Do You Have Doubt?

I’m still catching up on movies from this past Academy Award season, and most recently I watches Doubt, starring Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams.

The story is set in 1964, at a Catholic school that has accepted it first African-American student.  This young boy serves as an altar boy to the friendly, and religiously progressive, Father Flynn.

After noticing that Father Flynn appears to be paying a great deal of attention to the boy, young Sister James mentions it to the tough-as-nails school principal, Sister Aloysius.  If you were raised Catholic during this time frame, you probably knew a version of Sister Aloysius.

Seeing the circumstances as an opportunity to push Father Flynn out of the parish and school, sister Aloysius sets out to destroy the priest.  Is her zeal justified as she fights fiercely to protect a student, or is she blinded to the truth by her refusal to change as the world changes around her?

Ultimately the viewer is left to wrestle with that question, and to decide which interpretation is beyond doubt.

What do you think?  Who do you believe, and why?  Do you have any doubts?

Photo credit: Amazon

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