Doubt (2008)

Director, John Patrick Shanley presents an ironically thought provoking perspective with his 2008 premier of Doubt starring Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams. With all of the commotion in the media condemning Roman Catholic priests of sexual abuse involving young boys, many of which may have been guilty of, Doubt leaves the viewer to decide for him or herself. The plot of the film develops around the alleged relationships one of the priests appears to be having with a schoolboy. The young boy Father Flynn (Hoffman) is in question of abusing is Donald Miller—St. Nichols first black student. In the film he is excluded socially and after suspicions of his relations with Father Flynn arise it is his place in the school which is most threatened. A movie review from the Washington Post said it well in that “Just when you think you know who the cat and the mouse really are, in steps Viola Davis …As the mother of the student in question, Davis presents ‘Doubt’ with its most sobering and finally haunting philosophical qunaderies, which gave even the implacable Sister Aloysius [Streep] a glimpse of life beyond her own unassailable ideals.”



Sister Alysious, outraged, raises the question of “what kind of mother” Mrs. Miller is and reprimands her for not condemning the “improper relationship” that appears to be developing between Father Flynn and her son. Mrs. Miller proposes that perhaps this relationship would be more beneficial to her son than harmful. That if Father Flynn the only one to befriend her son and be there for him in ways no one else is willing to be then so be it. It seems as though the film portrays a hierarchy of sins as, Sister Aloysius is more concerned with the age facet of the relationship than the homosexual aspect. The film ends in Streeps character admitting that she, “still has doubts,” which until I analyzed from the perspective of this blog I never really read much into. The scene with Mrs. Miller perhaps was an awakening for Streep’s character and instilled doubt in her previously steadfast Christian moral codes.

This film brings the definition of “improper relationship” up for debate. Is it improper if it goes against contemporary social code? Or, if it is a relationship more harmful than beneficial for the parties involved? The age of consent is also up for debate. Since, Donald Miller is a minor he is never asked for his say in the matter of his alleged relationship with Father Flynn. When his guardian, his mother is confronted, her opinion is basically disregarded for being one that is devoid of social, heteronormative, and Christian ideologies—deeming both Mrs. Miller and her son as irrational.



Shanley reveals in the interview with IGN.com that he never intended to disclose whether or not any sexual act actually transpired between Father Flynn and Donald saying that, “one can never know the secrets of another person’s heart of mind.” The film he says, “is not meant to assume knowing more than it knows.” There is really not enough evidence in the movie to prove Father Flynn guilty or innocent of Sister Aloysius' accusations, although there is enough to argue both sides. The determining factor, however, is society. Society has conditioned many of its viewers to instinctively throw the book at Father Flynn without taking a close look at the situation at hand. By omitting a verdict, Shanley invites viewers to go out and have a conversation of their own and to do less “yelling” and more “talking” in order to come to a conclusion.