These are individuals who have played enormously important roles in the creation of America. Their statues serve as reminders of the contributions that they made and ideals they held, which enabled them to lead a people from autocratic rule to representative democracy.

The removal of such statues is part of a woke handbook, which seeks to redact from the pages of history those whose life stories don’t fit the desired narrative of those presently in power.

The Long Island town of Brookhaven is coming to the rescue, offering to take possession of the statues and even cover the costs for dismantling and shipping them.

Reportedly, officials have indicated that they already have spaces available for placing the statues in Brookhaven’s 20-plus parks.

In a letter to NYC Mayor Eric Adams, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Edward Romaine detailed how important some of the historical figures are to the community, including how Washington had toured the town and founding father William Floyd had called it home.

“The Brookhaven Town Board knows the importance of our history in bringing us to the place we are today,” the letter states. “If we look through our eyes today and try to judge them for what they did years ago as some people may do they come away with a different view. I look at their contribution to history overall, I look at what they’ve done.”

When deciding whom to commemorate, either by statues, monuments, holidays, currency, stamps, or names of towns, schools, and streets, we choose individuals who have made exceptional contributions to society. In so doing, we sometimes prefer to look at the greater good that has been done and permit it to outweigh the human failings.

If you are puzzled as to why someone would demonize Washington, the Father of the Country, or Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, you are not alone.

The reason may be rooted in a lack of appreciation for and understanding of the destiny-altering period in our nation’s birth, the Revolutionary War.

One of the finest films ever made dealing with this historical period is “The Patriot.”

Roland Emmerich directed the epic movie, which stars Mel Gibson, Chris Cooper, Heath Ledger, and Jason Isaacs.

Although fictional in nature, the film’s story is based on the reality of Revolutionary War times, a period during which our nation was coming into being. It tells the story of Benjamin Martin (portrayed by Gibson), a widowed farmer who is reluctantly drawn into the war.

Martin is a veteran of the French and Indian War. He has sworn off violence but is forced to take up arms once again when his son is murdered by Colonel Tavington (portrayed by Isaacs), who is a particularly cruel British officer.

Martin’s farm is burned down by the British, and he and his remaining children are forced to flee. He joins a militia group and begins to fight back. He instructs his men on how to use guerrilla tactics to defeat the British and soon becomes a legendary figure among the colonists.

Director Emmerich, who is of European descent, understands the importance of America’s birth. He summed up his attraction to the project on the film’s DVD, stating, “These were characters I could relate to, and they were engaged in a conflict that had a significant outcome, the creation of the first modern democratic government.”

“The Patriot” is a tale of loyalty, sacrifice, and the unquenchable thirst to live free.

These are the intangibles that we honor when we erect statues of historical figures who left an indelible mark to the benefit of all of their progeny.

And that progeny includes you and me.

Cultural Marxism Being Used in Teacher Hiring

Cultural Marxism is a far-left intellectual movement that seeks to systematically destabilize society from within.

For a considerable length of time now those who subscribe to this ideology have been hard at work materially altering the values of the Western World, with a particular emphasis on values conveyed in society’s schools.

Some in the establishment media and institutional elite make the assertion that Cultural Marxism doesn’t even exist.

So what’s in a name? Well in this case, it’s a lack of truth in labeling.

Karl Marx, co-author of The Communist Manifesto, was of the political philosophy that human society develops through class conflict. The conflict takes place between the ruling class that controls the means of production and the working class that facilitates the production.

Marx espoused that a capitalist system eventually self-destructs, and communism is the ultimate governmental answer.

When World War I ended, some Marxist thinkers came to believe that in trying to achieve communist goals, Marx hadn’t really paid close enough attention to the need to infiltrate culture.

There was an influential group of European thinkers that methodically carried out an assault on the foundational pillars of society: religion, patriotism, marriage, family, and the criminal justice system.

Cultural Marxism adopted the viewpoint that traditional culture is a source of oppression and existing conventions, institutions, and even history must be torn down in order to rebuild a society with new Marxist structures.

More contemporary Cultural Marxism primarily tries to destroy the notion of absolute truth and replace it with relativism, political correctness, multiculturalism, and communist revolutionary theory.

We are at a point in our society where this replacement ideology has saturated our colleges and universities. Now there is quite a bit of evidence that in large part it has made its way to the elementary and high school levels of education as well.

Parents have disturbingly discovered that the Cultural Marxist concepts of “systemic racism” and “unconscious bias” are embedded in much of the school curricula, oftentimes under the label of DEI, which stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

One of the ways in which the far-left has increased and actually solidified the presence of Cultural Marxism in educational institutions is through the screening process for prospective K-12 hires.

