In today’s world, the word “good” has become vague and overused. But what does it take to be a truly good and moral person? In the Vicente Amorim film Good, our main character, John Halder seems to be an insecure and almost passive man.
When we first meet Halder, we see that he is uncomfortable with the policies of the Nazi party and learn that he disagrees with their ideology. However, he never really speaks his mind or stands up against them. Halder is pushed into joining the Nazi party and starts adhering to their ways simply to save his job as a professor. But as the story progresses, he fights the conformity less and less until he finds himself a Nazi officer in the middle of the vey concentration camp where his once good friend Maurice was persecuted.
The main moral dilemma of the movie is Halder’s relationship with his longtime friend Maurice who is Jewish. Maurice believes that he and Halder are on the same page when it comes to being against the Nazis, but soon finds out just how quickly Halder sells out his beliefs. The pivotal point in their relationship is when Maurice begs Halder to help him escape to France and Halder is faced with a huge decision. Does he have the guts to risk his own life to help his friend? It turns out that he does, but his decision making was too little, too late and he was unable to help Maurice escape. Halder, however, does not accept responsibility for the effects his decisions cause throughout the movie. In fact, when he discovers that Maurice was picked up by the Gestapo, he blames his wife for turning in his friend.
So is Halder really a bad person? Ultimately the judgment lies with the viewer. What we do know about John Halder is that he is a submissive man. Even if he disagrees, he will go along with the power to keep from getting himself into trouble or causing conflict. He avoids calling attention to himself at all cost. At times he even seems to be devoid of his own morals. He is not a proactively evil person, but he does nothing to stop the evil going on around him.
When we first meet Halder, we see that he is uncomfortable with the policies of the Nazi party and learn that he disagrees with their ideology. However, he never really speaks his mind or stands up against them. Halder is pushed into joining the Nazi party and starts adhering to their ways simply to save his job as a professor. But as the story progresses, he fights the conformity less and less until he finds himself a Nazi officer in the middle of the vey concentration camp where his once good friend Maurice was persecuted.
The main moral dilemma of the movie is Halder’s relationship with his longtime friend Maurice who is Jewish. Maurice believes that he and Halder are on the same page when it comes to being against the Nazis, but soon finds out just how quickly Halder sells out his beliefs. The pivotal point in their relationship is when Maurice begs Halder to help him escape to France and Halder is faced with a huge decision. Does he have the guts to risk his own life to help his friend? It turns out that he does, but his decision making was too little, too late and he was unable to help Maurice escape. Halder, however, does not accept responsibility for the effects his decisions cause throughout the movie. In fact, when he discovers that Maurice was picked up by the Gestapo, he blames his wife for turning in his friend.
It is practical that this is a common trait of people living in Germany in the ‘30s and ‘40s who did not necessarily agree with Nazi ethics, but in reality we all know someone like this. Maybe we are like this ourselves at times.
If you don’t stand up for what is good, does that make you bad?
put your last name first in the title, so, if you run into trouble, Brian Sullivan can easily find all your blogs. Your point about submissiveness is very important.
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