The Departed Conventions

The Departed, a film written by William Monahan, Alan Mak, and Felix Chong, directed by Martin Scorsese, was in my opinion a spectacular crime-thriller deserving of less criticism from overly sentimental viewers. Though this film is in some scenes brutal and vicious, I praise Martin Scorsese’s refusal to cower away from the undeniable truth that organized crime in the United States is murderous in nature just to satisfy certain viewers as critics advocated he should. Being a four time Oscar winning film with sixty-three other awards for numerous aspects in the movie industry, I don’t believe anyone can contradict that The Departed is profoundly unforgettable to masses of moviegoers.

One of the staples of the film noir is the hardboiled detective that is utterly out of control in many aspects of his life. Several elements of Spade’s character had to be altered to meet the code consequently and ultimately weakened his character. His drinking had to be kept to

story and the importance of self- identity will be explored and menacingly you try you can not

Costello is a villain because he is always up to no good and whatever he is doing is for money and he has all the traits of a villain and has no traits as a hero.

The foremost perception is that of Peter Gibbons who works a nine to five job as a lifeless drone for Initech, a company that he hates and he has a hostile girlfriend who is constantly cheating on him without his knowledge. Peter despises his work and the mundane day to day reality, but most of all he despises his eight bosses especially Bill Lumbergh. “Puffed up with fake jocularity, Bill epitomizes the smiley, buck-passing, back-stabbing, passive-aggressive office dictator who fears and despises his underlings while prating nauseatingly about everybody being one big happy family” (Holden). In the eyes of our main cast Bill is the devil himself, as many white collared workers across the nation could say about their own bosses as well. Bill repeatedly abuses his position and power and antagonizes his already distraught workers. This only adds further fuel to the nightmare and places increasing stress and disdain upon the workers

In Ken Kesey’s novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, the nurse Miss Ratched is a fine example of a realistic fictional villain. Possession of three key components is essential in identifying what makes Miss Ratched a villian. Motive is what drives the villain to commit the very acts that allow them to be considered evil in the first place, and often drive their entire being as a character. While they must possess motive, they must also have a sense of morals that coincides with their motives (typically evil, or distorted) and follow their moral compass in a way that often causes trouble for those around them. Additionally, a villain is frequently associated with their opposite; the hero who combats them. Kesey’s character perfectly aligns with these three categories of what makes a villain, and it is unquestionable that she is the villain of the novel.

The focus of this paper will be on two contemporary criminological theories and their application to the crime film, Eastern Promises. The two theories to be discussed, and subsequently applied to the film, are labelling theory and differential association theory. Labelling theory falls under the symbolic interactionist approach, and the primary level of analysis of this theory is micro, as it tends to focus on the effect of labels on an individual’s sense of “self”. The basis of labelling theory is that no act is inherently deviant; it is only when the act is labelled deviant that it becomes so. When someone is labelled as deviant, they begin to see themselves as the label they have been assigned. This can cause the behaviour to happen more frequently, as the individual who has been labelled begins to see themselves as they label they have been given. A criticism of labelling theory is that it lacks empirical validity, and is deterministic. There is no way to effectively test this theory, so there is no way to know for sure how accurate the concept of labelling is and the effect it has on an individual and their propensity towards criminality. This and other aspects of labelling theory will be broken down and discussed later on in the paper.

2) What are some of the themes that are central to the film? How have they been communicated?

This movie explores issues of greed, human relationships, betrayal and redemption, personal innocence and responsibility as well as the effects on the human mind

A main theme in this novel is the influence of family relationships in the quest for individual identity. Our family or lack thereof, as children, ultimately influences the way we feel as adults, about ourselves and

The movie starts off with a group of teenagers in school, all from different social groups. They all meet in detention on a Saturday where they are forced to sit in complete silence and they get assigned to write a paper about “who you think are” by their principal Vernon. Throughout the movie their minds are exposed to the different lives and experience of each other; with that they create this bond that

Another theme, personal identity, is seen throughout all of the characters in the book. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of

These two characters showed significant psychological work in hopes of changing their “problematic” social identity. Both of these characters were conscious of the stigmas that surrounded their identities, each, however, had distinct ways in which they dealt with those stigmas and changing their meanings as they grew older. Many would say that the way in which they were able to transform their identities meant either embracing it or denying one’s own identity fully as the film progressed and new societal pressures arose.

First I will present a basic breakdown of the movie including: who the characters are, their roles, and plot summary. Next, I will present the arguments in regards to the theories of Utilitarianism and virtue theory, and how the film and characters conveyed them. From here I will show the breakdown of the meta-ethical aspects of the film in regards to human nature and how evil attempts to triumph over good. I will conclude by summarizing how these characters had complete disregard for ethics and their own morals.

     This film presents an individual that chooses not to conform to modern society, and the consequences of that choice. The main character