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L'enfant sauvage (1970)
State of Nature
The film The Wild Child opens with a young boy around the age of twelve running around a forest in France acting as a savage. He seems to have had no true human interaction based on how he behaves. While in the forest, a woman sees him and reports to the authorities that she saw a wild child running around. The police are able to hunt him down and capture him as if he is an animal. Due to him being in the forest the majority of his life, he is not able to speak and cannot understand any type of language. They bring him to a school in Paris that is for deaf and mute children. While watching the movie, one cannot help but think about Jean- Jacques Rousseau's state of nature since he described how man before civil society acted as a savage. Rousseau described that while in this state, man was alone and had no need for language, but he only cared about his self-preservation and he had the ability to feel compassion. This form of the state of nature seems to describe how this young boy behaved. Because before civilized man captured him, he was roaming around on his own and only taking care of himself. When the wild child was brought to the school in Paris, his state of nature ended, and thus, his civilized state began. The young boy did not make much progress at school and he was subjected to a lot of bullying. Viewers may feel sad for the wild child at this point in the film because of how he is being treated. One of the school's doctors, Dr. Itard, noticed the bullying, and he decided to take the boy to the countryside so that he could focus on him. The doctor wanted to prove to everyone that the boy was not an idiot. Overtime, the wild child starts to behave more civilized than before, and Dr. Itard and the housekeeper, Madame Guérin, give him the name Victor. Similar to Rousseau's theory, Victor is not quickly progressing from being a savage to a civilized man. He eventually begins to learn words by associating them with certain objects. He even gets to the point that he does this task quite well, but his speech is still not developed. One of Victor's favorite things as a reward is milk. So, Dr. Itard takes this opportunity to teach him how to say milk when he wants some. The process is not easy, but Victor eventually does learn. During this time of teaching, Dr. Itard is similar to the absolute sovereign in Thomas Hobbes' state of nature. He decides what Victor will do based on what he considers just. Victor continues to make strides in his development as a civilized male until the day Dr. Itard is not able to take him on his walk. By not being able to go outside, Victor runs away and tries to revert back to his old savage ways. The film ends with Victor returning despite Dr. Itard and Madame Guérin thinking he would never come back. Some may argue here that he returned because he missed them or missed the comforts that he had become adapted to, but if one looks at Rousseau's state of nature again, one would see that he thinks man can never return to the state of nature once he leaves. And by going off this theory, it makes sense that Victor could never return to his wild child ways ever again.
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
Facing Moral Dilemmas
In the film Crimes and Misdemeanors, many moral dilemmas are presented. One of the main characters, Dr. Judah Rosenthal, has been having an affair for the last two years. It has come to the point in the relationship that he must make a choice between his wife and his mistress, Dolores Paley. Judah eventually decides that he is not going to leave his wife despite Dolores' pleas for him to do otherwise. His reasoning behind his decision is that he is much more in love with his wife and he has too much invested in his career if his affair became public knowledge. Judah's decision and reasoning follows very closely to John Stuart Mill's theory of utilitarianism. He is choosing what will bring the majority the greatest amount of happiness because he does not want to cause pain and heartache to those who would be affected by his affair. While Judah is deciding how to get Dolores out of life, he consults his patient Ben, who is a rabbi, on what he should do. Ben encourages him to be honest with his wife despite the consequences that might follow. This advice is very similar to Immanuel Kant's moral theory because Ben is telling him to do what is moral despite the outcome. He knows that Judah will feel better in the end if he told the truth than adding more lies to his life. Viewers of the movie may feel at this point that either Ben is telling Judah the right thing, or agree with Judah and think he needs to worry about the happiness of the majority.
