Blessed Child
Filmmaker Cara Jones is telling a difficult story in “Blessed Child.” She was once a member of the Unification Church, which her parents remain high-ranking members of, and using archival home video and other footage, Jones is sharing her experiences, those of her family- some of whom also remain in the church, some of whom have left- and doing so with less anger, and more empathy. That right there makes it a compelling, worthwhile viewing experience.
I’ve been familiar with the Unification Church in name only. And, of course, I had heard about the mass weddings. Jones gives us a fuller context of what it means to be in the Church, what its beliefs are, but mostly, the film is about her family, and what it’s been like breaking away from the Church. We see footage of her wedding, her father presiding over congregations, and also see how the initial way marriages were arranged by Rev. Sun Myung Moon, and how- in the time since he passed away in 2012- it has changed in a way that feels a bit more natural, even if arranged marriages still seem foreign to us now.
The film begins with Jones revealing that she is trying to get pregnant through artificial insemination. That is our lead-in to how her life contradicts with Church teachings. One of the things that makes “Blessed Child” stand apart from, say, “Going Clear” is how Jones is able to convince her family to participate in the documentary, as well. She isn’t out to make a hit piece on a movement many consider a cult, but an insightful look at the struggles families deal with when people leave a closed community, and how they try to reconcile personal belief systems that are opposed to one another. She isn’t out to tear down her parents’s beliefs, but to give the individuals the dignity to speak for themselves, like her brothers and her are doing. Seeing this family share moments of connection is one of the most impactful aspects of the film.
“Blessed Child” is not out to change our minds about the Unification Church, or even to condemn it on a large scale, although we do see news reports of abuse in the Church, as well as the convictions Rev. Moon was levied for tax fraud. This is simply a woman, using the medium of film, to tell her story, and the story of her family, and it’s an emotional one to experience, and one well worth experiencing right now.
BlessedChild_Clip from Group Effort Films on Vimeo.
