Ethics in Crimes and Misdemeanors

In this paper I employ Goodenough´s distinction between films that illustrate, are about and do philosophy to answer the question how we can identify the ethical content of movies. Crimes and Misdemeanors by Woody Allen is taken as an example but Mary L. Litch has argued that this movie illustrates ethical problems and is about ethics. On Litch´s reading the film reveals inherent flaws in utilitarianism and illustrates a Kantian insight as well as other ethical and religious theses. I argue, however, that Litch has relied on a too narrow method when identifying the ethics of Crimes and Misdemeanors. She focuses almost exclusively on dialogue and the general storyline. If we broaden our method to include sensitivity to filming, editing, camera angulation etc., we will not only realize a rather different ethical content in Crimes and Misdemeanors but also see how the movie stirkes close to home for most viewers of Hollywood movies.