One bourbon, one scotch, and one mav

Imogen Heap peforms Just For Now a capella, and it sounds better than the album. It’s also fascinating to watch.

Moral ambiguity keeps coming up lately. First there is the guy in Texas who shot the two men trying to rob his neighbor, and the guy (kid, really – 17?) who is/was on trial for beating a man who tried to rob him at gunpoint.

Then I decided to give myself a Christmas present and watch Gone Baby Gone. I didn’t get to see it in the theatres due to the fact that one of the people I regularly attend movies with was a little squeamish about the idea of a movie based around something bad happening to children. She’s been rather touchy about such things ever since she started teaching. It’s understandable. Regardless, I’ve been wanting to see the movie since it was originally released, but didn’t get there.

It was one of the more impressive movies I’ve ever seen. And in the end, it’s less about children and more about moral ambiguity. Let’s say you have the power to change someone’s life. For the better. But doing so would require violating several laws. Maybe killing some people.

(Don’t worry. The people are bad guys.)

So you commit murder and break a bunch of other laws. (Keep in mind that, at the end of the day, the only people affected in a negative way are bad.)

Did you act in a morally upright manner? Why?

If yes, how do you reconcile the fact that to ’save’ one life required the sacrifice of one or more additional lives? Why is it “OK” to kill bad people to save the innocent?

If no, how do you reconcile the fact that for the “greater good” you gave up the chance to redeem or save a life? Is every life equally valuable? What about murderers? Drug dealers? Child molesters?

I know this seems like a curious Christmas present, but I enjoy philosophical discussion, and it’s rarely presented well by Hollywood. Usually it’s more like a writer trying to cram an idea down your throat, whether you like it or not. The Kingdom was an interesting change this year, but Gone Baby Gone is one of the best morality plays ever made.

Oh, and it’s a damn fine movie too. You should watch it.