I don’t think anybody is using you as a punching bag. I think most people disagree with you about the film and liberalism. We’ve made a few jokes, but I don’t think there is anything inappropriate about making jokes in a thread discussing a film.
You seem to think that there is something wrong with a police officer being taught to be honest, to not abuse his power, to not be corrupt, to not actually go out and actively murder and rob people, and to not tolerate such behavior from other police officers.
Denzel’s character wasn’t clever and he wasn’t behaving the way in a way that was best for society or for himself. His plane to frame his partner was really stupid. That would have never worked in real life, and it doesn’t even work in the movie. Setting is important to films. Denzel was playing an American cop, so it only makes sense for people to judge his actions based on what an American cop would or should do.
If you want a serious discussion about liberalism or the difference between developed countries and undeveloped countries Great Debates would be a good place to start it. If you want to discuss liberalism in the film Training Day, this is the place for it. Most of us just don’t see any connection between liberalism and Training Day.
I think for me, I am using movies to study human nature. Maybe apply some of those lessons to understand the world around me.
I do agree with you that since movies are fictional, they are not always a reflection of real life. But parallels can be drawn and lessons can be learn’t if done carefully. I think the key word is ‘carefully.’
What it comes down to is that a lot of the movies we’ve talked about in this thread is about psychologically surviving very tough circumstances. Tough circumstances are not limited by race, money, gender, etc. Certainly some people of priviledge may not have certain challenges that the poor might suffer. But they probably suffer other challenges of hierarchy and cultural competition and back biting that is vicious in its own way. We all need to learn how to survive our own unique circumstances in our own way.
I have always wondered how it was possible for Viktor Frankl to not feel weak and taken advantage of despite surviving persecution in the concentration camps. How did he not react out of a flight or fight instinct or have a panic attack despite going through what he went through. He survived overwhelming odds.
I guess I look at the characters in the movies we talked about: Training Day, Departed, In Too Deep. I try to imagine what Viktor Frankl might teach those characters about how to survive their particular circumstances while keeping their dignity and decency intact. Without feeling taken advantage of. Without feeling like a victim. Without feeling defensive. Without damaging their psyche.
I suppose that the naive and innocent in whatever circumstance, where ever in the world, would benefit from learning from such an example.
I think the difference between the truly great people and the rest of us is our ego.
For the rest of us, our ego prevents us from having the level of flexibility to be able to go through very trying circumstances without losing our self-trust and confidence. Our sense of security is tied with our self-trust and confidence. So anything that seems like a threat to us losing our self-trust and confidence causes us to go into “fight or flight” mode. Our sense of security comes from our confidence and self-trust in ourselves to survive life. Lose that, and you become a candidate with the qualifications for suicide.
Somehow, it seems that the truly great people have a way of going through very challenging and trying circumstances without getting their egoes nicked. I’d love to learn more about how they do that.
I realize at this point that this post is out of scope with the OP. Any recommendations on which message board I could start a post on this topic?
Why not use this one? Haven’t you noticed the wide range of topics that are addressed here? I would encourage you to make your points more clearly, however.