Behind the truth

You are probably wondering who the smiling guys alongside Russell Crowe and Al Pacino are. Well, the story is intriguing and deserves to be told.

In 1996, Jeffrey Wigand (to the right of Russell Crowe) came out of the woodwork to denounce the unfair practices of multinational tobacco companies that were causing serious health problems.

On July 15^th, 2000, the judges in Miami give their verdict and sentencing. The multinationals companies will pay about 154 billion Euros in compensation for the damage caused.

Those 4 long years represent a slow descent into the underworld for Jeffrey, during which time he suffers attacks of every kind, falls into financial ruin, his wife leaves him and he loses his house. All this for telling the truth and nothing but the truth. After his confession, the system activates itself to denigrate him, to drag his name through mud and to force him to back down. The only one to remain at his side is the courageous journalist (in the photo, the man to the left of Al Pacino), who is also threatened and sacked several times. The pressures of the multinational corporations on the newspapers and on television stations, discourage anyone from addressing the issue.

Why then, did the judgment give reason to Wigand? In 1999 the film “The Insider” was produced. It is a film that tells the true story of Jeffrey and of an interview he granted to CBS, which was subject to manipulation and boycotting to the limits of reality. The judge forbade the jurors watch it, to avoid them being affected before the judgment. But at least this time, truth actually won.

Cinema wanted to tell a true story to teach that courage is never lost, that the disillusionment of the right people is a real scourge of our times; the story of a man who had the courage to face the loneliness that derived from his choice, rather than acquiesce to a lifetime.

In this sequence of scenes the following moments stand out:

When Mike, a person of integrity until then, sides with his boss.

When Mike, backs up, because the person of integrity is tormented by his conscience and ends up making the right choices.

When Wigand, the courageous witness, helplessly watches his life destruct.

When, on the contrary, he looks at his daughters with pride while they listen to his confession on TV and realise that it is having an impact on their life, in the name of ethics and justice.

When he asks himself if he would do it again and he answers: “Yes! And it was worth it”; what strength of character is necessary to say such a thing?

And then, diluted in the whole movie, there is the strength and determination of Al Pacino, opposing the system and bringing out the truth. The part that is moving is when he is embracing his wife, the only fixed point, together with his principles, and he thinks about the success as a Pyrrhic victory. Here the weakness of man towards good comes out, a weakness that becomes his own strength when he chooses to resign and go away. Lowell Bergman, the journalist, does support the tear of the dignity of his superiors and the company he works for. He hands in his notice, but the smile of agreement he gives his friend Mike says a lot about his newfound freedom, out of the system and the service of a larger mission.

This time we’re not talking about a film, but about something that really happened and who knows how many stories of everyday life deserve to be told. Watching the final part of the film, we can deduce that good people sooner or later give up, worn down by corruption, but that they always find a way to contribute, perhaps by influencing other people.

At a certain point in the scene, the journalist says to Wigand “You are important to a lot of people, Jeffrey. You think about that. You think about them (…) I’m running out of heroes, man. Guys like you are in short supply.”, and he replies: “Yeah, guys like you too”.

My thoughts also went to all the normal people still with us, who continue to make courageous choices every day, challenging the unknown with an unshakeable faith in sound principles.

Thank you, you are my heroes.

“… and in case I don’t see ya…

good afternoon, good evening and good night!”…

(The Truman Show)

Virginio