The movie 'Gone Baby Gone' revolves around the abduction of four-year-old Amanda McCready. The plot was made more interesting by each character in the story who had their take on each situation given their moral compasses. The complexity of each situation exemplified the grey areas of reality. Moreover, it must be recognized if they fit the criteria for the responsibility of their human acts.
Each personality has its motive, act, and consequence. Regarding the responsibility of the person, three circumstances must occur. They knew that an evil effect would occur after the act, they were morally bound not to commit an action that would cause an evil effect, and they had the freedom to abstain from commencing the act that would lead to an evil effect. Given these, it would be clear to determine whether the characters were morally responsible and whether their reasons were justifiable.
The McCready Household
The biological family of Amanda all had a role to play in her abduction. Beginning with Helene McCready-- a known cocaine user who is essentially incapable of being a mother to her child. Her selfishness and arrogance are further enhanced whenever she bumps heads with Angie and Bea. In an argument with Bea, she justified her use of cocaine and her illegal relations to it to feed her daughter. Which was hedonistic of her since she claimed she just wanted what was best for her and her daughter. Despite this, there were moments when she did have the consciousness to decide. Her true colors as a mother were seen when she saw Ray dead. This put her into hysterics and made Patrick promise to bring her daughter back to her because she was wrong and she was willing to change. It can be inferred from the story that Helene acted in ways that would always please herself such as using cocaine, pursuing her sexual innuendos, and ignoring her daughter.
Bea McCready is the kind-hearted aunt who just wanted her niece back. Despite the advice of the police, she chose to hire private investigators just to find Amanda. She was aware of what Helene truly was yet she recognized the law that she must recognize Helene as her mother. She acted under the rule of utilitarianism, she still wanted to handle the situation through legal means to achieve her goal.
On the other hand, Lionel McCready acted under act utilitarianism. It is important to take note that Lionel and Helene were siblings. He knew what kind of sister Helene was and what effect she could have on Amanda as a mother. He acted upon fear, knowing that a poor innocent child would suffer because of Helene. So, he took matters into his own hands. His conspiracy with Remy, Jack, and others was all acted with innocent intentions. They wanted to give Amanda a better life, though their means were against the law. Those who conspired with him functioned under the hypothetical imperative. To them, their way was more peaceful, efficient, and effective. His act was altruistic since he disregarded the consequences for himself and focused on Amanda’s well-being.
Angie Genaro
As a private investigator and as Patrick’s girlfriend, it was clear where her moral compass lies. From the very beginning, she did not want to take the case for fear of seeing a child dead. Upon their first investigation, seeing where Amanda lived, she also had doubts about the whole situation. Once she knew the truth, that Amanda was safe with Jack, she favored the situation. Under the act of utilitarianism, she was morally right. A life with Jack was everything compared to her drug-using mother. She knew that what was legally right did not entail its moral correctness given the reality of the situation.
Remy Bressant
A quite conceited officer of his own; on his last breath while lying on the floor on the rooftop he says, 'I love kids,' then dies without an inch of regret, seemingly proud of what he did. Alongside him was Nick Poole, who was also a police officer; both of them were accomplices of the chief officer, Jack Doyle, who was responsible for the abduction of Amanda McCready. Bressant and Doyle, after knowing the background of the mother, Helene McCready who is a crack, initially acted and thought that they had to do something for the kid. Planning out to abduct young Amanda; they call out their assets and set up the private detectives to make it look like an ambush when they are trying to negotiate and make an exchange agreement with a drug lord.
It was done perfectly except for the arrangement of dates and exchange of words via phone and when Bressant talked with private detective Kenzie after the raid with Poole, killing the pedophile and two drug addicts. Kenzie did the right thing and yet it made him feel wrong, Bressant confronts him with his secret, he planted evidence once into a guy's house and effectively sends him to prison. Unto that incident, he thought that doing something that might result in good is good regardless of the way how you conduct it as long as it would come and please a lot of people, it is acceptable. And yet, when Kenzie says, 'Murder is a sin,' Bressant responds swiftly, 'Depends on who you do it to.' This shows Bressant's egoism; his egoistic thinking that the things he does please himself and by partly thinking less of what it does to people too.
The conviction within him is not blinded by any power or money, for he claims that he cherishes children but he does not explain why and there is something that in him indistinct and questions, whether is he a pedophile. A man who cannot give a child? Or does he simply adore children? Does it make him feel so righteous when he acts as an accomplice of a man who cannot accept the loss of his child? Bressant seemingly to have high morals yet he curved along the way, blurring his vision between his actions and virtue.
