Movie Review - Rendition
1. The Catholic understanding of freedom is based on the concept of free will. We are human
agents and we can decide what we do and what we don't do. Free will can lead to immoral
actions and that is where moral teaching comes in to play. According to Kant we all have a duty
to be good, but we still have the free will to choose not to. Free will acknowledges that by nature
God has given us the ability to choose between good and evil. Natural law is part of the Catholic
belief and states that humans are by nature good and they strive to be good.
2. a) The experience of obligation was expressed in the movie many times. The jihad extremists
were obligated to sacrifice their lives for their beliefs. They believed that it was the only way to
create true freedom and that they would be greatly rewarded for their sacrifice. The American
government was obligated to ensure the protection of the American citizens so they had to
secretly extradite Anwar El-Ibrahimi. In Muslim culture the women are obligated to remain
under the authority of the father figure of the household. Fatima is going against her obligation to
her father by leaving home and refusing to marry the man her father arranged for her.
b) The face as witness of the Good is expressed in a few instances during the movie. When
Isabella is waiting at the office for her friend, they make eye contact and he sees the pain she is
in and it motivates him to help her. After the American government extradites Anwar they
torture him for information. Douglas is present during the torturing and he knows that Anwar is
telling the truth because of his face. He sees the innocence and the good in his face. When Khalid
is walking toward Fatima's father with explosives strapped on to him Fatima stops him and when
he looks at her he sees the good in her and changes his mind.
3. Determinism takes away the concept of freedom and free will. it is the belief that everything
we do has already been planned so we don't really have a choice to do what we want.
Predestination is the belief that God has planned every action and decision of every person. This
would compromise ethics because if everything we do is predestined then everything we do is
ethical because it follows God's plan. This is a bad thing because you could do something
unethical but because it has already been planned for you it would be ethical. For example if
someone was looking for food and they stole some from a store it would be ethical because
based on God's plan for that person they are supposed to steal the food.
4. As agents we have to take responsibility for the consequences of our actions. Every action or
decision we make causes a chain reaction of other decisions and actions. In connection to the
scream if we decide to help or not it plants a seed in the persons mind. When they hear a scream
they remember that when they cried for someone came to help them or someone didn't and it
affects their decision making. in the experience of the other if we give a beggar some money and
that money helps him in any way and he straightens up his life, he will do the same when he sees
another beggar on the street, and it will continue. All our actions affect someone or something
and creates a chain that doesn't end. Another example would be on social media, when the ALS
Ice Bucket Challenge took place, someone started the nominations, a small action, but within
days it spread through most of the world. People who didn't even know about the challenge or
the cause were made aware of it. Our world is like a giant web and we are all connected.
In the movie Rendition there are a few major actions that affect everyone. The rendition of
Anwar affects his wife and son, his wife then involves her friend and he becomes affected by it,
then he reaches out to other people and it just continues. When Khalid goes into the middle of the
square and detonates the explosives he kills and injures innocent people changing their lives and
the lives of their families. Everything we do has a positive and a negative reaction. For example
winning a race. The negative reaction to winning a race is the fact that the only way you can win
is if someone else loses. Nothing we do just disappears like it never happened because someone
is always affected.
