The Departed Movie and Double Identity - Essay Example

? The Departed “The Departed” movie is a drama based on violent crime regarding an undercover agent trying to bring down the mafia crime boss, a regional mob crime boss, and a police sergeant who is secretly a member of the Mob (Wernblad, 2010). The theme of “double identity” makes the movie fun watching because each character struggles in the concealing of his secreted identity, facing the drama and stress the whole situation creates. Even if, the material relates to what most people have watched, the “hero” undercover police agent struggling hard to gain his identity, the unclean detective, and the hedonistic mafia boss, with all the countless problems, the movie still ranks among the outstanding ones in the stores (Schoeffmann, et al., 2011). Well, the three characters involve in unethical behavior patterns driven by factors such as legal moralism, codes of conduct, universal responsibility, egoism, free will, and determinism. The discussion focuses on such factors in the two protagonists (police agent and the undercover police agent), reasons for corruption in the criminal justice system, how to use critical thinking in enforcing the law, and the necessity to differentiate between morality and ethics. Scorsese uses glowing money shots relating them to the key characters, to create an outstanding theme, and categorize these characters. The major theme in the story relates to the character's attitude towards money, which molds the behavior for each character (Sickels, 2011). In addition, he retains the viewer’s attention through matching on the scene and implementing blurry backgrounds. The shots taken with the story, the angle by which the producer took, and the glowing film background pointing the major characters, Billy Costigan and Colin Sullivan, whom the story revolves around, all assist in enhancing the storyline. More so, the story is all about the two double police agents, Colin and Billy, assigned to infiltrate the enemy camp of the other, which creates captivating actions. It is right to state that the story is classical regardless the fact that it is recent production. The plot is full of linear chronology, with limited or no flashbacks, because each action and plot precedes continuously in a forward motion (Sickels, 2011). Complete closure is evident at the ending of the story: the police kills all the “bad” agents without leaving a single of them. Consequently, Billy receives a respectful burial, memorable speech and several gunshots. Nevertheless, it is easy to categorize the characters into stereotypes. The three main characters featuring in the movie function symbolically in terms of the Superego, Ego and Id, while taking note that the ego behavior structure itself is self-permeable and fluid. Francis Costello, the key antagonist pretends to be the mafia “boss.” He acts in all unethical behaviors starting from trading illegal and illicit properties while at the same time teaching unethical behavior of the mafia members (Schoeffmann, et al., 2011). For instance, a statement in the story states his teaching to a young boy from the neighboring village, “You have to take what you want in life.” Costello is a perfect example of pure Id because he enacts his urges and primal drives without much remorse, reflection or restraint (Sickels, 2011). At the beginning of the story, it is evident of him stating “I never wanted to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.” The audience soon grabs the idea of the naughty guys and the good guys, as well as, the crooked cop after watching the movie (Monaco, 2010). The objectives of the key character come out clearly in the movie: Colin has the desire of getting successful and rich; he desires to stay as close as possible to the authority seat, which is evident in the way he fascinates with the “State House.” For instance, the story shows an incidence when he gazes at the seat for some time, after the greatest football game (Wernblad, 2010).. Consequently, a colleague, Barragan, notices his actions and offers a piece of advice, “forget it, your father was a janitor his son is just a cop.” Determination is a factor driving Colin’s behavior to get into power to the extent that he bought an apartment just to have a clear view of the State House. The realtor selling the house strengthened Colin’s determinism through his statement, “If you move in, you’re upper-class by about Tuesday.” Billy has a universal responsibility to move far away from the business and his family lifestyle within the shortest time possible. It is his choice to retain good code of conduct in terms of morals as a cop and to behave morally as his father did (Sickels, 2011). On the other hand, Frank Costello has the desire of becoming the mob boss as per the expectations of every mob boss: to practice dirty deals and walk away without facing any judgment of his illegal deals and run the same deals with minimal cop interference. In addition, the Boston Agent and the “staties,” as usual, has the free will to maintain a crime free city for citizens to live peacefully. The chief characters differ in terms of aspirations and goals, which contributes to their different attitudes in terms of money. For instance, Colin is in need of riches and prestige, which makes him do anything in the name of gaining money. On the other hand, Billy desires to live an honest life, implying that money hardly influences or motivates his actions. Greed for money is a foremost contributor and the contributing factor for the presence of corruption in the criminal justice system (Monaco, 2010). For instance, Colin portrays the traits of a corrupt agent who desires to get richer and richer each single day. His corrupt deals make him a perfect partner for Costello. Billy does not have the greedy aspect of wanting or needing money, where he has the free will of retaining his honest characteristic (Schoeffmann, et al., 2011). Money is a theme that the producer uses throughout the story as pertaining to the key characters. More so, it is a clear aspect of categorizing and building the characters. For instance, Costello compares the present condition with the past, which is clear when the movie begins through his statement that, “no one ever give it to you. You have to take it.” The next incidence shows Costello heads to a shop owned by Singh to take his mafia collection (Monaco, 2010). In the event of paying for the collection and a cigarette, he declares to the shop owner, “If you ever want to earn a little extra money, you come by L Street.” Eventually, Colin decides to join Costello where he trades his clean conscience for prestige and money. According to the movie, judging from the way each character reacts; money is a right definition of character. More law enforcers hardly use critical thinking to analyze whether a proposition is verifiable factual (Mandal, 2010). The skills of critical thinking are becoming a strategy in new business functions regardless of the organization. Moreover, critical thinking introduces the agents to creative thinking in contexts of continuing trends in unconventional terrorism and crime. Using critical thinking the agents will have a clear explanation relating to how they arrived at the decision in a situation (Wernblad, 2010). It is essential to prepare an equation for critical thinking that people can use in courts, by a commanding superior, or any level of command. The decision results through evaluating the risk versus need, divided by time, and adding resources at the disposal (Gildenhuys, 2004). Making decisions based on critical thinking, it is necessary to differentiate between ethics and morality. Morals are personal and individualistic in nature, while ethics relate to judging the behavior of a group of people or organization. Morals are rules the society passed down where each individual must obey to gain acceptance by the community’s civilized strata (Mandal, 2010). For instance, the society teaches people not to murder, steal lie, among others. Individuals who obey such rules have good morals and vice versa. Therefore, it is essential for people to know the difference between an ethical and moral person. At times, it is a challenge to come up with a one-fit-all rule of ethics that is appropriate than others. It is a misconception to state wrong or right in ethics. For instance, the community is full of confusion when it comes to matters of ethics, but can state good or corrupt morals (Gildenhuys, 2004). “The Departed” movie focus on ethics, morals, and corruption incidences contributed by the greed for money for characters to get rich and gain prestige. The judge reviewing the acts of the main characters should use critical thinking in enforcing the law to analyze whether the proposition is verifiable factual. Referencing Gildenhuys, J. S. H. (2004). Ethics and professionalism: The battle against public corruption. Stellenbosch: SUN Press. Mandal, S. K. (2010). Ethics in business and corporate governance. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Monaco, P. (2010). A history of American movies: A film-by-film look at the art, craft, and business of cinema. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press. Schoeffmann, Klaus, Merialdo, Bernard, Hauptmann, Alexander G., Ngo, Chong-wah, & Andreopoulos, Yiannis. (2011). Advances in Multimedia Modeling: 18th International Conference, Mmm 2012, Klagenfurt, Austria, January 4-6, 2012, Proceedings. Springer-Verlag New York Inc. Sickels, R. (2011). American film in the digital age. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger. Wernblad, A. (2010). The Passion of Martin Scorsese: A Critical Study of the Films. Jefferson: McFarland & Co., Publishers. Read More