John Patrick Shanley's award winning play "Doubt" has been transferred to the big screen with Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius, the constipated, fire-breathing principal of a Catholic grade school in 1964 who accuses Father Flynn, a charismatic parish priest well played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, of child molestation despite the fact that there is not a shred of evidence to support her accusation.
I say "not a shred" with apologies to a host of major film critics who suggest, without citing any evidence -- because there is none -- that Father Flynn's guilt or innocence is "unresolved."
Whatever its merits as a play that clearly was intended to be "provocative," at least in the screen adaptation there simply is no doubt in "Doubt." Instead we are presented with a nutty, self-righteous woman (Streep) who doesn't merely jump to conclusions, she leaps, bounds and soars to them. She admits she has no evidence for besmirching a good man's reputation, just her own "certainty." Her otherwise hateful and overblown reactions to life's innocuous moments should, of course, raise a red flag with respect to any such accusation: she whacks the backs of boys' heads (but not girls') for the slightest infraction, and she thinks that "Frosty the Snowman" is heresy because a magic hat brings a snowman to life. While Father Flynn wants to figuratively open the windows of the church and let in the winds of change, Sister Aloysius wants to keep them shut, hence the running metaphor of Streep slamming closed the window in her office to keep the wind out. Discontented that "men run everything," Sister Aloysius insists that Father Flynn must be guilty of molestation despite his fervent and credible denials because he has taken a kindly interest in the only black boy in the school, a pathetic, friendless lad whose father beats him.
With all due respect to the enlightened film critics -- who, as a class, seem to think that elliptical prose makes them appear to be thoughtful -- Father Flynn's guilt or innocence is not "unresolved." There was no evidence for the accusation to begin with, so exactly how could it be "unresolved" at the end? Unless, of course, the mere accusation of sexual misconduct against a man, no matter how groundless, is sufficient to leave his innocence "unresolved."
I thought so.
Of course, the very nature of such an accusation does not allow an innocent man the ability to rule out with 100 percent certainty that "something" possibly, might have, could have happened -- because the absence of physical evidence is often not determinative. And for too many seemingly educated persons, the absence of probative evidence tending to show guilt is, for some reason, never enough to "resolve" the question in the face of an unfounded accusation. In the end, the overriding question the film poses probably is not the one the author intended: since when did an accusation of sexual assault, admittedly proffered without evidence, become sufficient to taint a man as a potential rapist?
Sadly, in our hysterical rape culture, too many real-life men who are wrongly accused find themselves in exactly the same situation as Father Flynn, their innocence forever "unresolved" in the court of last resort, the court of public opinion.
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3 comments:
But it's in the interests of the children. So no other factor needs to be looked at.....you know, evidence, truth.
Sadly, this is a true commentary on what the current rape/molestation/dv culture is like, even though it is set in the 60's.
As long as it is a woman doing the accusing and a man being accused, then guilt is presumed. And yet all the statistics show that women are more likely to abuse kids than men. The naivete, or should that be self delusion, that still pervades the beliefs of most people, is astounding (and disappointing).
So much for the "information" age. Looking back in 50-60 years, it will likely be called the dis-information age.
Wolfboy, the witch hunt against men needs to stop, and thankfully, the internet has made many more men and women aware of the anti-male bias than were aware, say, 15 years ago.
As a society, we have allowed the good reputations of innocent men to be tossed onto a scrapheap of indifference when it comes to keeping children safe from "harm" that is even remotely or hyptothetically possible. We readily allow men to be tainted as potential rapists based on nothing more than cavalier accusations of sexual misconduct, which accusations are based on facts that tend to prove nothing at all. Male teachers, for example, are fired or are forced to resign based on such accusations. Some end up getting divorced because of such accusations; some even kill themselves.
We justify allowing men to be destroyed in this manner under the guise of, "When it comes to the children, it's better to be safe than sorry." And, the flimsiest allegations of sexual misconduct are automatically believed when made against a man because men are sexual predators, don't you know.
The fact is, no man should be forced to forfeit his good name absent due process of law. Public employers should follow a process grounded in fundamental fairness before it can fire a man, even if the burden of proof is lower than, for example, a criminal proceeding. The rights of men are every bit as important as the rights of children. It is time to stop assuming all men are guilty of every allegation made against them.
Agreed, on all of the above. The question that it begs is....how, as a group, do men change this?
It won't happen by men alone. We will need the assistance of women who don't toe the feminism party line.
And I believe that this will be an absolute necessity. Mainly, because radfem groups like NOW, will shout down men in a heartbeat and be listened to and supported by other feminists and mangina supporters. But add to the mix a healthy population of women, and the feminists will have a more difficult time claiming it is all because of "teh patriarchy", and that is all a sexist ploy to keep "women in thier place" (wherever that is).
The greatest weapon that we have, and need to hammer away at feminism with every day:
The truth. Keep stating it loud and proud (if I may borrow a phrase).
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