The Dangers of being Certain
Though doubt has always held a negative connotation in my mind, a dark shadow that looms over certainty, truth, and progress, John Patrick Shanley, through his film, not only claims but makes us feel quite the opposite: that doubt is in fact a valuable asset in gaining an objective view when determining “good” from “bad” and discovering the truth. Stanley utilises the two main characters in his film to depict the dangers of acting upon certainty without doubt. I will be exploring two research questions within my reflection: “How does relative societal rules define what is good and bad?” and “To what degree does self interest drive us to be bad?” through the comparison of the the two main characters Sister Aloysius …show more content…
The AOK, human sciences, and the WOK, memory, can be seen in this example. The evolution of my classmates’ opinions of the characters demonstrate my claim. In the beginning, when the characters were still being introduced, my classmates opinions were vulnerable and would sporadically and capriciously switch between supporting the priest and the nun: “She’s horrible.” “He’s evil.” “Scary. The both of them.” What I noticed was that near the end, though to what extent they were convinced is uncertain, people began to develop their own opinions regarding who was “bad” and who was “good”. Generally speaking, the boys could be heard deriding Sister Aloysius, calling her crazy and controlling, while the girls were expressing pity for Sister James and suspected the pastor’s guilt, saying, “Why won’t he just admit it?”. Due to our similar backgrounds and environment, one might assume that we would have been influenced by the same societal rules, but the boys and the girls took the side of their own gender which was the convenient and comfortable choice (Convenient decision was even demonstrated by the voluntary girl-boy segregated nature of the classroom seating). What was interesting was that the boys and girls who were convinced that they knew the truth voiced their opinions, but …show more content…
Dir. John Patrick Shanley. Perf. Meryl Streep and Phillip Hoffman and Amy Adams. Miramax, 2008.
French, Philip. "Doubt" (film review). The Observer. Saturday February 7, 2009. Observer/Guardian Film
Though doubt has always held a negative connotation in my mind, a dark shadow that looms over certainty, truth, and progress, John Patrick Shanley, through his film, not only claims but makes us feel quite the opposite: that doubt is in fact a valuable asset in gaining an objective view when determining “good” from “bad” and discovering the truth. Stanley utilises the two main characters in his film to depict the dangers of acting upon certainty without doubt. I will be exploring two research questions within my reflection: “How does relative societal rules define what is good and bad?” and “To what degree does self interest drive us to be bad?” through the comparison of the the two main characters Sister Aloysius …show more content…
The AOK, human sciences, and the WOK, memory, can be seen in this example. The evolution of my classmates’ opinions of the characters demonstrate my claim. In the beginning, when the characters were still being introduced, my classmates opinions were vulnerable and would sporadically and capriciously switch between supporting the priest and the nun: “She’s horrible.” “He’s evil.” “Scary. The both of them.” What I noticed was that near the end, though to what extent they were convinced is uncertain, people began to develop their own opinions regarding who was “bad” and who was “good”. Generally speaking, the boys could be heard deriding Sister Aloysius, calling her crazy and controlling, while the girls were expressing pity for Sister James and suspected the pastor’s guilt, saying, “Why won’t he just admit it?”. Due to our similar backgrounds and environment, one might assume that we would have been influenced by the same societal rules, but the boys and the girls took the side of their own gender which was the convenient and comfortable choice (Convenient decision was even demonstrated by the voluntary girl-boy segregated nature of the classroom seating). What was interesting was that the boys and girls who were convinced that they knew the truth voiced their opinions, but …show more content…
Dir. John Patrick Shanley. Perf. Meryl Streep and Phillip Hoffman and Amy Adams. Miramax, 2008.
French, Philip. "Doubt" (film review). The Observer. Saturday February 7, 2009. Observer/Guardian Film