Philadelphia
Ethics - Philadelphia
Miriam Lizaur Calvo
In my opinion, the 5 ethical issues present in the film are: AIDS, homosexuality, rights, equality and family relations. The first main issue is AIDS: this film reflects very good the importance of AIDS, no matter how you have get it, you have to take care of that people, even more than to yourself, and you have to be sure that that person has the best time of his/her life while living. And not like in the film that because he has AIDS (and is homosexual) he gets fired of his job and he starts stressing, so he is having a bad time and that is accelerating is dead. I think we have to help people who have problems, not only people who has AIDS (although we have to give more attention to them), but people with other diseases, such as leukaemia, tumours, etc. The second main issue is homosexuality: it also reflects very good this aspect. In the film, the real reason why the boss fires him is not because he has AIDS, but because he is homosexual. In that time people thought homosexuality wasn’t ethically good. This has happened in real life also and it’s not a good way of treating people, especially when they have AIDS also. I don’t relieve that being homosexual is good or bad, or wright or wrong, it’s just a thing everyone has to respect. The third issue in this film is rights: everyone has the same rights, so why a person has not the right to be homosexual. Yes he can, other thing is what people thinks or says, but he has that right. And not because he is homosexual you have to think that person is bad or you have to fire him. The forth issue is equality: everyone has to be equal. In the film the guy who was homosexual didn’t tell anyone because he was afraid of what could people say if they knew he was homosexual. He was afraid of discrimination; they could discriminate him if they knew he was homosexual. In my opinion that’s not good. It has to exist equality for everyone. Whether in law or in society. Now the homosexuals, in our society, are treated almost like anyone else. The last main issue I want to mention is family relations: this fact is very important, because your family occupies a very important role o place in your heart. Without your family support and help, you could do lots of things but it would be harder than if they give you a hand. You have to have a good relation with your family, sometimes it will be good and others bad, but the thing is that you have to have more good moments than bad moments. Like in the film, Andrew Becket has the support of his family, they respect the fact he is homosexual and that he got AIDS like he got it. The say they are proud of him and his partner and that they are going through the situation very good, and if they need help they can count on them.
2
Ethics - Philadelphia
Miriam Lizaur Calvo
That’s why is so important the family relations, because they give you all their love and support. If I would have been in “Tom Hanks” place I would have done things differently, most of the things he did were right for me, but I would change some of them: First of all I wouldn’t have gone to that place, that to start, then I definitely wouldn’t have done it with a person I don’t know and less in a public place such as a theatre, and even less if I were dating another person, it wouldn’t have been right, because your partner is there so you can trust him or her and no to do bad things behind his/her back. Other thing I wouldn’t have done like Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) it’s to work so hard all day and even part of the night, knowing the disease he had required a lot of rest and relaxation. Only just so the boss would ascend him. In my opinion, health comes before work. I’m sure Andrew would regret all his life for what he did and even more especially when because of that event he was AIDS infected. And I’m also convinced that Andrew ´s partner didn’t like it at all, but even so the partner stayed with him, I definitely think that was a really kind action of his part and he had to love him a lot to forgive him, so Andrew Beckett was very lucky to have him as a partner. Apart from that I wouldn’t have changed anything, I would have ask for help when they fired me from work, then like Andrew I would have studied my situation and then I would have gone to trial with, obviously, a good lawyer like he did. I would have fight for my rights. Because it’s not fair that he was fired from his job because he was homosexual, if it was only that, maybe, but is not the only thing, he had AIDS also, so they could have a little bit of compassion, even thought the way that he was infected wasn’t the most appropriable, and let him work, because the way he had of working was the appropriated, according to their bosses, they only fired him because he was homosexual.
3
Ethics - Philadelphia
Miriam Lizaur Calvo
I think this film would be appropriate in 2014 and in 2020, basically in every year. This film shows lots of moral values and it has ethical teaching: It would show to the people how society worked at that time: they were terrible at tolerating other cultures, in this case the homosexuality. How because of been homosexual they could fired you from your job or they wouldn’t approach to you. They discriminated you if you were other thing that they though it wasn’t normal. Is assumed that in those days homosexuality is not as bad as before, but it’s one thing almost normal to which people are more or less accustomed. And the people who are with them don’t care if they are homosexual. Society at that time was very strict but has changed with regard to the current. They didn’t want to change or wanted to make changes. It can also sow to people how trials were made at that time and how are made at their time, because they would probably be different, and they can compare them and learn from it. This film is also important because of AIDS: it shows how they have to take care of themselves, although there are not many cases of AIDS disease is important to watch out, because as they would know, this disease still has not got a healed and people who have AIDS are still dying. Going back to society, they didn’t like people who where homosexual because of the next thing: Since they where little their parents educate them in a different way, (you have to get married when you grow up and have lots of children, girls have to get married with boys and boys with girls) parents educate their children now days, it depended on the way of thinking. That’s why most of our grandparents are not used to it. Depending in where you grow, in what time, your opinion about things in general change. Most of the time when we want to adapt to the culture you live in you want to change your way of thinking, but you can’t because is your way of thinking and it’s how you have been educated.
4
Ethics - Philadelphia
Miriam Lizaur Calvo
In my opinion the film is very well made, it reflects perfectly how the society in that time was. It showed how people who had AIDS had to suffered a lot and how real life was for them. Also, the difference between how normal people faced the different situations and how people with AIDS did. In the film we can see how the main character advances through all the period until he dies. The employers dismiss the character not because he had AIDS, just because he was homosexual, when they were in the trial, they say that was wrong. At that time dismiss people because of that was illegal that was why they “lied”. So at the end of the film Andrew and his lawyer won the trial and the employees had to pay an amount of money to him. Also, in the film we get to see how these people suffered because of being fired, they stressed more and they had all the body full of red marks, which accelerated their time on earth. We are also able to compare the society and the culture from that time with the one today and think how much we have change, because without those changes we would have the same culture and society, and even the way of thinking could be the same because the world wouldn’t change. Other thing I would have change is the end, it’s really sad, the film should have end in a different way, for example, instead of Andrew Beckett dying just knowing it was going to happened but without happening. Because it’s really sad when you see a person in that state, that has fight for his rights and that he had to face a lot of terrible situations, know he is dying, so is very sad. In conclusion, I’ve like this film a lot and I hardly recommend everyone to watch it. Yu are going to learn lots of things, and even though you are going to cry at the end, you are going to enjoy it a lot.
5