Movie Review: "DOUBT"by Peter C. Pappas“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one.”- Voltaire -There is far too much certainty in the world.People of faith are as certain of their own salvation as they are of everyoneelse’s damnation and atheists are certain that anyone of faith is a moronic dupeincapable of reason.Right-wing ideologues are certain that unfettered capitalism and the use ofmilitary force are the only answers to the world’s problems and left-wingideologues are certain that their right-wing counterparts are evil incarnate.And, of course, there are tax policy wonks who are metaphysically certain thattheir economic theories are the only sensible ones.This is why I think we should use military force to make everyone see the movieDoubt.The story takes place at a Catholic school in 1964, the year of the Civil RightsAct and one year after the assassination of President Kennedy.Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) is a progressive Priest who takes a specialinterest in the Catholic school’s first (and only) black student, eleven year oldDonald Miller (Joseph Foster).Flynn wears his fingernails long, has a sweet tooth, uses a ballpoint pen andthinks it would be okay for children to sing secular Christmas songs like Frostythe Snowman. To Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep), the rigid, disciplinarianprincipal of the school, these are all signs of Flynn’s decadence and she canbarely hide her disdain for them and him.Sister James (Amy Adams), a timid young teacher, sees Flynn put a boy’s undershirtin his locker and dutifully tells Sister Alyosius.This sets off an avalanche of logical leaps, bold assumptions and potentiallyslanderous accusations by Sister Aloysius, who consistently throughout the movieassumes the worst about everyone and everything, including the weather.Listen to this exchange she has with Father Flynn:FLYNN: I’ve not touched a child.SISTER ALOYSIUS: You have.FLYNN: You haven’t the slightest proof of anything.SISTER ALOYSIUS: But I have my certainty . . . .Too many of us are like Sister Aloysius, believing the worst about those who donot share our worldview. We demonize one another before there is any proof of
Leave a Comment