Not sure if this should be here or in the Philosophy forum.
Three Oscar worthy performances. (Streep’s amazing; from Fortune 500 arrogant CEO in The Devil Wears Prada to a hyper-strict schoolmarm/principal/terror nun.) And the story is right on target, both politically and philosophically–although I had my doubts about where it was going right up until the end. Amy Adams continues to impress me as the counterpoint to Streep, going as she does from Enchanted princess innocence, to repressed, to awareness. And I can’t remember the last time Hoffman was anything less than excellent. I actually enjoyed his three sermons (I can’t remember the last time I darkened the door of a church except for attending a wedding), even though the first sermon seemed somewhat irrational when he was addressing the title issue.
A word of warning to the action freaks, this is a dialogue movie which uses more subtle action (e.g. a slap on the back of the head).
I saw the movie Doubt recently and I came away with a slightly different understanding than others to whom I’ve spoken or whose discussions I’ve read. My feeling is that Sister Aloysius has perhaps come to doubt her own faith in the very institution (Catholic Church) that she has so earnestly and doggedly supported all these years. She sees Father Flynn being rewarded with a transfer, which is actually a promotion given to him by the “Old Boys Network”, which is comprised of priests, archbishops, etc., while she, a mere nun shut out from that top level of hierarchy in the church, is left to wonder what it’s all about . . . . hence, at the very end of the movie we see her quite shaken, saying the words " . . .I have my doubts."
I also think that Sister A. is well intentioned, in spite of her very severe and castigating style with students and others. Her kind and compassionate treatment of the elderly nun and her fierce sense of protectiveness towards the student, Donald, in the face of what to her appears to be child molestation by the young priest, shows that she has a soft and vulnerable nature. After all, she’s going up against the very popular Father Flynn, who lets her know, in no uncertain terms, that she is not playing by the hierarchical “rules” of the church but has instead gone over his head by contacting his previous parish, in her efforts to investigate his past. He is trying to bully her but it doesn’t work, because her resolve is so great and she has her “certainty” (right or wrong). While she is able to physically remove Father Flynn from her school and therefore win that battle, she has ultimately lost the war because the church has seen fit to promote him, in spite of her efforts to do what she felt was morally right. I see her, at the end of the movie, feeling defeated and possibly betrayed by the very church to which she has devoted herself and, as a result of this situation, she has her doubts.
She says that and then, breaking down, says “I have such terrible doubts”.
I agree with you and take it a step further. She indeed feels betrayed by the Church, but the real problem is that she feels betrayed by God. Her belief in the Church and God’s intentions have both been shaken, leaving her with such terrible doubts–not to mention the failures of modern motherhood.
I feel it necessary to push my own viewpoint here in that the only explanation that makes sense is that God, if He exists, does not interfere, ever–contrary to what her church and other revealed religions would have their followers believe. But many people are unable to live with such doubt, preferring to retreat behind their unexamined hypocrisy.