Public school districts across the country are using a screening process for potential teachers that is apparently designed to ensure that future educators will be singularly aligned with Cultural Marxist ideology.

The National Opportunity Project (NOP), a nonprofit government watchdog and educational organization, has produced the first survey and overview of the DEI-model hiring process in K-12 education, with nearly 70 public schools participating.

The NOP found countless examples of the restrictive underlying ideology in the teacher hiring process.

Unfortunately, the notion of seeking out the most qualified candidates for open teaching positions appears to be taking a back seat. Instead would-be teachers are being evaluated on whether or not they adhere to desired DEI tenets.

For example, districts are using politically loaded language within job postings, seeking candidates who “demonstrate the qualities of an equity-literate educator” or who “demonstrate a commitment to diversity and recognized equity and inclusivity.”

Across the nation public school job postings are setting forth ideological pre-requisites that are rooted in Cultural Marxism.

Here is a sampling of some of the school districts that are apparently all-in with the ideology, along with some of the language that is being utilized:

–Evanston Township High School District 202 is seeking those applicants who demonstrate a commitment to “social justice” and “equity.”

–Denver Public Schools is looking for candidates who have an “anti-racist mindset” and will “work to dismantle systems of oppression and inequity.”

–The public school district in Washington, D.C. is recruiting teachers who are able to “define, understand, and promote equity” in order to “systematically interrupt institutional bias.”

–City Schools of Decatur, Georgia is looking to hire educators that are committed to “dismantling systemic racism and generating racial equity.”

In a similar vein, questions being posed during interviews appear to be attempting to screen candidates on the basis of their allegiance to DEI-Cultural Marxist concepts.

Here are some examples of such school districts, along with questions that are being employed:

–Virginia’s Loudoun County Public Schools asks prospective hires, “How would race and diversity impact your classroom?”

–Homewood-Flossmoor High School in Illinois asks candidates to “provide an example of how you have created equity in your classroom.”

–Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland inquires, “How do you ensure that student outcomes are not predictable by race, ethnicity, culture, gender, or sexual orientation?”

It is up to all of us to continue to monitor our local school districts and hold school administrators accountable with regard to the teacher selection process.

Yes, it’s one more thing to worry about and one more thing to have to contest.

But aren’t our children truly the best of what we’re all fighting for?

Voice of the Silent Unwoke Majority

The need to speak is fundamental.

Whether accomplished through verbal, non-verbal, or myriad other means of connecting, communication is a rudimentary part of just being human.

Even if denied we remain resilient, and we try again to hear and be heard.

Despite recent efforts to inhibit free communication, our human connection was made manifest, albeit in a roundabout way, as necessity dictated.

An analysis of consumer choices that have been made over the past several months is providing a window into repressed public opinion.

To put it plainly, the silent unwoke majority sure seems to have found its voice.

We can hear it in the consumer purchasing activity of wildly popular music, movies, and streaming products, including Jason Aldean’s “Try This in a Small Town” music chart-topper, Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” download phenomenon, “The Sound of Freedom” motion picture triumph, and “The Chosen” series streaming success.

In a free marketplace, brands can quickly become tainted if companies do things that their customers find offensive. Retail giant Target is the latest company to hear the silent unwoke majority’s roar.

Recently, the company reported its first sales and revenue decline in six years, with comparable sales in its second quarter falling more than 5%, when compared to last year. It suffered a drop in number of transactions as well.

The plunge in sales occurred following a boycott by those who were outraged at the store’s promotion of transgender ideology and related merchandise for children as well as adults.

Target’s CEO told investors that the company’s sales fell because of “multiple headwinds” that had slowed down business. However, the biggest cause of the company’s woes is most likely the corporate decision to go woke.

One of Target’s merchandise partners, U.K.-based brand Abprallen, was discovered to have produced apparel depicting satanic imagery. Even though the demon-draped items were not sold at Target, the partnership appears to have intensified the anger that had fueled the original boycott.

Similarly, Bud Light continues to suffer financially from a boycott that was prompted by the decision to associate the formerly popular beer with a transgender social media personality.

Needless to say, the customer base was not pleased by the company’s woke left turn. Bud Light sales dropped more than 25% for the week ending August 5, with volumes down nearly 30%.

It is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, which has found its entire portfolio of beers severely hurt in the woke implementation process. Anheuser-Busch InBev shares fell 6% during a six-month period, while the S&P 500 had simultaneously gone up 8%.

