Not just because I'm a journalist myself, and not just because I just taught a journalism ethic class last semester. After reading everyone's film reviews, many people have discussed whether Rachel should persist in prison, and whether her persistence is worthwhile, but it seems that no one argues whether Rachel should write this manuscript.
Should Rachel write this?
When she was on the bus as a substitute mom and sat in the same row as Alison, Alison flashed her big eyes and said to her, tell you, can you promise not to tell anyone?
I am not Rachel. I knew I would never be able to make headlines with material like this.
Of course, I'm not American, and I don't have Columbia Jschool ancestry. I don't have the kind of sensitivity that I want to jump up and expose when I hear a secret from the government. For me, the most important thing is life consequence. Writing this certainly lets the public know what they should know, but Rachel, you've thought about the consequences for Alison and her mother not having this. Nothing compares to the true flesh and blood of a family. I'd rather not have the Columbia Jschool experience, and I'd rather never be with Pulitzer, than this "heroic act" of putting someone on the edge of a knife to show the terrible news.
I guess that's the difference between the great and the mundane that the film is trying to discuss. It would be great if Rachel went to jail just to protect Alison, as always, and I would rather feel that knowing the news at first, but giving up after weighing it, is a greater move. That's two lives and a family, what can compare to that?
I always felt that none of this had to happen, or that it could have happened in a different way. The wording of the press release, whether to name it by name and through which channel to send it are all open to discussion. Of course, the media is the most effective channel. Front-page headlines and reports by name are the most noticeable. But what percentage of journalists actually write for the public's right to know? What percentage of it is for your own vanity by line? What percentage of it was to write a blockbuster manuscript for the ultimate Pulitzer glory?
Rachel told the editor who came to see her after her notebook was taken from prison: "They won't let me write, it's barbaric. Can you send a script to shock them? The editor-in-chief said: Of course, I will post it tomorrow.
If Rachel can pat her chest to prove that every article she writes is 100% for the public's right to know, and every article she writes is for selfless purposes, then this little detail is undoubtedly a departure from that.
Albert's words, great people, principles and people themselves are no different.
I do think it's a shame for Rachel not to say Alison's name since the beginning. In fact, she can write in another way, or not write this manuscript.
Rome was not built in a day.
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