MECHANICSVILLE, Va. (Originally written: Dec. 5, 2019; Revised: May 9, 2025) — The movies Dead Poets Society and Match Point may both be viewed as morality tales, albeit non-traditional ones. The former film, while something of a tragedy, ends on an uplifting note; while the latter explodes the traditional notion of a morality tale in that the bad guy gets away with crime rather than facing the consequences of it. Still, both films allow an exploration of two aspects of moral skepticism because Dead Poets Society (Weir 1989) celebrates ethical relativism while Match Point (Allen 2005) explores moral nihilism.
Moral skepticism is “. . . the denial of objective moral standards,” i.e., standards “. . . that apply to everyone, even if people don’t believe that they do, even if people are indifferent to them, and even if obeying them fails to satisfy anyone’s desires” (Shafer-Landau 2018, 293).
To be clear, Dead Poets Society is a limited example of ethical relativism, namely of the version called individual relativism in which the individual is the sole arbiter of his or her moral standards (Shafer-Landau 2018, 295). While the protagonist of the film, an English instructor named John Keating (played by the late Robin Williams), encourages his students to celebrate their individuality—to find their “less traveled” (as in the Robert Frost poem) path—I suspect Keating does belief in some objective moral codes, among them to do one’s own work rather than plagiarize that of others.
The closing scene in Dead Poets Society (1989).
Nevertheless, Keating rejects the social conventions of his time, such as the notion that a good life derives from success in economically lucrative professions. He does not dispute that medicine, law, business, engineering, and the like are important—he might argue that they are instrumentally valuable—rather, he argues that pursuit of that kind of success is less important than seeking his intrinsic values: poetry, beauty, romance, love. “These are what we stay alive for,” Keating tells his students.
The straightjacketed leaders of his institution and some of the student’s parents (especially the antagonist who drives his son to commit suicide) have inverted priorities, yet they are the ones considered “pillars” of society. Keating’s sharing of his individual skepticism ultimately leads to his dismissal by those whose values he is skeptical of.
Keating still succeeds in infecting his students with his moral skepticism and the scene at the end when they stand on their desks and proclaim him, “Oh captain, my captain!” strikes me—as a limited moral skeptic myself—as a triumphal moment.
Not so triumphal is Match Point.
There’s an old adage in sports, “It’s better to be lucky than good.” In Match Point, the main character, Chris Wilton (played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers), embraces the adage in an extreme fashion to get away with a double murder—largely because of luck.
In the movie, Wilton has an affair with an American actress, Nola Rice (played by Scarlett Johansson), despite being engaged and ultimately married to another woman. Rice gets pregnant and wants him to leave his wife, but he does not want to lose the status and wealth he has gained through his wife.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Scarlett Johansson in Match Point (2005).
Instead, Wilton stages a home invasion robbery in which he kills Rice and her next-door neighbor, Betty Eastby (played by Margaret Tysack). He wants the robbery to look like it was executed by a junkie. He disposes of the material he stole from Hewett’s apartment by throwing it in a river. One item, a ring, does not make it to the river. The ring is later found on the body of a drug dealer—who was slain in an unrelated murder—and the case is closed.
Wilton knows what he did was wrong, but, as he reveals in a supernatural visitation by the ghosts of the two women he killed, any qualms about committing the murders—much less avoiding the consequences of his crimes—is secondary to his quest for gratification.
“It wasn’t easy, but when the time came I could pull the trigger,” He tells Nola’s ghost. “You can learn to push the guilt under the rug and go on. You have to, otherwise it overwhelms you.” To Eastby’s ghost, he says, “The innocent are sometimes slain to make way for a grander scheme. You were collateral damage.” When Eastby’s ghost challenges him about his own unborn child, he quotes Sophocles, “To never have been born may be the greatest boon of all.”
The quotes are telling, revealing a man with little or no moral compass—a moral nihilist, if you will (Shafer-Landau 2018, p. 294). He admits that while he may sometimes feel bad about what he’s done, he will not allow regret to impede his life. There is something of the ethical egoist in his demeanor—though I doubt most egoists would argue that the murders were justifiable, even if they did allow him to continue to pursue his ambitions for wealth and status.