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Bressant’s conduct falls under deontological ethics in the hypothetical imperative, for he acted bound by his desire and not by his duty. As a police officer and given a case to find an abducted child, he did his job yet he failed when fulfilling his job—to get back the abducted child and return it to her mother. His act does not result in any good for he puts the child into confusion and the mother to remorse. Applying Utilitarianism, as said above, his egoistic hedonism-- for his desire to give the child a bright and good upbringing, doing his conduct falls too into Act Utilitarianism, thinking that giving Amanda to Doyle is the “best” with regards to mother’s background that it is the “best” to give it to a man with good living and thinking that Doyle would not harm Amanda.
Jack Doyle
Jack Doyle is the chief of the police unit responsible for the case of finding the missing child, Amanda McCready. At first, he wasn't very pleased with Patrick Kenzie and Angie Genaro interfering with the case. However, he was obliged legally to cooperate wherein he made his two officers, Remy Bressant and Nick Poole accompany Patrick and Angie with the investigation. In the movie, it was revealed by Jack that he had a 12-year-old daughter who also went missing and was killed. After that confusing night when they heard gunshots in the forest, Amanda McCready was assumed dead, and Jack resigned shortly after that. In the latter part of the movie, Patrick figured everything out and found Amanda living with Jack and his wife. Jack reasoned out that he did what he had to do so that Amanda could have a good life. Although Amanda seemed very happy, it wasn't the right thing to do.
Under the deontological ethics in the context of categorical imperative by Immanuel Kant, it is said that it doesn't matter whether a person wants to be moral or not, the moral law is binding all of us. Jack has good intentions in keeping Amanda with him but what he did was considered kidnapping and was against the law. First of all, he does not have any right to keep Amanda because he has no relation to her. Second, he deprived Helene McCready of her rights as the mother of Amanda, which is again, stated in the law.
In the context of Utilitarianism, there is what we call hedonism wherein Jack's action can fall under the type of hedonism called egoistic hedonism because as what was revealed in the movie, Jack has a daughter who also went missing and was killed so there might be a possibility that by keeping Amanda with him will give him the pleasing feeling of having a daughter again. He acted based on what was best for Amanda, which was to live with him and not with a mother who does drugs and drinks all night. He knows that if Amanda is sent back to her mother, she won't be treated right, that's why, even if it is against the law, he took Amanda with him to take care of her, which will fall under the principle called act utilitarianism.
Patrick Kenzie
As a private investigator, he must take cases and solve them but then, when the 4-year-old girl got abducted and Bea asked for their help and wanted to hire them, he started getting doubts and bothered because of his girlfriend Angie who was afraid of seeing the child dead. But then, with a job that they have they accepted and took the case and tried solving the mystery behind it. Upon the investigation, he discovered that the mother of Amanda was not in their neighborhood but in Fillmore using cocaine. He talked to Bressant and Poole to ask if they had any leads and also asked for their files about the suspects. With that, he used his very own connections in the Boston Crime underground and then discovered that Helene and her boyfriend have a connection with Cheese, a Haitian Drug Lord. Believing that Amanda is with Cheese, he and Angie tried negotiating that he will return the money of Cheese in exchange for the 4-year-old girl but the Drug Lord initially denied that he is involved with Amanda’s disappearance.
He then speaks with the police officer named Devin who tells about the stolen money of Cheese that Remy knows all about before Cheese will know that it is already missing. So he went to question Lionel that they conspired in a fake kidnapping to be able to get the money from Helene and teach her a lesson. Remy tries to make him quiet and Lionel so Remy shoots them but then the bartender shoots Remy twice in the back. Patrick was questioned by the police about Remy’s death and he discovered and learned that Doyle’s transcript had nothing to do with the police. So he drove to Doyle’s house and saw Amanda was safe.
As the investigation is going on, Kenzie tries his best to solve the mystery even though the case is getting more complicated. Bound by his duties and responsibility Kenzie falls to Deontological Ethics in the context of the Categorical Imperative because even though they see Amanda is in good hands with Doyle he still calls the police knowing and believing that Amanda only belongs to her mother and all things that happen it is the right thing to put Doyle in bars. Risking his relationship with Angie, he still did what was morally right.
Meanwhile, in the context of utilitarianism, Kenzie falls also into the Rule of Utilitarianism because he still went for the right process and thinks that no matter how good Doyle’s intention is, it is not right to kidnap a young girl, causing chaos in their society. With that, he still followed the laws and rules of their country.
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