The Murder Logic of a Morbid Philosophy Professor

Savannah 2022-09-04 13:08:18

Ellen is a hypocrite and a veritable criminal.

When Jill discovered Ellen's crime and learned that the police had caught the only innocent suspect who would soon be convicted, under strong self-moral restraint, Jill persuaded Ellen to surrender. Ellen's response was that the desire to live triumphed over basic moral cognition, and as Jill once said: Once you have a beginning, this thing can't stop. So Ellen finally fiddled with the elevator, hoping that after killing Jill unknowingly, he could continue the life he loved again.

But he was just a philosopher, not a qualified criminal. The murder of a judge for the first time seemed to be a mystery, but in fact it left too many obvious clues: the lover's laboratory key was missing, The lover's husband also saw that Ellen went out early Saturday morning and had a chance encounter with a female student in the laboratory... It is enough to speculate that Ellen used poison to kill the judge, and then committed the second crime. , when he wanted to kill Jill who was going to expose him, the failure after some preparations was predictable.

Ellen's motive at the beginning of the crime was to help a woman she had never met, to kill the judge who had colluded with her husband, to help her get a better judge and let her get custody that should have belonged to her. . If you don't kill for your own selfish interests, you are not a bad person, and as Ellen said: this society will be better without this judge. It's a bit like a lyncher who executes justice in lieu of justice, giving the wrongdoer the punishment they deserve.

But obviously Ellen is also sorry for the name "lyncher". The first thing a so-called "lyncher" needs is the ability to reasonably sentence those who are at large. Ellen killed a judge who was only used for public power and private use. Second, the "lyncher" should also have the ability to stay out of trouble and not let innocent people take the blame after the execution, and Ellen's first crime may make a college chemistry teacher bear the consequences of the crime for him, and In the later period, in order to protect himself, Ellen also wanted to kill Jill, which was no different from an ordinary criminal.

So Ellen is just a murderer, in order to rekindle the meaning of his own life, he uses some high-sounding excuse to kill others to gain the love of life. What is the difference between doing something that infringes on the rights and interests of others? Also like other criminals, Ellen later had the desire to survive, and in order to protect himself, he planned to continue killing innocent people who knew it. Ironically, Ellen once thought that such people were cancer of society, so he killed the judge. Now When it's your turn, why can't you punish yourself in the same way?

After all, Ellen is just a murderer seeking spiritual self-redemption, not a respectable "lyncher".

Looking at the character design, Ellen is also a professor of philosophy. He knows the way of being human and the foundation of human nature. When he discovers a new meaning in life, he applies this new set of new meanings to everyone except himself. 's guidelines. That's why Ellen killed the judge as a matter of course, and also wanted to kill Jill, even though Jill was the student he had sex with and loved spiritually.

There is a saying in ancient times: Do not do to others what you do not want to do to yourself. If Ellen could understand this truth, he should not have lost himself because of the two sets of standards. It is worth mentioning that for such a deep criminology film, the whole film is the tone of comedy, but it is strange that there is no sense of incongruity, which is also the charm of an alternative film.

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Irrational Man quotes

  • Jill: He's very radical, very original. You either love him or hate him, really.

  • Rita: When I heard you were coming here, I had fantasies that we'd meet and something special would happen.