Les Jones

News > Ron Rosenbaum's Moral Relativism

From Ron Rosenbaum's Clint Eastwood's Moral Relativism:

“It’s not about winning or losing it’s about what big sacrifices they made; rightly or wrongly they made them.” Thus sayeth Clint about the Japanese soldiers in Letters From Iwo Jima in an Oscar broadcast segment spotlighting the film’s Best Picture nomination.

“Rightly or wrongly”: so it doesn’t make a difference? Just the fact of sacrifice enobles, no matter what cause? It’s a complex question, I’m not sure I know the answer but I haven’t seen much complex discussion about it by film reviewers eager to embrace the film uncritically.

“Rightly or wrongly” all sacrifice is equal just because it’s sacrifice? Could one say that about the German soliders at Stalingrad who sacrificed themselves for Hitler, whose staunch ally Clint’s Iwo Jima Japanese soldiers were?

And the 9/11 hijackers and other suicide bombers? They made sacrifices in their war against infidels? Is “making sacrifices” no matter what one makes sacrifices for something to be applauded indiscriminately?

Rosenbaum is so eager to suggest Eastwood's moral relativism that he ignores his own. Above Rosenbaum casually equates terrorists who intentionally target and kill civilians with uniformed soldiers fighting other uniformed soldiers in a declared war. Most intelligent people would agree that there is a difference.

Previous Oscar 2007 posts:

- Word of the Day: Sangfroid
- Mark Wahlberg Trivia You Don't Wanna Know