ShyGuyInChicago
July 11th, 2011, 03:21 PM
I came up with a script idea about a woman who blackmails her sister into leaving an abusive relationship after learning that her sister was responsible for accidentally killing several people. I was told the idea was poor and uninteresting. So I will see if it can work as a philosophical and ethical topic
I wanted to examine the notion of trying to rescue a person by competing with their captor. The woman whom I have named Samaria (Arabic for watch tower; I chose the name for symbolic reasons) has devoted her life to helping battered women trying to teach them how to take control of their own lives. However, when her sister Lydia gets into an abusive relationship, it is more personal to her. She tries to get Lydia to leave her boyfriend, but nothing she does seems to work. Then Samaria discover Lydia's secret. As she is trying to comprehend the secret she learns that her sister has been beaten very badly. Samaria sees Lydia at he hospital and she denies that her boyfriend was responsible. Samaria grows desperate and fears that Lydia will end up dead if she does not do anything. She realizes that Lydia is completely controlled by her boyfriend and comes to the conclusion that she must compete with the boyfriend to rescue her sister. Samaria later approaches Lydia and tells her she knows of her secret and threatens to go to the police if she does not leave her boyfriend. Lydia goes along with because she fears life in prison. Over time, Samaria realizes that she is no better and than Lydia's boyfriend and lets her go.
Now I am wondering can this ever be justified? If your loved one was in an abusive relationship, and refused to leave, would you compete with his/her abuser especially if you were fearful that your loved one would end up dead? If you believed that your loved one did not have the capacity to not be controlled and make his/her own decisions would you abuse them in order to rescue them? Could you become desperate enough to do such a thing?
I think that this is one of those things that cannot be justified. But it is understandable, and I could to a small extent sympathize with someone who chose to blackmail or coerce someone into leaving an abusive relationship. A person who does such a thing would likely be very desperate and fearful for their loved one's life.
I wanted to examine the notion of trying to rescue a person by competing with their captor. The woman whom I have named Samaria (Arabic for watch tower; I chose the name for symbolic reasons) has devoted her life to helping battered women trying to teach them how to take control of their own lives. However, when her sister Lydia gets into an abusive relationship, it is more personal to her. She tries to get Lydia to leave her boyfriend, but nothing she does seems to work. Then Samaria discover Lydia's secret. As she is trying to comprehend the secret she learns that her sister has been beaten very badly. Samaria sees Lydia at he hospital and she denies that her boyfriend was responsible. Samaria grows desperate and fears that Lydia will end up dead if she does not do anything. She realizes that Lydia is completely controlled by her boyfriend and comes to the conclusion that she must compete with the boyfriend to rescue her sister. Samaria later approaches Lydia and tells her she knows of her secret and threatens to go to the police if she does not leave her boyfriend. Lydia goes along with because she fears life in prison. Over time, Samaria realizes that she is no better and than Lydia's boyfriend and lets her go.
Now I am wondering can this ever be justified? If your loved one was in an abusive relationship, and refused to leave, would you compete with his/her abuser especially if you were fearful that your loved one would end up dead? If you believed that your loved one did not have the capacity to not be controlled and make his/her own decisions would you abuse them in order to rescue them? Could you become desperate enough to do such a thing?
I think that this is one of those things that cannot be justified. But it is understandable, and I could to a small extent sympathize with someone who chose to blackmail or coerce someone into leaving an abusive relationship. A person who does such a thing would likely be very desperate and fearful for their loved one's life.