Bud Light’s losses led the company to place its marketing vice president on leave, and hundreds of workers had to be let go.

Disney is another company that has severely damaged its brand, incoming revenue, and reputation, particularly when it comes to its most needed fans; i.e., the paying population of parents, grandparents, and guardians. The Mouse House is currently more famous for its family-unfriendly content, and its political stance against the State of Florida’s child-protecting education bill.

With their significant losses following multiple boycotts by the silent unwoke majority, Target, Bud Light, and Disney now serve as cautionary tales for other business concerns.

If avoiding a similar fate is the goal, the above-described consumer reaction provides an ideal lesson for companies that are thinking about implementing woke practices and policies.

In order to preserve their valuable brands, companies need to be extra attentive to the potential minefield of a polarized society amplified by social media.

Additionally, possessing a basic knowledge of the human need to relate to one another, and actually caring about the beliefs, attitudes, and aspirations of the customers to which you cater, are simple common sense business axioms.

The voice of the silent unwoke majority may not exactly be music to the ears of woke corporations.

But it sure sounds sweet to those of us who still live free.

Oliver Anthony’s Blue Collar Anthem Rockets to Number One

Truths, especially those that have been suppressed, often have a way of emerging in the form of a song.

With one finger on an instrument and another on the pulse of a culture, a gifted songwriter is able to capture a moment, compose melody, and pen lyrics. With the luck of the draw, the creation may even become a musical soundtrack for its times.

This just happened in the life of former factory worker and off-the-grid farmer Oliver Anthony.

He performed an original song for an audience comprised of his dogs. The instant the video was uploaded to the web, Oliver’s world changed forever.

Just days ago the Virginia singer-songwriter was unknown to the general public. Now he has the number one song on iTunes. It’s called “Rich Men North of Richmond.”

It turns out that Oliver writes his songs from a 90-acre piece of land in Farmville, about an hour outside of Richmond, the place that he and his trio of canines call home.

A performance video of “Rich Men North of Richmond,” which was posted by radiowv, currently has more than 8.4 million YouTube views.

The footage shows him singing while strumming an acoustic guitar. His song is blue-collar music at its best, twangy, bluesy, and soul-stirring. The distinctive country tune speaks the language of average folks and puts into words their feelings of frustration with those who are running the country.

It opens with the following lines:

“I’ve been selling my soul

Working all day

Overtime hours

For bull—- pay.”

Reflecting the discontent with the present economic reality and the fallout from unjust governmental policies, Oliver goes on to sing, “Lord, it’s a damn shame what the world’s gotten to for people like me and people like you.”

One of the most compelling lines in the song points to the surreal nature of life these days, with the words, “Wish I could wake up and it not be true, but it is, oh it is. Living in the new world with an old soul.”

In a separate YouTube introduction video that he posted, Oliver shares that the performance video of “Rich Men North of Richmond” is “the first song to get out there that’s been recorded on a real microphone and a real camera, and not just on my cell phone.”

He also shares that prior to finding his musical mission he had “wasted a lot of nights getting high and getting drunk, and I had sort of gotten to a point in my life where even things that I did care about didn’t mean anything to me anymore.”

Invoking a famed TV psychologist, he adds, “This is certainly no Dr. Phil episode, but I found an outlet in this music. I started uploading a couple of songs.”

He voices his concerns about the difficulties folks face in having to pay high taxes while experiencing the falling dollar.

“No matter how hard they push and how much effort they put into whatever it is they’re doing, they just quite can’t get ahead because the dollar’s not worth enough, it’s being over-taxed,” he states.

He draws attention to the horrific situation in the world involving our precious children.

“One of the worst things a human being can do is take advantage of a child,” he says. “I think I drew the line on being quiet when I started to see that becoming normalized. And I’ll leave that at that.”

He explains that “in the last part of the song, it touches on suicide rates and really on mental health and depression.” He goes on to express that “there’s no reason why young men or women in this country should be committing suicide. There’s obviously a problem. People talk about epidemics in this country — the homelessness and the drug use and the lack of skilled labor…”

He also notes that he sits “pretty dead center down the aisle on politics” and that “it seems like both sides serve the same master — and that master is not someone of any good to the people of this country.”

Kari Lake shared her love of Oliver’s song on Twitter/X, posting, “I can’t listen to Oliver Anthony’s ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ without getting chills.” She added, “It’s raw, it’s true, & it’s touching the hearts of men & women across this great nation.”

