It was early 1987. I remember exiting a Sayreville, N.J., movie theatre -- a quick jaunt over the Outerbridge Crossing for a then-23-year-old Staten Islander -- after watching Platoon.
No movie ever had affected me as had Oliver Stone's Academy Award-winning Best Picture concerning the horrors of war. As I drove home that night, I was so genuinely grateful for not having to serve during wartime.
And I never have forgotten how fortunate many men in my generation have been in avoiding combat.
In the almost three decades since, I've seen many films on the big screen. My love of movies began as kid watching Charlie Chaplin silent flicks on PBS, and took root watching the 4:30 movie on ABC in New York City.
It was not until yesterday when I saw Spotlight that another film affected me in such an emotional way.
And this one had a two-fold effect.
As a journalist, I was excited and envious watching Boston Globe reporters working a story and showing how the Fourth Estate, even in the sensation-filled 21st Century, still can make people proud.
As someone who attended parochial grammar school, was an altar boy for nearly seven years, and was taught by priests at a Catholic all-boys high school, I was shaken.
During the closing credits rolled, I needed to wipe away tears as I sat and thought of the sexually abused victims. THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ME!
I often offer a disclaimer when talking to someone about a film -- "Remember, it's a movie," I like to say. "You can't take things as the way they really happened."
That applies to Spotlight, too, though not as much as I wish. The film pretty much mirrored reality: Hard-working journalists exposing how the Boston Archdiocese covered up the action of more than 200 priests who preyed on thousands of young victims.
And while this movie focused on Boston, we all know the sexual abuse didn't stop there.
My beliefs and life as a Catholic will not change after seeing Spotlight. I'm still proud to be a member, and I'll continue to attend Mass regularly because I enjoy going and always leave feeling I'm better for having gone.
As I type this, I continue to think most Catholic priests are good men who, while very human, do their best to live up to the demands and exceptions created by wearing the while collar around their necks.
But this story about pedophilic priests and needed to be told. First by the Boston Globe, and now by director Tom McCarthy (no relation).
If you're Catholic and have avoided seeing Spotlight because of the subject matter, know this:
1. The writing and acting will be well-deserving of the Best Picture Oscar should they win. I also saw The Big Short, and I'd give Spotlight the nod.
2. Yes, the topic is sensitive and uncomfortable. But the movie's focus is more on the newspaper's investigation into the church's cover-up than on any sexual acts. Think All The President's Men.
3. The victims. They are owed something that no settlement, no amount of money can buy -- our love, sympathy and understanding that through no fault of theirs, they were thrust into the Spotlight.
