Moral Deliberations in Modern CinemaVaknin, Samuel
Philosophy
Moral Deliberations in Modern Cinema
Vaknin, Samuel
Motion pictures -- Reviews
But this may be an inhuman demand. Such forgiveness and magnanimity
are the reserve of God. And the fact that Truman's tormentors did not
see themselves as such and believed that they were acting in his best
interests and that they were catering to his every need - does not
absolve them from their crimes. Truman should have maintained a fine
balance between his responsibility to the show, its creators and its
viewers and his natural drive to get back at his tormentors. The
source of the dilemma (which led to his act of choosing) is that the
two groups overlap.
Truman found himself in the impossible position of being the sole
guarantor of the well-being and lives of his tormentors. To put the
question in sharper relief: are we morally obliged to save the life
and livelihood of someone who greatly wronged us? Or is vengeance
justified in such a case?
A very problematic figure in this respect is that of Truman's best and
childhood friend. They grew up together, shared secrets, emotions and
adventures. Yet he lies to Truman constantly and under the Director's
instructions. Everything he says is part of a script. It is this
disinformation that convinces us that he is not Truman's true friend.
A real friend is expected, above all, to provide us with full and true
information and, thereby, to enhance our ability to choose. Truman's
true love in the Show tried to do it. She paid the price: she was
ousted from the show. But she tried to provide Truman with a choice.
It is not sufficient to say the right things and make the right moves.
Inner drive and motivation are required and the willingness to take
risks (such as the risk of providing Truman with full information
about his condition). All the actors who played Truman's parents,
loving wife, friends and colleagues, miserably failed on this score.
It is in this mimicry that the philosophical key to the whole movie
rests. A Utopia cannot be faked. Captain Nemo's utopian underwater
city was a real Utopia because everyone knew everything about it.
People were given a choice (though an irreversible and irrevocable
one). They chose to become lifetime members of the reclusive Captain's
colony and to abide by its (overly rational) rules.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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