Most egoists will go far, but I am certain they will go no further.
The movies Dead Poets Society and Match Point are (at least from what little I have seen of the later) engaging explorations of moral skepticism. But they are, as one might expect, quite different in their world view. The former movie celebrates individual relativism while, I think, retaining a deeply moral core. Its message is, in the words of the Bard, “To thine own self be true.” But do so in a way that is honest and honorable. The latter’s vision is much darker. “To thine own self be true,” maybe, but if no honor, no problem. To paraphrase Admiral David Farragut, it’s “Damn the collateral damage. Full speed ahead.”
Editor’s Note: This piece was originally written for an ethics class at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College and submitted on Nov. 27, 2019.
Literature cited
Allen, Woody. 2005. Match Point. Starring Brian Cox, Matthew Goode, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Penelope Wilton. Casting by Juliet Taylor, Gail Stevens, Patricia Kerrigan DiCerto. Costume Designer Jill Taylor. Editor Alisa Lepselter. Production Designer Jim Clay. Director of Photography Remy Adefarasin. Co-Executive Producers Jack Rollins, Charles H. Joffe. Executive Producer Stephen Tenenbaum. Co-Producers Helin Robin, Nicky Kentish Barnes. Produced by Letty Aronson, Gareth Wiley, Lucy Darwin. Written and Directed by Woody Allen. USA: DreamWorks.
Shafer-Landau, Russ. 2018. The Fundamentals of Ethics. Fourth ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
Weir, Peter. 1989. Dead Poets Society. Starring Robin Williams. Music by Maurice Jarre. Director of Photography John Seale. Written by Tom Schulman. Produced by Steven Haft, Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas. Directed by Peter Weir. USA: Touchstone Pictures.
When suitably inspired I will write something, maybe about a breaking story in science, maybe about my career as a scientist (specifically, a biogeographer). I may wage war against the forces of ignorance from the dubious bully pulpit of this blog. Or I may just tell some war story from my past in which I should have ended up dead as a result of my own stupidity.
Moral skepticism in Dead Poets Society and Match Point
Posted by AbyssWriter on 12/05/19 • Categorized as Commentary,Ethics,Film Criticism,Moral Nihilism,Moral Relativism,Moral Skepticism
MECHANICSVILLE, Va. (Originally written: Dec. 5, 2019; Revised: May 9, 2025) — The movies Dead Poets Society and Match Point may both be viewed as morality tales, albeit non-traditional ones. The former film, while something of a tragedy, ends on an uplifting note; while the latter explodes the traditional notion of a morality tale in that the bad guy gets away with crime rather than facing the consequences of it. Still, both films allow an exploration of two aspects of moral skepticism because Dead Poets Society (Weir 1989) celebrates ethical relativism while Match Point (Allen 2005) explores moral nihilism.
Moral skepticism is “. . . the denial of objective moral standards,” i.e., standards “. . . that apply to everyone, even if people don’t believe that they do, even if people are indifferent to them, and even if obeying them fails to satisfy anyone’s desires” (Shafer-Landau 2018, 293).
To be clear, Dead Poets Society is a limited example of ethical relativism, namely of the version called individual relativism in which the individual is the sole arbiter of his or her moral standards (Shafer-Landau 2018, 295). While the protagonist of the film, an English instructor named John Keating (played by the late Robin Williams), encourages his students to celebrate their individuality—to find their “less traveled” (as in the Robert Frost poem) path—I suspect Keating does belief in some objective moral codes, among them to do one’s own work rather than plagiarize that of others.
Nevertheless, Keating rejects the social conventions of his time, such as the notion that a good life derives from success in economically lucrative professions. He does not dispute that medicine, law, business, engineering, and the like are important—he might argue that they are instrumentally valuable—rather, he argues that pursuit of that kind of success is less important than seeking his intrinsic values: poetry, beauty, romance, love. “These are what we stay alive for,” Keating tells his students.
