Philomena, a screenplay adapted from a book, tells the story of a Philomena Lee (Judi Dench), a woman whose son was taken away, by nuns, fifty years earlier, and given into adoption to strangers. And, the story of a journalist, Martin Sixsmith (Steven Coogan), finding in Philomena’s Story a second chance in his career. Directed by Stephen Frears, Philomena gives an example of how, sometimes, society’s ideas of good actions obviate the human value. Judi Dench, does a wonderful job portraying a character so relatable, it is impossible to not sympathize with her role. It is painful to see the mother-son separation scene, especially when you know the details behind the adoption, and how the nuns were making profit out of it.
Through her story, we see an example of the repeated picture of an evil church that is more interested in gaining benefit for themselves than to follow their own fundaments. We can see how religion became corrupted by its powerful position, stepping over innocent people. In Coogan's story part we find an example of media overusing its power. We were told at the beginning of the movie, that Martin was a victim of a misunderstanding that made him lose his job, and who is now desperate to put his life together again and have a second chance, no matter how.
And, we constantly see how putting his life together feels more important than to understand Philomena’s feelings and situation. Again, the movie shows us this blinded side of our actions, it is hard to be balanced when you have to consider personal goals and other people’s feelings. This idea is also represented in the movie when they tell the story of Philomena’s son life, How politics sometimes suppress minorities and antagonized groups for things that they are not responsible for. The symptomatic meaning of the movie is clear at this point; people tend to care more about themselves. Everybody in the movie faces the situations where they fail considering feelings of the people that surrounds them.
