{"id":2290908,"date":"2024-07-09T03:59:01","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T07:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-is-the-sound-of-hope-movie-so-hopeless\/"},"modified":"2024-07-09T04:08:21","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T08:08:21","slug":"why-is-the-sound-of-hope-movie-so-hopeless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-is-the-sound-of-hope-movie-so-hopeless\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Is The &#8216;Sound Of Hope&#8217; Movie So Hopeless?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhy-is-the-sound-of-hope-movie-so-hopeless%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2290908&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>&#8220;Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot&#8221; is a film that explores the true story of Rev. \u200cW.C. Martin and his wife, Donna, \u2063who inspired their small town in Texas to become <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ca-dept-asks-foster-parents-how-many-migrant-children-they-can-house-includes-option-of-26-or-more\/\" title=\"CA Dept. Asks Foster Parents How Many Migrant Children They Can House, Includes Option Of \u201826 Or More\u2019\">foster parents<\/a> to \u200cchildren \u2063in need. The film \u2063focuses on the challenges and joys \u200bof <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">foster care<\/a>, \u2064but unfortunately presents it \u200cin a bleak and joyless manner.\u200c The film depicts foster care as a difficult and overwhelming task, which may discourage potential \u2064foster parents. Despite being a religious film, the \u200bmessage of despair and hardship \u200covershadow the theme of hope and \u2062faith. The film ends\u200c with an appeal \u200cto the audience to consider becoming foster parents, but the negative portrayal of foster care may not inspire confidence in viewers. &#8220;Sound\u200b of Hope&#8221; fails to \u200dcapture \u200dthe true essence of foster care and the joy that\u200b comes with helping children in need.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cTry this, it\u2019s disgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a comically unappealing phrase I\u2019ve heard numerous times in my life, usually at middle-school sleepovers when friends were inviting me to sample expired whipped cream or Mountain Dew mixed with Tang. It\u2019s not a phrase I expected to hear over and over again in \u201cSound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot.\u201d Yet I did.<\/p>\n<p>The newest film from the Christian production company Angel Studios, \u201cSound of Hope\u201d recounts the true story of Rev. W.C. Martin and his wife, Donna, who inspired numerous people in their small town of Possum Trot, Texas, to become foster parents to the area\u2019s hardest-to-place children. The film focuses primarily on the tender tenacity W.C. and Donna show to their foster children, particularly their especially troubled teenage daughter, Terri. The end result is a film that is heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, and, unfortunately, about as joyless as Angel Studios\u2019 previous production \u201cSound of Freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Given its subject matter, one can forgive \u201cSound of Freedom\u201d for being a rather dour film. The story of a man traversing the jungles of South America to rescue child sex slaves was never going to have much room for laughs or levity. But foster care isn\u2019t human trafficking. Having fostered for over 10 years, I can say quite confidently that it fills your life with far more light than darkness and far more smiles than wails of sorrow. Speaking for myself and other foster parents I know, it\u2019s about an 80\/20 mixture of profound joy and profound hardship.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, there are days when you weep and feel overwhelmed by failure. But most days are absolutely joyous. Most days involve hugs and snuggles. Most days feature moments when you are blessed to watch your biological children treat the fosters as their own flesh and blood and not as an invasive species robbing them of Mom and Dad\u2019s attention. Yes, there are moments when you feel overwhelmed by a sense of defeat. But most days offer moments when you can see that you\u2019re successfully giving a home to the formerly homeless and hope to the formerly hopeless.<\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s not the impression you get from \u201cSound of Hope,\u201d a film that only succeeds in making superheroes of its lead characters by depicting foster care as hell-on-earth. <em>Look at the nonstop emotional agony this is causing brave and inspiring Donna Martin! Look at how often she collapsed to the floor in sorrow! Look how many times she needed her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/martel-jair-bolsonaro-once-latin-americas-biggest-anti-china-hope-silent-on-genocide-olympics\/\" title=\"Martel: Jair Bolsonaro, Once Latin America&#039;s Biggest Anti-China Hope, Silent on Genocide Olympics\">congregation members<\/a> to lay hands on her and restore her through the miraculous power of prayer! Look how she was only able to find joy in fostering at the film\u2019s conclusion, after years of enduring the hero\u2019s struggle! My goodness, this film is as bleak as \u201cSchindler\u2019s List\u201d! That must mean fostering is just as difficult to endure as a concentration camp. Only the strongest and best people could pull that off!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Then, after two hours of telling audiences that foster care is the most disgusting thing on Earth, the film\u2019s producers invite us to try it. Following the tradition it established with \u201cSound of Freedom,\u201d \u201cSound of Hope\u201d features a post-credits appeal to fight the good fight against the societal evil viewers just learned about. This time the appeal comes from the real W.C. and Donna Martin, imploring audience members to take the next steps now that they\u2019re informed \u2014 come join the fray. Come build a world where every child has a home. Come buy a ticket for those who can\u2019t afford one, so that they too can try this disgusting substance known as fostering.