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Q&A How can I pinpoint a story's moral dilemma?

Q: What about heist movies? A: John Dillinger's character in Public Enemies is an excellent case study of a tragedy within a heist movie. Dillinger does not have a moral dilemma of choosing, "Shoul...

posted 4y ago by rolfedh‭ · edited 4y ago by rolfedh‭

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#3: Post edited by

rolfedh‭ · 2020-06-12T16:20:13Z (almost 4 years ago)
tweaked some wording

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**Q**: What about heist movies?
**A**: John Dillinger's character in _Public Enemies_ is an excellent case study of a tragedy within a heist movie. Dillinger does not have a moral dilemma of choosing, "Should I do good or do bad?" He has already resolved that by creating his robin-hood persona: stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Instead, the driving force behind this movie is Dillinger's competing and incompatible desires for woman/passion/love AND money/fame/freedom.
Billie Frechette embodies his desire for woman/passion/love. John isn't interested in family and domesticity; he rejects a farm wife and her son when she pleas, "Take me with you, Mister." Instead, we see him fall in love with Billie, a beautiful, voluptuous, passionate woman.
Billie is more than his love object. Her agency and self-awareness make her a Cassandra-like figure who reminds John and the audience that "we know how this is going to end." She rejects society's expectations of motherhood and domesticity in favor of passionate love for a man she admires. Billie and John were made for each other. With the benefit of historical hindsight, we know _how_ tragically this is going to end.
Billie's tragedy is that she will unwittingly serve as the bait that leads John to his death. The antagonist of this story, Melvin Purvis, is a coldly homicidal FBI agent. Early on, he sets up the plot by explaining that women are the downfall of most criminals. The story augments this antagonism by alluding to J. Edgar Hoover's penchant for fine young men and portraying an organization that puts duty and logic ahead of love and intimacy.
The rest of the story plays out the colliding paths of these three characters. It ends with Dillinger's being ambushed and killed outside a movie theatre. In the final scene, the special agent (not Purvis) who shot John visits Billie in a women's prison. When she asks him if he's there to see the damage he has caused, the agent replies that, no - he's there to pass along John's final words to her. He says that John's last words were "Tell Billie for me, bye-bye blackbird" -- a reference to the couple's favorite love song.
This final scene declares the winner. It excludes Purvis and allows John to speak from beyond the grave, quoting a lovesong to his grieving lover, Billie.

**Q**: What about heist movies?
**A**: John Dillinger's character in _Public Enemies_ is an excellent case study of a tragedy within a heist movie. Dillinger does not have a moral dilemma of choosing, "Should I do good or do bad?" He has already resolved that by creating his robin-hood persona: stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Instead, the driving force behind this movie is Dillinger's competing and incompatible desires for woman/passion/love AND money/fame/freedom.
Billie Frechette embodies his desire for woman/passion/love. John isn't interested in family and domesticity; he rejects a farm wife and her son when she pleas, "Take me with you, Mister." Instead, we see him fall in love with Billie, a smart, beautiful, sensuous, loving woman.
Billie is more than his love object. Her agency and self-awareness make her a Cassandra-like figure who reminds John and the audience that "we know how this is going to end." She rejects society's expectations of motherhood and domesticity in favor of passionate love for a man she admires. Billie and John were made for each other. With the benefit of historical hindsight, we know _how_ tragically this is going to end.
Billie's tragedy is that she will unwittingly serve as the bait that leads John to his death. The antagonist of this story, Melvin Purvis, is a coldly homicidal FBI agent. Early on, he sets up the plot by explaining that women are the downfall of most criminals. The story augments this antagonism by alluding to J. Edgar Hoover's penchant for fine young men and portraying an organization that puts duty and logic ahead of love and intimacy.
The rest of the story plays out the colliding paths of these three characters. It ends with Dillinger's being ambushed and killed outside a movie theatre. In the final scene, the special agent (not Purvis) who shot John visits Billie in a women's prison. When she asks him if he's there to see the damage he has caused, the agent replies that, no - he's there to pass along John's final words to her. He says that John's last words were "Tell Billie for me, bye-bye blackbird" -- a reference to the couple's favorite love song.
This final scene declares the winner. It excludes Purvis and allows John to speak from beyond the grave, quoting a lovesong to his grieving lover, Billie.

#2: Post edited by

rolfedh‭ · 2020-06-11T14:43:14Z (almost 4 years ago)
Minor tweaks and corrections.

