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COMMENT:
Are these movies about good and evil?
Or are they about our very human tendency to give themselves the right to decide who is good and who is evil?
Or are they about our irresistible attraction for sanctifying ourselves and condemning those who don't share our ideas, way of life, beliefs, mores....?
I think that Quo Vadis, The Name of the Rose, and The Decameron all touch on the proclivity of men to distinguish (almost arbitrarily) between good and evil among their own peers. In Quo Vadis, we see a power imbalance that permits a single individual to oppress a minority under the guise of their proclaimed 'evilness.' However, it is clear that this identification is made for unrelated, selfish reasons on the part of Nero. In The Name of the Rose, the Inquisition is faced with the literal task of judging those who have sinned against the Church. The Inquisition becomes corrupt and punishes without regard to rational excuse or supposedly-Christian forgiveness. Furthermore, many of the rules for which people are tried for breaking are meaningless outside the realm of an institution like the Church. In The Decameron, the viewer is put in a place of judgement when they are exposed to images of sin committed by ordinary people. The relaxed nature of the depiction then forces the viewer to wonder: is it really such a big deal? Have I not also behaved foolishly or selfishly, or committed some other 'sin'? This, then, causes one to wonder about the human tendency to draw such harsh lines between good and evil.
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ReplyDeleteI think the films are a mix of all those those things. Each film has the good (protagonist) and evil (antagonist). The Decameron is more of self reflection on the internal fight of good and evil, while the other films have a sense of that, but also have people who represent the good and evil. In Quo Vadis and The Name of the Rose, we see how there is a judgement placed on those who rebel against the powers that be. Each film has their own way of showing the conflict (internal and external) of good and evil. In the Name of the Rose Bernando de Gui was the perfect example of someone who condemns other people for not sharing the same ideals. What the films do is explore the reality of these conflicts. The film that did the best job at demonstrating the external conflict was the The Rose, because you can see the physical torture against what is "evil". Quo Vadis does the same, but I connected more to the story line of The Rose. The Decameron really shows the internal battle ordinary people have with "evil" or "sin", which makes give the viewer a chance at self reflection.
ReplyDeleteI think each movie has good and evil incorporated throughout them. The definition of good and evil, is different for each every individual. I feel like on the spectrum between good and evil, there are things that can be easily identified, and things that can be in the grey area in the middle. For example, Many believe being homosexual is a form of evil, and many believe it is a form of good. Then there are those who believe that its ones’ choice and doesn’t affect them.
ReplyDeleteIn Quo Vadis, good and evil is determined by Christianity and what is allowed within the religion and what is not. Nero was viewed as evil, due to the acts he committed against people, and against the ten commandments of Christianity. In The Name of the Rose, the witchcraft's thought to be an evil, which is caused by religion but also by the uncontrollable factor associated with witchcraft. In Decameron, sex is viewed as sinful to society, however, the love and lust that drives the affairs, are considered good in the eyes of those committing the acts. Good and evil is based off what people think is good and evil. Society chooses what is evil or good. In some societies, eating dogs and cats is acceptable, however, in ours its deemed evil and unacceptable.
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ReplyDeleteI think to label these films as being about good and evil is too simple of an answer. In “Quo Vadis” and “The Name of the Rose” the people in control either thought they were doing the right thing or were just too complacent to advocate for change which I don’t believe is inherently evil.
ReplyDeleteWhen you grow up and are surrounded by societal norms, and don’t know anyone who fights against the system, most people accept their situation because they don’t know anything else. When the church, who was in control in the dark ages, tells you to focus all of your energy on being pious and spiritual that is what you’re going to do. Or when you’re completely surrounded by violence, slavery, gluttony and decadence as Marcus Vinicius was in “Quo Vadis” it seems wrong to question that. I think that the people at the top of the power structures in both of these film were corrupt, manipulative and selfish but I don’t think that makes them evil.
In “The Decameron” we see plenty of average people enjoying their lives despite poverty. They seek gratitude in sex and humor and are often cheating on their spouses. This doesn’t make them evil either. Humans are complex individuals that react based on their environments.
I think that each of those movies, Quo Vadis, Name of the Rose, and the Decameron, has to do with moral judgement. Quo Vadis focuses on good versus evil and condemning those who disagree. The good in this movie are the innocent Christians condemned to death, and the evil would be emperor Nero and the empress who condemn them. Name of the Rose is about condemning those who do not agree. It is hard to determine a "good and evil" in this movie since all characters consider themselves as Christians who are trying to live by their own moral standards. However, in this film those who are considered heretics, even if they are not, are condemned. I believe The Decameron is more about sin and choosing one's own moral path. Sin does not make someone evil, since everyone sins.
