McElvaine Good

Why is the film entitled GOOD, and why do you think it was not distributed in the United States? Look at the picture and comment on what the picture has to do with the title of the film comment on what the picture has to do with the title of the film.

The film Good has it's title because it addresses various perceptions of what is "good"

and what is a "good" person. For one, the film takes place during and era of hate and murder

of Jews. However, during this era, many people viewed the extermination of the Jews

as a good things. In the film we also see a man's battle over self in a struggle to maintain his

identity as a good man. The movie is titled Good in order to challenge the audience to define

the term "good" for themselves. The film asks the audience to draw a line between good and

bad and to question the point at which a good man becomes a bad man.

The picture is significant to the title of the movie because this is the scene in which John Halder's

morality comes into question. He is at a Nazi party event and is accused of being a bad man because

he is at an event with a woman who is not his wife. His father-in-law makes a scene in front of a crowd

Halder is humiliated. This scene is a turing point in the movie because Halder, who we once

considered a good man is associating with the Nazi party and cheating on his wife: two things we

consider to be "bad" in today's society.

Perhaps this movie was not distributed in today's society because it resonates with many occurences

in the U.S.'s history. For example, the United States of America were founded on the principles of

freedom and equality. Our constitution states that "all men are created equal." However, America

has an extensive history of violence, intolerance, violence, and discrimination that does not uphold

the values outlined in our founding documents. The movie Good portrays how easy it is for someone

to mean well but for their actions to reflect otherwise. In the movie, John Halder very gradually

abandoned his morals without even realizing what he was doing. In the U.S. we have seen, throughout

our history, people say that they believe in freedom and equality but then take part actively in

segregation and discrimination. A reason that this movie was not distributed in the U.S. could be that

the movie presents a flaw in human nature that the U.S. does not want to admit it has. The U.S. has

put itself on a moral pedestal and they do not want a film that could cause people to question the

morality of our own country.