Anthony Hock

Junior Morality

Movie Assignment: Boondock Saints


The movie Boondock Saints is about two very religious brothers who stumble into an unusual lifestyle. They kill a few leaders of the Russian mob and get a lot of money doing it. They wonder if they should kill more people. This first circumstance was a spur of the moment thing that they had not planned out very much but they wonder if to keep going. They have to decide whether or not they should continue to kill these types of people: mob leaders, drug lords, pimps etc. They have not been caught by the police and continue what they are doing and the some of the public begin to regard them as saints. Are they right or wrong? They are breaking the law and they are killing, but they are also ridding the world of evil men and making it a safer place. The movie also tracks the detective trying to catch these men and his moral dilemma as well. He struggles because he is unsure himself about whether or not these two men are in the right. He does not know if he should continue to let them kill other evil men whom the police want to arrest as well. In the end of the movie it seems as though the detective wants to allow the men to continue to kill and that they have to decided to continue. After reuniting with a father who joins the cause, brother Connor asks their father how far they plan to take their mission, and he responds, "The question is not how far. The question is, do you possess the constitution, the depth of faith, to go as far as is needed? "
This movie helped redemonstrate to me just how fine the line is between good and evil. Perhaps the biggest decisions in our lives are deciding where that line lies. When these two men kill in the movie, at first we see it as they are superheroes triumphing over evil, but killing is still wrong and we do not have the authority to do so. Only God has the right to take away life, but then again that brings up the question of whether or not wars can be justified or if killing in the name of self defense is right. Another big issue that this movie brings to my mind is the indifference of the so-called good men. I believe it is wrong to sit idly by as evil occurs in the world around us. Not doing anything to help is just as evil, like the age old saying our parents tell us, "If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem." I think that this movie helped me realize that while there are strict Catholic teachings on things like killing, there are necessary things that must be done that go against Catholic teaching. I believe it is about deciding for ourself what needs to be done to stop the evil in our worlds and whether or not we possess the power to do so.