The straightjacketed leaders of his institution and some of the student’s parents (especially the antagonist who drives his son to commit suicide) have inverted priorities, yet they are the ones considered “pillars” of society. Keating’s sharing of his individual skepticism ultimately leads to his dismissal by those whose values he is skeptical of.
Keating still succeeds in infecting his students with his moral skepticism and the scene at the end when they stand on their desks and proclaim him, “Oh captain, my captain!” strikes me—as a limited moral skeptic myself—as a triumphal moment.
Not so triumphal is Match Point.
There’s an old adage in sports, “It’s better to be lucky than good.” In Match Point, the main character, Chris Wilton (played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers), embraces the adage in an extreme fashion to get away with a double murder—largely because of luck.
In the movie, Wilton has an affair with an American actress, Nola Rice (played by Scarlett Johansson), despite being engaged and ultimately married to another woman. Rice gets pregnant and wants him to leave his wife, but he does not want to lose the status and wealth he has gained through his wife.
Instead, Wilton stages a home invasion robbery in which he kills Rice and her next-door neighbor, Betty Eastby (played by Margaret Tysack). He wants the robbery to look like it was executed by a junkie. He disposes of the material he stole from Hewett’s apartment by throwing it in a river. One item, a ring, does not make it to the river. The ring is later found on the body of a drug dealer—who was slain in an unrelated murder—and the case is closed.
Wilton knows what he did was wrong, but, as he reveals in a supernatural visitation by the ghosts of the two women he killed, any qualms about committing the murders—much less avoiding the consequences of his crimes—is secondary to his quest for gratification.
“It wasn’t easy, but when the time came I could pull the trigger,” He tells Nola’s ghost. “You can learn to push the guilt under the rug and go on. You have to, otherwise it overwhelms you.” To Eastby’s ghost, he says, “The innocent are sometimes slain to make way for a grander scheme. You were collateral damage.” When Eastby’s ghost challenges him about his own unborn child, he quotes Sophocles, “To never have been born may be the greatest boon of all.”
The quotes are telling, revealing a man with little or no moral compass—a moral nihilist, if you will (Shafer-Landau 2018, p. 294). He admits that while he may sometimes feel bad about what he’s done, he will not allow regret to impede his life. There is something of the ethical egoist in his demeanor—though I doubt most egoists would argue that the murders were justifiable, even if they did allow him to continue to pursue his ambitions for wealth and status.
Most egoists will go far, but I am certain they will go no further.
The movies Dead Poets Society and Match Point are (at least from what little I have seen of the later) engaging explorations of moral skepticism. But they are, as one might expect, quite different in their world view. The former movie celebrates individual relativism while, I think, retaining a deeply moral core. Its message is, in the words of the Bard, “To thine own self be true.” But do so in a way that is honest and honorable. The latter’s vision is much darker. “To thine own self be true,” maybe, but if no honor, no problem. To paraphrase Admiral David Farragut, it’s “Damn the collateral damage. Full speed ahead.”
Editor’s Note: This piece was originally written for an ethics class at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College and submitted on Nov. 27, 2019.
Literature cited
Allen, Woody. 2005. Match Point. Starring Brian Cox, Matthew Goode, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Penelope Wilton. Casting by Juliet Taylor, Gail Stevens, Patricia Kerrigan DiCerto. Costume Designer Jill Taylor. Editor Alisa Lepselter. Production Designer Jim Clay. Director of Photography Remy Adefarasin. Co-Executive Producers Jack Rollins, Charles H. Joffe. Executive Producer Stephen Tenenbaum. Co-Producers Helin Robin, Nicky Kentish Barnes. Produced by Letty Aronson, Gareth Wiley, Lucy Darwin. Written and Directed by Woody Allen. USA: DreamWorks.
Shafer-Landau, Russ. 2018. The Fundamentals of Ethics. Fourth ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
Weir, Peter. 1989. Dead Poets Society. Starring Robin Williams. Music by Maurice Jarre. Director of Photography John Seale. Written by Tom Schulman. Produced by Steven Haft, Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas. Directed by Peter Weir. USA: Touchstone Pictures.
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