While Judah is facing his moral dilemma, Ben's brother-in-law Clifford Stern is also handling his own. Clifford is an unsuccessful filmmaker and he is in a failing marriage. He is currently filming his other brother-in-law Lester's biography. Clifford actually does not care for Lester, but he is only doing this job to provide money for his other projects. While filming, Clifford falls in love with one of the producers, Haley Reed. Despite his attempts to date her, she continually tells him she is not ready for a relationship. Clifford here was more concerned about his happiness and not what others would think, but he realizes it is probably best to wait. Similar to Kant's moral theory, he knows it is better to make a moral decision. Viewers will probably feel sad for Clifford that he is not able to be happy despite making the right decision.
Judah eventually decides how to get rid of Dolores by contacting his brother Jack. Jack hires someone that will murder Dolores. Once the deed is complete, Judah feels extremely guilty. He realizes that he might have brought greater happiness to more people, but he only caused greater guilt for himself. Clifford also regretted some of his moral choices that he made. Haley had to go to London for work and while she was there, she became engaged to Lester. This news really upsets Clifford because despite him waiting on her to be ready to be in a relationship and for his marriage to official end, Clifford did not get the happiness he so desperately wanted. The ending of the movie may make viewers sad to see how Judah is happy in the end despite getting away with having an affair and causing someone to be murdered, and Clifford who is not happy with his life for trying to do the right thing.
Antigoni (1961)
The Search for Justice
In the film Antigone, the debate on what is just and unjust is presented. This theme is of course a very popular topic in Greek literature. The Greek philosopher, Socrates, questioned many times what to follow based on what is considered just. The film depicts the character Antigone going against King Creon's decree by doing what she considers just, but ultimately, she died standing up for her cause. Creon, who is the current king to the city of Thebes, has recently taken the throne after the exile and death of the previous king, Oedipus, and the death of his two sons, Polyneices and Eteocles. After Oedipus left Thebes, his two sons were left to switch back and forth being king of the city. The first brother to have a turn was Eteocles. When the time came for his reign to end, he of course, did not want to give up his noble position. So based on his brother's inability to step down, Polyneices decide to revolt and started a war against the city of Thebes. Ultimately, both brothers were killed in the battle. After their deaths, Creon took the throne, and since Polyneices was the one who started the war, Creon deemed him a traitor and Eteocles a hero for defending the city. For Creon's first edict as king, he declares that Eteocles will receive a rightful burial, but Polyneices' body will be left in the desert unburied since he was a traitor and does not deserve a rightful burial. Antigone, who is one of Polyneices and Eteocles' sisters, does not agree with this edict, and viewers too might have conflicting views on this edict. Antigone is faced with the tough decision to either follow the unwritten laws of the gods that say to bury the body or the written laws of the city that say to follow the king's command. Antigone struggles with her decision, but since she sees Polyneices as her brother and not as a traitor, she rebels against the laws of the city and follows what the gods' command. Similarly, in the book Apology, the author Plato transcribes Socrates' speech of defending himself against living a philosophical life. Socrates too had to make a similar decision like Antigone to either follow the god that told Socrates to live his philosophical life, or follow the city's command of him stopping his philosophical life. Socrates, like Antigone, chose to follow the god because he thought it was more just to follow the god than to follow the city's laws in that situation. Due to them both rebelling against their cities' laws, Socrates and Antigone were both sentenced to death. Creon did not want her blood on his hands, so he left the decision up to Antigone to either live or die. Antigone eventually killed herself since she was put in a cave to die. She knew that she was ultimately going to be judged by the gods, so in her mind since she followed the gods' commands, she exemplified justice and had nothing to lose by ending her life for her just cause. At this point in the film, viewers may feel bad for Antigone's death since she was only trying to do the right thing, or they could agree that she broke the laws, and therefore, her death was justified. Socrates too decided to face his death instead of escaping. However, in the book Crito, Socrates reasons for facing his punishment were because the laws of the city told him to do so not the god. Because of this change in who to follow, one could argue that it seems as if it is just to follow both the laws of the city and the gods, but it may depend on the situation and person. So as a viewer of the film Antigone; however, we see that it is more just to follow the gods, because in the end they stopped hearing the prayers of the city and turned against Thebes because of King Creon's actions.