ReplyDeleteI think each of the films (Quo Vadis, Name of the Rose, and the Decameron) has to do with human tendency to decide who is good and evil. Quo Vadis centers around a controlling emperor, Nero, who has almighty power and uses religion as a means of justifying actions such as the murder of those who he deems unfit. Name of the Rose features a court-style judgement with punishment (burning at the stake) issued. The Decameron is the least of these three films to center around good and evil, but does still do so in its topics of brothers taking revenge on their sister's lover and a priest being fooled on his deathbed. I might also add though that Quo Vadis and Name of the Rose would satisfy the category of condemning different ideals, whereas The Decameron is more dynamic in its explored topics.
ReplyDeleteI think that the three films are more focused on the human tendency to decide who is good and who is evil, rather than entirely being about good and evil itself. The three films being discussed in this comment are Quo Vadis, Name of the Rose and The Decameron. In all of these films, there are people who believe that they are good, and people who believe that these people are evil. I think there is no real way to distinguish between good and evil in these films because it is all an opinion based statement based on point of view. No one person, I believe, can decide what is good or evil. Naturally, though, as human beings, we always seem as if we think we know best and can properly make this distinction. I think this is a common theme throughout all three of these films. A large theme in these films are people always thinking they know best, and punishing those who disagree with them. Which brings me back to my point, that there are many different opinions and there will never be a right way to think, or a right way to consider what is good, and what is evil.
ReplyDeleteI think these movies are more about people justifying their own actions/beliefs and denouncing the people who oppose them. This is evident in "The Name of the Rose", as we see two men who use logic to solve a string of related murders in an abbey. Because it is set in the Middle Ages, Catholicism is the "be all end all" of life in Italy. William and Adso use their wit and intelligence to understand what has happened. The church then tries to cover the truth with fear. It is explained that through fear the church stays in power. They are not willing to part ways with their beliefs either, so it is possible that those in power, too, are willing to stay ignorant to keep the way they live the same.
ReplyDeleteIn "Quo Vadis", Nero, the emperor of Rome, burns the entire city down to build with a fresh start. When he realizes the people of the city are outraged, he chooses the Christians as a martyr. He sees people who believe in the new religion be to guilty of treason for worshipping a god that is not himself, so making them take the blame would be killing two birds with one stone in his eyes. Even though the men and women of the Christian faith spread their message of love and peace and Nero has an entire empire burned to the ground, he still can't understand his opposition. He justifies his own actions and has no remorse for the chaos he causes.
"The Decameron" is a little more complicated because through its various stories we rarely see people judging one another because of different beliefs. Instead, most of the stories are about men and women who go against the grain, who sin with murder, greed and adultery. In analyzing these stories through the lens of this question I would have to say that these people aren't condemning those who don't share their beliefs but there is still an inherent conflict: the men and women of these stories are, for lack of a better word, outcasts of society; they do not follow the unwritten rules that average people do everyday (i.e., not murdering, not stealing, not cheating on their partners.)
I don't think these films demonstrate a direct divide between good and evil but rather what is portrayed as acceptable within a society and what isn't. The rejection of the christians in Quo Vadis and the killing of those seeking laughter in The Name of the Rose show us an example of how good and evil is indistinguishable. In one film, the religion becomes cause for an antagonist and in the other they are the protagonist. This shows us that its a human tendency to decide who is good and evil or who is the oppressed and the oppressor. At one point Nero burned a city to blame the Christians and at another point the Catholics were killing those sinning to target individualism. This attack on the minority is human response to the threat of challenge and is demonstrated in the films.
ReplyDeleteI think all of these films had aspects that would be considered good or evil but for the most part, I think they were about our human tendency to determine what is good or evil. In "Quo Vadis", Nero is considered to be evil due him burning the city of Rome and blaming it on innocent Christians which would result in them being condemned to death. In "The Name of the Rose", those that are considered to be evil are those that do not share the same beliefs or view point. Finally in "The Decameron", those that are considered to be evil are all those people who decide to go against the norms in their own society. All these three films focus on what others believe what good and evil is and their actions to punish those that go against those beliefs when in actuality, what is good and evil is really down to the interpretations made by people.
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