Country music singer-songwriter John Rich actually made a recent offer to produce Oliver’s album.

Meanwhile, left-leaning media are trying to sully the song. For example, Rolling Stone published a piece titled “Right-Wing Influencers Just Found Their Favorite New Country Song,” characterizing the tune as a “passionate screed against the state of the country.”

News bulletin: His song is music to the ears of millions of Americans whose voices have been suppressed and who have simply been suffering in silence.

8.4 million views and counting is the exclamation point.

Lessons on Communism from ‘Doctor Zhivago’

Artistic works oftentimes reflect the times in which they are created.

Music, books, films, and the like, particularly those that endure the test of time, may serve as vessels of information, entertainment, and enlightenment for a culture.

Some artistic works may reveal truths that governments with malicious intent would rather suppress.

“Doctor Zhivago” is a 1957 novel penned by Russian author Boris Pasternak.

Pasternak’s book made its debut on the big screen in 1965 under the same title. The film was produced by Carlo Ponti, directed by David Lean, and stars Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, and Geraldine Chaplin, among others.

The widely read best seller is actually one of the most famously censored pieces of literature.

The author embedded in his work the notion that every person is entitled to a private life and deserves respect as a human being. This was fundamentally irreconcilable with the communist maxim that the individual must be sacrificed to the collective.

Consequently, the book was banned in the old Soviet Union, and the movie was not allowed to be made there. Instead it was filmed mostly in Spain.

The then-Soviet government hid the book from the Russian people, because the “Doctor Zhivago” story explicitly reveals the dark truths of communist tyranny.

The communists censored anything that had the capacity to hinder their despotic drive for political power.

Like those who preceded them, the Soviet tyrants did nothing to restrict individuals that parroted the establishment narrative.

However, when it came to those whose speech constituted a threat to their power, they routinely demonized, silenced them, or worse.

According to a book by Peter Finn and Petra Couvée called “The Zhivago Affair,” Pasternak thought his novel would never be published in the old Soviet Union, because of the manner in which authorities viewed it. So the author gave the manuscript to an Italian publishing scout, which ultimately led to Pasternak’s book becoming a global best seller.

De-classified documents have revealed that, during the late 1950s, the CIA actually distributed copies of his novel to Soviet citizens in order to spread the word about communism’s inherent dangers.

Providentially, the movie became one of the top-grossing films of all time and ranks high on most of the lists of best movies ever made. In 1966 it was awarded five Oscars.

It is the backstory of “Doctor Zhivago,” though, that makes the book and film so notable and amazingly timely.

It tells the story of a Moscow physician-poet, who struggles to cope with the changing landscape of his homeland as a group of communist commissars literally take over the country.

The film stars Sharif in the title role, while Julie Christie portrays his love interest Larissa “Lara” Antipova.

“Doctor Zhivago” uses a flashback technique, with the main character’s half-brother narrating the tale of his search to find his niece, who is the daughter of Lara and Yuri.

Early in the movie young Yuri is orphaned. His only earthly possession is a Russian stringed instrument that he inherited, the balalaika, which weaves its way through the film’s musical score.

The youth is taken in by friends of his family, Alexander and Anna Gromeko, and is subsequently moved to Moscow.

He grows up to become a doctor and soon takes Tonya, daughter of the Gromekos, as his wife.

During World War I, Yuri provides medical care to soldiers fighting on the battlefield. Lara enlists as a nurse. She eventually encounters the love of her life.

For the next six months they serve together at a field hospital, while unrest foments in Russia, following the return of exiled Vladimir Lenin.

Yuri and Lara fall deeply in love. The doctor initially remains faithful to wife Tonya, but passions eventually prevail.

One particularly meaningful scene in the movie occurs after Russia exits WWI. Yuri returns to his Moscow home only to find that the residence has been taken over by the Soviet government and now houses a large group of strangers.

Yuri’s dream of a privately-owned home has vanished. Now a dozen other families live in the space that the good doctor once had for himself and his family.

The chairman of the residence committee, Comrade Kaprugina, tells Yuri, “There was living space for 13 families in this one house.”

“Yes,” Yuri says. “Yes, this is a better arrangement, comrades. More just.”

His words, of course, are a lie that he is forced to say out loud. No longer does he have control over who lives in what was once his home.

He knew his poems had been condemned. He also knew the sheer ruthlessness of his nation’s captors. Now he lives in a place where truth no longer is permitted to be spoken in public.

“Doctor Zhivago” is worth watching and re-watching, not only because it is a great movie, but because it pertains to the present in a way that aptly illustrates how top-down government control can so easily slip into full-blown communism.

