The movie ‘Gone Baby Gone’ from 2007 is the directorial debut by the Hollywood actor Ben Affleck. The topic is the private investigation of the little girl’s abduction which went into the unexpected direction. This art piece got mostly positive reviews. In a center of the audience’s and critic’ attention is the very ending of the movie and the moral dilemma expressed by it. Dilemma is presented through the action of the main character, young private detective, Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck). He has to decide: will he leave the saved little girl in the hands of the abductors – loving and caring family of the honest police officer Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman) where she would probably have safe and happy childhood; or he will bring the girl back to her mother Helene (Amy Ryan), an egocentric person and a drug addict, who seriously neglected her in a past and brought her into a great danger. Detective Kenzie’s decision is to choose the other option. By using Emanuel Kant’s philosophy and his theory of categorical imperatives, this essay is an attempt to prove that detective’s action was highly ethical, because of his personal autonomy, consistency and respect of universal moral norm.
For Kant’s understanding of ethics, the personal autonomy is very important, besides emotions, obligations and duties. By his action, the main character detective Kenzie showed high level of personal autonomy. His decision was against the will of the other important characters, he made the decision individually and independently. That also had the significant impact on his personal life – his girlfriend left him because of the choice he made.
In detective Patrick’s worldview, the high ethical imperative is not relative; for him, there are some moral rules above everything else, above all the situations. The other important character, police officer Jack Doyle, represents the opposite mind-sett. He says: ‘You don’t know why people do what they do. Everyone looks at his own window.’ (Affleck, “Gone Baby Gone”) This character has the empathy for different ways of behaving, and he disregards rigid moral norms. By that, he is also trying to justify his own action – taking the little girl away from her biological mother. Patrick Kenzie’s worldview is in a harmony with the Emanuel Kant’s philosophy of categorical imperatives. By Kant’s ethic, there is the “supreme principle of morality” (New World Encyclopedia, “Categorical Imperative”), and it is independent from the circumstances and situations, it is based on generally accepted norm. One listens to this supreme ethical norm and it guides his actions. Kant wrote about ethics in narrow sense and about moral norms that everybody can agree with. This means that there are not all situations and moral dilemmas equally important. But situation in a movie – should child be returned to biological mother with the possible bad outcome or should she stay with a kidnaper who would provide her better future – this moral dilemma belongs to the dilemmas of higher importance and must be resolved by the supreme moral norm – categorical imperative.
Detective Kenzie stays consistent and does not regret because of his action. He is aware of negative consequences: good man Jack Doyle is in a prison, his girlfriend Angie is not with him anymore, and the little girl Amanda doesn’t have great life after everything. When he visits Amanda, he notices that her mother behaves the same as before – she is often going out and leaving the child alone, in front of the TV. In the final scene, detective stays to babysit the little girl. It’s not a happy-end. But the detective accepts the reality as it is, without regrets. In his perspective - it is what has to be, and there is no other way than to respect higher moral norms. His facial expression does not show contentment, but he is reconciled with the fate.
The main action of detective Kenzie is brave and highly ethical. It is complementary to Kant’s moral philosophy and it represents respecting of supreme moral norm, chosen by ratio.
Works Cited
Affleck, Ben. “Gone Baby Gone”, 2007. Web. Assessed 11 July 2016 at <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLnJQNUPga4>
New World Encyclopedia contributors. “Categorical Imperatives”, 2013. Web. Assessed 11 July 2016 at <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Categorical_imperative&oldid=968738>
