MILLION DOLLAR BABY

3 Stars – Thought-provoking

            The moral issues of Clint Eastwood’s film, “Million Dollar Baby,” are presented with authenticity and vulnerability.  Rather than making euthanasia a theoretical decision made by an ethics committee whose members may or may not have faith in God, we are clearly presented with a Christian man, however troubled, who must make this decision for someone he loves.  The fact that he is a guilt-ridden man whose estrangement from his own daughter has caused him to replace her with this young fighter who subsequently becomes disabled only makes the issue more realistic.  We all make our moral choices in the real world where we are often plagued with conflicted feelings of guilt, the sorrows of estrangement, and the calamity of misfortune.

            The central characters of this moral study are two persons the world has haphazardly discarded.  The first is an old boxing trainer and manager named Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood).  Skilled in the art of boxing, Frankie has nevertheless lost his nerve to place his fighters in the ring.  This obvious deficiency causes him to be rejected by a young hopeful named Big Willie Little (Mike Colter), who changes managers and subsequently becomes the world champion.

            The other character is a young woman, Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank), who was raised in poverty and is looked down upon as “white trash.”  Having begun life as a smaller infant and fighting her way to survive, Maggie’s father encouraged her by saying she came into the world fighting and would leave the same way.  Since he is dead, Maggie is drawn to Frankie as her substitute father and boxing manager.

            Although we’re not told the cause, Frankie has lived with a pervasive guilt over his daughter and has written to her every week for 23 years.  He has also attended mass at his Catholic church every day for 23 years, trying to find forgiveness.  It is Maggie’s desire for a father and Frankie’s need for a daughter that sets the stage for their intense commitment to one another.

            Presented with the genius that is also found in Clint Eastwood’s western, “Unforgiven,” the spiritual struggle in Frankie is intense.  Turning to his priest for pastoral care, Father Horvak (Brian O’Byrne) is a tremendous disappointment.  Rather than engaging him in the underlying struggle of his soul, Fr. Horvak dismisses him as a nuisance.  This lack of spiritual direction is seen even more obviously when Frankie comes to him after Maggie’s accident and explains that she has asked him to end her life.

            Ignoring all the larger moral guidance of the church that gives thoughtful solutions to such tragedies, Fr. Horvak does not explain that Maggie could choose to be removed from life support and be allowed to die.  Instead, he simply says that if Frankie injects her to kill her he will consign his soul to hell.

            This answer is diabolically suited to the guilt-ridden soul of Frankie.  Finding no relief in the forgiveness of God through his daily worship at mass and unconsoled by his pastor’s incompetence, Frankie realizes that he could relieve both of their pain by this act.  And so he relieves his own guilt by sacrificing his soul for Maggie’s physical release from this world.

            As is often the case with moral decisions, the weaving together of deeper spiritual and emotional needs can often converge in a way that wreaks havoc on our souls.  Unable to experience God’s forgiveness through His Son’s sacrifice, we can often feel we have no other choice than to sacrifice ourselves to relieve our guilt.  This self-sabotage can show itself in a variety of ways, including the decision made by Frankie in his desire to express his fatherly love for Maggie.  The truth that only God can judge the soul of such a person as He looks into his heart is a comfort to all of us whose internal struggles often compel us in the moral choices we make.

 

Discussion:                                   

1.       Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris’ (Morgan Freeman) observation that Frankie felt guilty for his inability to stop Eddie’s 109^th fight and save his eye showed how guilt builds upon guilt until we become guilt-ridden.  Why do you believe Frankie was guilt-ridden and unable to find forgiveness in the daily mass?  Why do you think Eastwood as director left this question open?

2.       The desire to have a father and the desire to have a daughter drove Maggie and Frankie’s relationship.  Do you believe this was helpful or harmful in their lives?  Have you ever found yourself drawn to someone as a substitute for some other relationship that has been troubled?

3.       The decision to actively inject a person who is suffering in order to kill them has been rejected by Christians.  The decision to turn off life-support has been accepted by Christians.  What difference do you see in these two decisions?  How would this tale be different if the priest had been competent to explain Christian moral guidance?  Would it have weakened or strengthened this tale?

4.       As a modern morality tale in which we can gain guidance for our own lives, what lessons did you learn for yourself?  How did this confirm or change your thinking?

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Cinema In Focus is a social and spiritual movie commentary.  Hal Conklin is former mayor of Santa Barbara and Denny Wayman is pastor of the Free Methodist Church. For more reviews: http://www.cinemainfocus.com.