I’m going to talk in this assignment about the movie: Gone Baby Gone; which is an incredible, fresh, and real film, and its relation with Kant theory. In this movie characters are rich and alive; the story is compelling, surprising, and not at all predictable. Kant said that one must have a respect for the moral law that is expressed in the intention, and I think that Patrick’s intentions were good because he did not want for the kidnapped girl (Amanda) to be involved in a world of lies, and neither to reproach himself for hiding the real truth. Also he wanted to do the correct thing or decision based on the moral law, and it was the reason why he informed the police about the kidnapping of the girl. Patrick acts according to Kant’s categorical imperative because if he were turn around and pretend he would never found Amanda, he should be willing a universal law that makes it acceptable to steal children from their family simply because we do not approve of the way they are being raised. Patrick is taking a Kant approach, because since the first beginning of the movie he took the case because he needed to find out the truth.
He thought that kids should not be taken away from their mothers, and he believed that Amanda’s mother would change her lifestyle. The end of the movie was unexpected, and I said unexpected because it was a hard decision for Patrick to decide which choice was the correct one. He had two options he could call the police, and report that everything was a lie, and the police will take Amanda back to her mother who was a drug addict, she was poor, and she just cares about herself, or he could let Amanda to live a life with fake parents who will care more for her, and they would be conspirators in her abducting. Patrick chose the first option, and I think that it was a prudent decision because as Kant said, our lives are full of prudent decisions, which depends on the situation. In this particular case for the little girl would be better to stay living with Morgan Freedman, but behind this reality a lot of lies would be hiding, and a lot of people were involved in this nasty play, but Patrick did not thought in the consequences of his decision.
He acted according to Kant theory deciding what was morally good because he could not live with the fact that he let a child be kidnapped when he knew kidnapping is against the law, and is morally wrong. For Kant the presences of the good will are what make an action morally good, regardless of its consequences, and Patrick was thinking that his decision was right. I think that he will be taking care of this girl forever, because after he found Amanda he realizes that her mother will never change so he is going to feel a lot of responsibility with this girl. A detail that call my attention was that the girl’s mother said to Patrick that Amanda’s doll name was Mirabelle, and at the end of the movie when he ask to Amanda for her doll name, she answered that its name was Annabelle. This little detail means that her mother do not even know which is her daughter’s doll name, and she do not pay attention to the beautiful girl, that’s why I think that Patrick will always be taking a look to the little girl. Definitely according to Kant theory it was the right decision besides the consequences it can bring out.
