Alignment in the movie "Man on Fire"

[Nyarlathotep]

In any case I think we can all agree that the movie is cool.

IMHBNWO* I'd have to go with Neutral or Chaotic Good.


*In my humble but never wrong opinion

 

[Heathen72]

Evil. He tortures people, he kills helpless opponents. He does kill people, but they're probably evil or trying to kill him too, so it's not murder.

Judge: You have been charged with Murder. How do you plead?
Man on Fire: Well, some of those people were trying to kill me.
Judge: Self defence then. And the others?
Man on Fire: Well, they were probably evil...
Judge: Fair enough, then! Clearly not murder. Case dismissed!

 

[Altalazar]

Judge: You have been charged with Murder. How do you plead?
Man on Fire: Well, some of those people were trying to kill me.
Judge: Self defence then. And the others?
Man on Fire: Well, they were probably evil...
Judge: Fair enough, then! Clearly not murder. Case dismissed!

In the D&D World, that would be true. Paladins don't arrest demons and put them on trial, paying for a lawyer for them, and make them innocent until proven guilty. They find them and slay them, period, and it is considered LG.

Professional child kidnappers / murderers would qualify as demons in my book, and therefore, in the context of this movie, he's LG.

 

[MoonZar]

In the D&D World, that would be true. Paladins don't arrest demons and put them on trial, paying for a lawyer for them, and make them innocent until proven guilty. They find them and slay them, period, and it is considered LG.

Professional child kidnappers / murderers would qualify as demons in my book, and therefore, in the context of this movie, he's LG.

Hello,

Well i totaly disagree, the girl is LG not the guy lol...

How can someone who practice torture, and blow a hand of a man with a gun, can be good. Whaever the reason, torture is bad. He killed so many people, and in the background of the character he probably have killed before and not always for good reason.

My visions of the character is that the only thing Good he did was to rescure the little girl, but in is whole life he just killed.

 

[Rel]

Whaever the reason, torture is bad.

A man has buried a child in a barrel somewhere. In about an hour that child will have died of suffocation.

Imagine that he doesn't want to talk about the location of that barrel.

Imagine that the child is yours.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

A man has buried a child in a barrel somewhere. In about an hour that child will have died of suffocation.

Imagine that he doesn't want to talk about the location of that barrel.

Imagine that the child is yours.

The torture is still bad.

It is, however, understandable.

 

[Rel]

The torture is still bad.

It is, however, understandable.

But is it Evil?

 

[John Morrow]

But is it Evil?

Must... stay... out... of... another... alignment... thread...



(It helps that I haven't seen the movie.)

 

[Rel]

(It helps that I haven't seen the movie.)

You should because it is excellent.

And given how insightful and interesting most of your other posts have been, I'd love to hear your take on it.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

But is it Evil?

Depends.

My own personal view is that very, very few actions are Evil, Good, Lawful, or Chaotic in and of themselves (casting aligned spells being one subset of those actions).

Accordingly, Torture - along with Rape - is one of the few things that is always, always an Evil act.

This doesn't mean that people who are Good cannot do it - merely that, when they set about doing it, they know and understand that, for a while, they are acting on the side of the Enemy.

Those who understand that what they have done is truly, morally wrong and hate that circumstances have forced them to such a juncture, where such a horrible decision had be made, remain Good.

Those who come to the realization that, hey, look how easily this solved all the problems, and I'd probably do it again if I had to, have begun their fall from Good.

In other words, those who are Evil are not insane. There are logical, believable, and defensible rationales for Evil thoughts, actions, and philosophies. Sometimes, Evil seems like the right thing to do - and not in a cartoony, "My parents hate me so I'll blow up the world" fashion.