Ought v. Naught
The Films
As I said in our defining manifesto, we feel that the “ought” in our view originates in the heart and only partially in the brain. My pal, Tom, as a video storyteller, thinks that while it’s great to review the documents I’ve recently reviewed, his thought is that we are more likely to find the “oughts” in many of the movies we all so love. The themes of justice, love, and kindness are all there and flow out of our deepest feelings of the heart. Film makers know how to make those feeling come alive in the experiences they portray.
We started with the sample of this idea and while staying poignantly on point, the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington done by the great Frank Capra, shows us this well. In it, Jimmy Stewart speaks to the importance of standing up for lost causes. He shows us that decency and honesty are all-important and that a single person can make a difference. We therefore ought to stand up to the “lost cause” at our nations most critical inflection point by wanting every American to reimagine what America ought to be. From there I have gone down the IMDb list of the top 250 films of all time (recognizing that we only have less than a century of films from which to choose. I have reviewed that list and plucked out the ones that I think really highlight other oughts of note.
Loving – This is a movie about an interracial couple who lived in rural Virginia in 1958-1970 and were persecuted for marrying one another in a country which was prepared to acknowledge such a union while their state did not. Marriage ought to be a fundamental right that cannot be overruled either federally or by any state. No one ought to be told who they can or cannot love.
The Shawshank Redemption – This, as everyone knows, is the top-rated movie that has vastly outperformed others in the after-market, well beyond any success it enjoyed in the theaters. Our country has a very questionable reputation with incarceration standards and management. No country in the world enjoys our levels of incarceration and the statistical biases evident in our incarceration rolls. Citizens ought to be free from unlawful or unduly harsh rates and manner of imprisonment. And wherever people are unilaterally in control over other people, citizens ought to expect that the system is prevented from being overwhelmed by public corruption.
Godfather – Leave the gun, take the cannoli. The classic story of power and greed as displayed by several generations of an organized crime family in America. While some might use this as an excuse for going negative on immigration, I would say that it shows why we ought to promote both an open borders immigration policy AND a program to create both educational and vocational opportunities to more assuredly integrate these communities into the American dreamscape.
12 Angry Men – This is the quintessential story of the heart and soul of the American judicial system based on the concept of trial by a jury of peers. We ought to expect that no person is above the law and yet every person is equal before the law.
Schindler’s List – This is not an American story, but it does emphasize American ideals. During the Holocaust and against the backdrop of great risk at the hands of evil autocrats, it is not enough to not participate in injustice, citizens ought to understand that silence is complicity and complicity is a form of participation in injustice. We ought to stand strong against evil and actively work against it, and understand that to to otherwise is to invite evil onto our shores.
Forrest Gump – Stupid is as stupid does. Forrest is the epitome of the American dream. The guileless soul who applies himself selflessly can accomplish anything. We ought to all embrace equality like the innocent soul that Forrest represents. No gender, racial or religious barriers are worth breaching our principles.
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest – Freedom is a very challenging concept to circumscribe. One man’s crazy is another man’s freedom. We ought to accept that the common good is a constantly changing reality and that personal freedom will always be in conflict with it and thus ought to be judgmentally balanced with it.
It’s a Wonderful Life – One of the greatest stories ever told. No man is a failure who has friends. We all owe something to our neighbors in America and our obligations to community ought to supersede all else.
Saving Private Ryan – America is about personal sacrifice for one another. Our national defense depends on it, but we all ought to recognize that there are limits to what any of us ought to be required to sacrifice for the greater good and the rest of us ought to be ready to take up the slack.
City of God – Poverty is a powerful force that undermines all that is sacred to us and it will untenably debase our society to the core. We ought to do all we can to eradicate poverty in order to keep our society from going over to the dark side.
Life is Beautiful – In the face of great evil, hardship and inhumanity, we ought to redouble our belief in the beauty of life. Injustice will always be present in the world, but we ought to keep the faith that man’s goodness will prevail over inhumanity.
Gladiator – Strength with honor ought to be all of our guiding light. The Republic ought to prevail above autocracy even despite the false prophet adored momentarily by the mob.
Oppenheimer – We all ought to care about the sustainability of humankind. No war, conflict or technology ought to be more important than humanity.
Casablanca – Play it again, Sam. Selflessness, even among the most hardened of us is a deep-seated American value. The greater good always ought to prevail over our personal desires.
Rear Window – We are all, even the weakest or most infirmed able to bear witness to justice. The rule of law ought to guide us all in our daily lives.
Apocalypse Now – The smell of napalm in the morning ought to sicken us all. Evil intent grabs hold of a society and of men and then gets out of control. We all ought to “walk point” against war and inhumanity.
Braveheart – Freedom! You can take away our lives, but you can never take away our freedom. We all ought to work hard against the oppression of autocracy.
Good Will Hunting – Genius lives in some of the most unsuspecting places. We ought to make education and opportunity available to all regardless of means.
Lawrence of Arabia – Indigenous people ought to be given rights like everyone else and maybe they ought to be allowed to control their own destiny. Aqaba!
Citizen Kane – Extraordinary wealth tends to corrupt and when combined with politics, often works to undermine democracy. The intersection of wealth and politics ought to be closely monitored and tightly regulated.
Hamilton – Being in the room where it happens matters. Politics is a process of compromise, but fundamental freedoms and ideals like federalism ought not be lost in the bargain.
To Kill a Mockingbird – We all have Boo Radley moments in life, but the sanctity of equality under the law ought never be forsaken.
The Wolf of Wall Street – The process of modern capitalistic business has room for great advances for man’s economic life, but without regulation, all of the good can be easily undone by man’s greed and inability to self-regulate. We ought to know this by now.
Green Book – There ought to be a Green Bookto guide us all through the maze of inequality towards fairness and Justice.
A Beautiful Mind – Collectivism may be the best economic model and neither the zero-sum game nor the winner-take-all economy ought to be assumed as a necessary path for success.
The Great Escape – We all ought to do everything in our power to stand up to evil authoritarianism and we ought not give up no matter how many times we have to spend time in the cooler.
The Elephant Man – I am not an animal! We are all animals, but none of us ought to be treated as animals by society. There is no inhumanity that is beyond the capacity of some men. Our society ought to settle equality on the least common denominator among us.
Gran Torino – The most intolerant of us ought to be able to break through the barriers of inhumanity to a better, more just place.
The Grapes of Wrath – We all ought to think and act like Tom Joad – “I’ll be all around in the dark – I’ll be everywhere. Wherever you can look – wherever there’s a fight, so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there.”
I can do this on and on. There are countless movies that tell the tale of America and the principles that undergird our democracy. We ought to all just listen and pay attention.