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**Q**: What about heist movies?
**A**: John Dillinger's character in _Public Enemies_ is an excellent case study of a tragedy within a heist movie. Dillinger does not have a moral dilemma of choosing "Should I do good or do bad?" He has already resolved that by creating his own robin-hood persona: stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Instead, the driving force behind this movie is Dillinger's competing and incompatible desires for woman/passion/love AND money/fame/freedom.
His desire for woman/passion/love is embodied by Billie Frechette. John isn't interested in family and domesticity; he rejects a farm wife and her son when she pleas, "Take me with you, Mister." Instead, we see him fall in love with Billie, a beautiful, voluptuous, passionate, woman.
Billie is more than his love object. Her agency and self-awareness make her a Cassandra-like figure who reminds John and the audience that "we know how this going to end." She rejects society's expectations of motherhood and domesticity in favor of passionate love for a man she admires. Billie and John were made for each other. With the benefit of historical hindsight, we know _how_ tragically this is going to end.
Billie's tragedy is that she will unwittingly serve as the bait that leads John to his death. The antagonist of this story is Melvin Purvis, a homicidal FBI agent. Early on he sets up the plot of the movie by telling us that women are the downfall of most criminals. The story augments this antagonism by alluding to J. Edgar Hoover's penchant for fine young men and portraying an organization that puts duty ahead of love and intimacy.
The rest of the story plays out the colliding paths of these three characters. It ends with Dillinger's being ambushed and killed outside a movie theatre. In the final scene, the special agent (not Purvis) who shot John visits Billie in a women's prison. When she asks him if he's there to see the damage he has caused, he replies that, no - he's there to pass along John's final words to her. He says that John's final words were "Tell Billie for me, bye bye blackbird." This is a reference to the couple's favorite love song.
This final scene declares the winner. It excludes Purvis and allows John to speak from beyond the grave, quoting a lovesong to his grieving lover, Billie.

**Q**: What about heist movies?
**A**: John Dillinger's character in _Public Enemies_ is an excellent case study of a tragedy within a heist movie. Dillinger does not have a moral dilemma of choosing, "Should I do good or do bad?" He has already resolved that by creating his robin-hood persona: stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Instead, the driving force behind this movie is Dillinger's competing and incompatible desires for woman/passion/love AND money/fame/freedom.
Billie Frechette embodies his desire for woman/passion/love. John isn't interested in family and domesticity; he rejects a farm wife and her son when she pleas, "Take me with you, Mister." Instead, we see him fall in love with Billie, a beautiful, voluptuous, passionate woman.
Billie is more than his love object. Her agency and self-awareness make her a Cassandra-like figure who reminds John and the audience that "we know how this is going to end." She rejects society's expectations of motherhood and domesticity in favor of passionate love for a man she admires. Billie and John were made for each other. With the benefit of historical hindsight, we know _how_ tragically this is going to end.
Billie's tragedy is that she will unwittingly serve as the bait that leads John to his death. The antagonist of this story, Melvin Purvis, is a coldly homicidal FBI agent. Early on, he sets up the plot by explaining that women are the downfall of most criminals. The story augments this antagonism by alluding to J. Edgar Hoover's penchant for fine young men and portraying an organization that puts duty and logic ahead of love and intimacy.
The rest of the story plays out the colliding paths of these three characters. It ends with Dillinger's being ambushed and killed outside a movie theatre. In the final scene, the special agent (not Purvis) who shot John visits Billie in a women's prison. When she asks him if he's there to see the damage he has caused, the agent replies that, no - he's there to pass along John's final words to her. He says that John's last words were "Tell Billie for me, bye-bye blackbird" -- a reference to the couple's favorite love song.
This final scene declares the winner. It excludes Purvis and allows John to speak from beyond the grave, quoting a lovesong to his grieving lover, Billie.

#1: Initial revision by

rolfedh‭ · 2020-06-11T12:57:18Z (almost 4 years ago)

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**Q**: What about heist movies?

**A**: John Dillinger's character in _Public Enemies_ is an excellent case study of a tragedy within a heist movie. Dillinger does not have a moral dilemma of choosing "Should I do good or do bad?" He has already resolved that by creating his own robin-hood persona: stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Instead, the driving force behind this movie is Dillinger's competing and incompatible desires for woman/passion/love AND money/fame/freedom.

His desire for woman/passion/love is embodied by Billie Frechette. John isn't interested in family and domesticity; he rejects a farm wife and her son when she pleas, "Take me with you, Mister." Instead, we see him fall in love with Billie, a beautiful, voluptuous, passionate, woman.

Billie is more than his love object. Her agency and self-awareness make her a Cassandra-like figure who reminds John and the audience that "we know how this going to end." She rejects society's expectations of motherhood and domesticity in favor of passionate love for a man she admires. Billie and John were made for each other. With the benefit of historical hindsight, we know _how_ tragically this is going to end.

Billie's tragedy is that she will unwittingly serve as the bait that leads John to his death. The antagonist of this story is Melvin Purvis, a homicidal FBI agent. Early on he sets up the plot of the movie by telling us that women are the downfall of most criminals. The story augments this antagonism by alluding to J. Edgar Hoover's penchant for fine young men and portraying an organization that puts duty ahead of love and intimacy.

The rest of the story plays out the colliding paths of these three characters. It ends with Dillinger's being ambushed and killed outside a movie theatre. In the final scene, the special agent (not Purvis) who shot John visits Billie in a women's prison. When she asks him if he's there to see the damage he has caused, he replies that, no - he's there to pass along John's final words to her. He says that John's final words were "Tell Billie for me, bye bye blackbird." This is a reference to the couple's favorite love song.

This final scene declares the winner. It excludes Purvis and allows John to speak from beyond the grave, quoting a lovesong to his grieving lover, Billie.

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