What is a real bad guy?
My understanding is: behaviorally, doing things that hurt others, motives, to protect the interests of myself and my group, and psychologically, I realize that my actions are wrong. If all these three conditions are met, then this person is undoubtedly a "bad person" in the true sense. And in this movie, from the upper commander Jessup, the platoon leader Kendrick, the military judge Markinson, to the two direct parties Dawson and Downey, if it is not for the death of the corporal punishment soldier Santiago because he did not know that he was suffering from a disease, There's nothing wrong with these people, and they don't think they've done anything wrong. San Diego's physical condition did not allow him to join the Marine Corps, which directly caused him to fall behind his teammates in training, and then he skipped the level of snitching in exchange for exposing the crime of his comrades in exchange for being transferred from the military base. Dawson and Downey obeyed the military orders and physically punished him, Kendrick In order to improve the combat effectiveness of his subordinates and punish the outdated soldiers, Markinson does not agree with his boss's approach, but he must obey his boss's orders unconditionally. Jessup is directing thousands of people to face possible military provocations from Cuba. He must serve his soldiers and the country. Responsible for safety.
Are these people all wrong?
Before discussing this right or wrong, another question must be asked - what principles do human beings abide by?
According to the politically "correct" view, as a natural person, man must abide by the basic principles of mankind; as a social man, he must abide by the law and be bound by morality; as an independent man, he has his own principles of conduct. As an employee, follow the principles of your own group, as a family member, follow some of the principles of your own family... How complicated is a person, and a person has multiple identities, he must abide by multiple principles, and how complex the principles are, there are There are written rules and unwritten rules, low rules and high rules. For example, when working in a company, you must abide by the company's written and unwritten rules, and laws have higher priority than regulations, and the constitution has the highest priority.
Here comes the question - when multiple principles coexist and these principles conflict, which principle should we follow?
Traditionally, people follow the rules of the circle closest to them, because this rule is the most common and most binding, even if it may violate a higher rule. In this movie, the soldiers are in a special range. Due to the war, the supreme commander of the army can temporarily have powers higher than military law, and the supreme commander can even create military law. No matter which country's army, discipline will always be the most important. Above all, the commander's orders must be obeyed unconditionally. Therefore, for soldiers in the army, the commander's order has the first priority, the unspoken rules in the army are the second priority, and the military law written on the paper has only the third priority. This is what Dawson said in the play, "department first, then country".
The soldier Santiago, who was ordered to be corporally punished, committed the biggest taboo in the army--leapfrog reporting and making small reports.
Dawson and Downey were ordered to corporally punish the soldiers, is this wrong? Moreover, these two soldiers, especially Dawson, obeyed orders and paid attention to class.
Jesup, the biggest villain in this film, authorized his subordinates to corporally punish Santiago, and after his accidental death, he forged documents to force his subordinates to confess, so he actually blamed Dawson and Downey for this. What is his motive? ? Is it just personal safety? I believe not, from his several conversations, it can be seen that he has been on the front line since enlisting in the army, was in the Vietnam War and is now on the front line of dryness - he himself has actually been living in the war! Honor, order, and loyalty are his eternal highest rules. For national security, I can do whatever it takes. That's why he uses corporal punishment to improve the combat effectiveness of soldiers and exercise strong control. The falsification of documents also has the purpose of safeguarding the honor of the country and the soldiers. Therefore, even in his fury, he finally admitted that he ordered the corporal punishment of Santiago, but he never thought that he was wrong, and military law was completely ignored in his eyes.
In the film, Kaffee, a naval lawyer played by Tom Cruise, and Galloway, an investigator of the Military Justice Division, played by Demi Moore, as well as their assistants and opponents, also abide by their own principles-to win a lawsuit, even if it fails, Also, reduce the punishment for your client. Here I want to emphasize this: it was the lawyers who won the victory, not the justice! Lawyers serve their clients, not the law, let alone justice. It's just that in this movie, the party who wins the lawsuit happens to be on the side of justice.
To sum up, in the film, whether the defendant, the plaintiff, the lawyer, or the judge abides by their own principles, although everyone's principles are not the same, there are no dirty conspiracies and interests in the whole movie at all, only honor orders loyalty, as for its As a result, Dawnson and Downey were wrong after all, because there is more important military law above the command of the commander, and human life above the military law, and Judge Markinson has long recognized this. He fell into contradictions and struggles, and finally swallowed a gun and committed suicide in apology. This undoubtedly sublimates this film. The name of this film is "A Few Good Men". I think there are too many good people. Therefore, this film is not so much a military court drama as it is a US Navy propaganda film, especially Two stunners at the time, Tom Cruise and Demi Moore, contributed to the uniform show.
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