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to overstate how counterproductive this is. Talk to people about fostering and you\u2019ll find that the reason most people won\u2019t pursue it is not because they\u2019re unaware of the need or unmoved by the plight of struggling children. It\u2019s because they don\u2019t believe they\u2019re strong enough to do it. The last thing those people need is to spend two hours sludging through a joyless film that effectively tells them, \u201cThis is the hardest and bleakest thing in the world, and only the strongest people on Earth will find it rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The great tragedy of all this is that \u201cSound of Hope\u201d is an explicitly religious film. The Christian faith of the Martins is front and center in their story. Yet the film\u2019s writers, director, and producer seem to have embraced the profoundly un-Christian idea that despair is among the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Galatians%205%3A22-23&#038;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> fruit of the Spirit<\/a>. If you are overly despondent about the sorrows you see in the world, this means you have genuine faith in the One who will one day take you out of this world of sorrow. The more certain you are that you\u2019re living in the most evil era of human history, the more committed you are to rejecting evil. The more willing you are to stare into bleak, hopeless depictions of suffering, the more devoted you are to the Lord who didn\u2019t create suffering. <\/p>\n<p>So let the lost keep their movies, like 2019\u2019s \u201cInstant Family,\u201d that make fostering seem happy and possible for mere mortals. If you want to taste the sweetness of hope, you will first prove your worthiness by devouring two hours of disgusting bitterness.<\/p>\n<p>But joy is not a future reward reserved for only the most devoted, amazing, and superhuman of Christians. Joy is a present inherence, given immediately to those who have been born again into the family of God. Joy is something all Christians do and can and should possess right now, something Jesus shows us in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John+15%3A1-11&#038;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">John 15<\/a>. And if the disciples\u2019 joy can be full even as they watch their Lord betrayed, arrested, crucified, and killed, Christians won\u2019t have to wait for the Day of Judgment to experience joy from a vocation that is already about 80 percent joyful.<\/p>\n<p>To be a good foster parent, you don\u2019t have to be <em>the most amazing, inspiring person on Earth.<\/em> You just have to recognize that Jesus brought you into the family of God when you were fatherless, so now you can reflect that love by doing the same in your family, by feeding and clothing and speaking words of love to those God gives you. To be a strong foster parent, you don\u2019t need to run daily marathons where you\u2019re pelted with agony and sorrow every step of the way. You just need to trust that God will give you both the power and the wisdom to endure the outbursts of hardship that pop up here and there. To be a successful foster parent, you don\u2019t need to turn your child into someone who never causes you anxiety or pain. You just need to turn his eyes to Jesus, the One who promises to free him from anxiety and pain, the One who has sworn to eternally heal the wounds that others tore open.<\/p>\n<p>When you foster, there will be more smiles than tears. But even when the tears come, you can still weep with joy because Jesus Christ has already crushed the devil who is trying to fill your heart and the heart of your child with despair. And the more you bring your children to the devil-crushing Word of God, the more you both will be able to taste the sweetness of God\u2019s victory as you laugh at Satan\u2019s miserable attempts to rob you of the victory and the joy that already rests in your hands. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Hans Fiene is a contributor to The Federalist. He is a Lutheran pastor in Missouri and the creator of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/thelutheransatire\">Lutheran Satire<\/a>, a series of comical videos intended to teach the Lutheran faith. Follow him on Twitter, @HansFiene.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The phrase &#8220;Try this, it\u2019s disgusting&#8221; is usually said in a joking manner, but in the film &#8220;Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot,&#8221; it is used repeatedly to describe the challenges of foster care. The movie focuses on the struggles of Rev. W.C. Martin and his wife Donna as they inspire their community to become foster parents. However, the film portrays foster care as a difficult and joyless experience, which may discourage potential foster parents. Despite its religious themes, the film fails to convey the message that joy can be found in fostering, and instead presents it as a daunting task. The reality is that fostering can bring both joy and hardship, but ultimately, it is a rewarding experience that does not require superhuman strength<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":702,"featured_media":2290909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Screen-Shot-2024-07-08-at-1.27.36-PM-1024x594.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[34312,34313,34311,34310,32560],"class_list":["post-2290908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-disappointment","tag-film-analysis","tag-hopelessness","tag-movie-review","tag-sound-of-hope"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Screen-Shot-2024-07-08-at-1.27.36-PM-1024x594.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2290908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/702"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2290908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2290908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2290909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2290908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2290908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2290908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}