The Russian revolution divided the populace, pitting neighbor against neighbor, poor against rich, rural against urban, faith-filled against secular, and so on.

Community organizers consolidated power and eventually seized total control.

Media outlets joined forces in protection of the almighty state, working undercover as allies of the government in the public indoctrination business.

Children in schools were propagandized too, and parental rights were methodically stripped away.

Hundreds of millions were deprived of the right to speak, worship, and travel freely.

Under communism and its other unholy titles, people the world over have been subjected to man-made famines, forced labor, deadly purges, show trials, extrajudicial executions, lethal gulags, and outright genocide.

The infamous track record of communism speaks for itself.

Americans used to fight against the political leviathan with everything in them, rushing to rescue citizens of other nations in peril as well.

In the end, we pray that we will still be able to say, individually and collectively, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)

Filmgoers Ignore Detractors and Flock to ‘Sound of Freedom’

Despite Hollywood executives trying to shelve it and mainstream media outlets trying to discredit it, the recently released film “Sound of Freedom” has upended the entertainment industry with resounding ticket sales, an enviable profit margin, and superb audience ratings.

The Washington Post, the Rolling Stone, the UK Guardian and other media organizations have denigrated the movie, falsely attempting to tie it to conspiracy theorists.

People are simply ignoring media naysayers, packing the theaters, and showering the film with standing ovations, resulting in more than $40 million in box-office revenue over a six-day period, according to industry estimates.

Due to its summer release, the movie had been facing plenty of competition, which was coming from big-budget studio blockbusters intended to please popcorn loving crowds.

“Sound of Freedom” definitely doesn’t conform to the template of a conventional summer release.

The plot of the movie is based on the true story of Tim Ballard, who founded a group to combat child sex trafficking.

Jim Caviezel, star of Mel Gibson’s 2004 cinematic masterpiece “The Passion of the Christ,” takes on the role of Ballard, a former government agent who stares down danger as he travels to godforsaken places on a quest to rescue enslaved children who have become victims of unspeakably horrifying crimes.

Summer studio releases typically have budgets that consist of hundreds of millions of dollars. However, with a tab of $14.5 million “Sound of Freedom”’s production costs were considerably less.

On the Fourth of July, “Sound of Freedom” easily passed up the franchise studio sequel “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” The film had a release-day revenue of $14 million as compared to the $11.5 million that the “Indiana Jones” movie took in on its June 30 opening.

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” had a budget of more than $250 million, while “Sound of Freedom” cost less than $15 million.

“Sound of Freedom” hit a very solid third place for the weekend with more than $18 million.

The public loves the film, giving it the highest CinemaScore rating possible, an A+. And movie fans who weighed-in on the Rotten Tomatoes website gave it a 100% rating.

In order to get more people to pay attention to the violations of human dignity with which the film deals, Dana White, President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (the global mixed martial arts organization) posted a video on social media.

White spoke out on the importance of “Sound of Freedom” and the chilling nightmare of human trafficking. He was joined by legendary actor and director Gibson, who urged people to see the movie.

The White and Gibson video footage has gone viral, providing some powerful promotion for the movie.

During the video, White said, “There is a new movie out there called ‘Sound of Freedom’ and it’s about human trafficking. More importantly, about the trafficking of children. This is a disgusting, horrific issue that’s happening all around the world. And it’s not getting better, it’s getting worse.”

The UFC CEO is utilizing his own company in an effort to get the word out.

“What I’m gonna do is I’m gonna give any of my UFC employees that want to see this movie free tickets to go and see,” White said.

He even urged other business leaders to take his idea and run with it.

“I would like to encourage other executives to do the same at their company,” he said.

In the section of footage in which he appears, Gibson focused on the public becoming more knowledgeable on the issue.

“One of the most disturbing problems in the world today is human trafficking,” Gibson said.

“Particularly the trafficking of children. Now the first step in eradicating this crime is awareness. Go see ‘Sound of Freedom,’” he encouraged.

In a unique approach to ticket sales, at the end of the movie while the credits roll on, Caviezel appears onscreen to ask the audience to go to the Angel Studios website and participate in the “Pay It Forward” program.

This program allows people to purchase tickets for others so that those who cannot afford the cost will be able to obtain a ticket for free.

Those who suffer from the scourge of human trafficking are crying out to be rescued.

May “Sound of Freedom” succeed in its mission of informing people and prompting action.

And may all of us be responsive to those who wait in the shadows for someone to care.