Howard G.

Sumayang PHILO 201

BS-CRIM

I recently watched this movie entitled “HERCULES” and the most important thing that
I’ve learned watching the movie is “Direct your energy into doing good work”. In this
movie, these morals include, happiness is the most important thing in life, always be true
to yourself and hard work pays off. First off, the most notable value is happiness. Many
scenes during the movie strive to show that fame, power and all the things people work
for in their lives mean nothing if they are not happy. The entire film, Hercules' entire goal
is to become a Hero and prove that he is worthy of becoming a god and living in
Olympus. Once Hercules makes the ultimate sacrifice of giving up his life for someone
else's he attains his goal. In the end, he turns all the power down so that he can remain
mortal on earth with Meg. Hercules realizes that in the end he will be happier living a
shorter life with Meg than an immortal life without her.

The next moral that is evident in this movie is always be who you are. it is clear that
Hercules does not fit in. He is a freak of nature with incredible physical gifts that does
not know how to control himself. When he goes to town with his adopted father,
people call him a monster and freak, but no matter what they say to him he doesn't
hide or change, he just goes on being himself. This happens again when he first arrives
at Thebes with big dreams of becoming a hero. The people mock him and say that he
does not belong and he could never pull off anything worthy of being a hero. He does
not listen and eventually the people who once mocked him not love him and follow
him because he stayed true to who he is.

Finally, the last moral on display in this film is that hard work pays off in the end. First,
Hercules works with Phil in order to obtain the skills to become a hero. Then he works
tirelessly performing hero-like feats in order to be acknowledged and accepted by the
gods as a true hero and once of their own. Another example is when he first meets
Meg, Hercules is enamored however she tells him she can take care of herself and he is
not needed. Eventually, his farm boy charm and hard work gets to her and they end
up together at the end of the movie. All of these instances of Hercules not giving up
and working for what he wants without relenting show the audience the importance of
working hard and the benefits that can emerge from doing so. Even though Hercules
faces adversity in the end, he is with the woman he loves, reunited with his parents and
has reached God status. All of this is a result of Hercules' hard work and determination
to never give up.Now based on the movie it is very clear that the Aristotle virtue of
ethics present in the movie hercules possesses these characteristics. This movie is really a
great example for the aristotle's virtue of ethics.