CITY HALL

 

THREE STARS – Thought-provoking

 

      

       Many people expect big city political bosses to be tempted to use their power for personal gain. Though often fed by the need of the media to discover and exploit those who do fall to such temptations, the truth is that this jaundiced view is a simple form of prejudice unjustified of the vast majority of elected officials. 

       In every city of our nation there are many persons faithfully giving their lives in service to their community.  These officials are neither on the take nor are they cutting back-room deals for their special interest supporters.  Rather, these elected officials are hard at work trying to make our cities safe and harmonious communities.

       However the lives of hardworking, faithful and honest politicians don’t make exciting movies, nor do they sell newspapers or fill airwaves.  Therefore, the average citizen is fed a steady diet of government corruption.  CITY HALL is another example of such provisions.

       Set within the unique culture of New York City, CITY HALL is the story of corruption and its eventual destructive consequences in the lives of Mayor John Pappas (Al Pacino) and Councilman Anselmo (Danny Aiello). 

       A genuinely gifted leader, Mayor Pappas is served by a capable and ambitious deputy mayor, Kevin Calhoun (John Cusack).  It is the integrity of Calhoun which provides the moral relief for the corruption in the film and the impetus for his persistent investigation into the truth.

       The corruption comes in two layers:  first, the abuse of power, and second, the cover-up of that abuse.

       As we have seen from the political troubles of those politicians who do fall, the use of power without prayerful guidance seems to fuel this type of sin.

       Mayor Pappas needs the support of the political players of the city, including Councilman Anselmo.  In gaining that support, he enters into an implied relationship in which they can call upon him to assist them in their political needs.

       For Mayor Pappas, it comes in the form of a request from a councilman who asks that he work it out with a judge so a young man will be given probation rather than the ten to twenty years in prison his crime deserves.

       Although the mayor tries to insulate himself from the illegality of such actions by not asking questions, he knows the young man is the nephew of a major mafia leader.

       When the young man later kills a policeman and a young boy, the decision of the judge to place him on probation is questioned.  It is then that the shroud of secrecy hiding the abuse of power begins to unravel, and it is then that the cover-up begins.

       It is one thing to fall to political pressure and abuse the office.  Such action can be confessed and forgiven.  But when a leader decides instead to look the other way when evil is present in order to protect his or her position, then the sin becomes insidious and corrupting.

       Did the Mayor participate in the crimes around him, or was he immune because he didn’t have direct knowledge of what was going on?  The film challenges us to ask ourselves how many times we use the same excuse.

       Mayor Pappas, in a moving encounter with his deputy at the end of the film, explains that he, too, had a passion to make a difference through his office.  But, after making thousands of deals, the line inside him which separated right from wrong became erased.

       Holding instead to a concept of standing by those who supported him, he loses his moral boundaries and becomes ensnared.  The final entangled act is to stand by as the judge he asked to help him loses everything he values.

       This is perhaps the ultimate lesson of the film.  The abuse of power and the necessary cover up of such abuse is like a bomb on a long fuse.   It will explode,  the only question is when and with what magnitude.

       Though most of us would have trouble identifying with the culture of New York City politics, we could nevertheless identify with the temptations of power.  Do we have groups of people in our lives in which we are tempted to “stand by our own” rather than to hold them accountable?  Do we ever “wash our hands” of any knowledge of what is going on around us in order to not rock the boat?

       Perhaps our response to CITY HALL and to all the other reports of actual politicians in similar struggles is to pray for and with our leaders.  We need to stand with them and to hold them accountable on a regular basis rather than stand at a distance and hope they do the right thing. 

       While it may be true that personal power corrupts, it is equally true that spiritual power transforms.  It is this power which can restore the public’s trust in their elected representatives.

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