FREE ESSAY ON THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE

THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE

I recently saw a movie called, The Devil's Advocate. The previews for this movie seemed
unbelievable and sounded very similar to a previous lawyer-based movie. To my surprised,
I came out of the movie with many questions, arguments, and admittedly, a little fear. I
really enjoy a movie that provokes conversation and arguments about a particular subject
that is controversial or makes a person think how they would react in a particular
situation. 
The movie revolves around a small-town lawyer from Florida who is extremely gifted in his
ability to win cases, whether his clients were guilty or not. For example, at the
beginning of the movie he was defending a person who was wrongly accused of such a
horrible crime. He truly believed that his client was innocent because of his position as
a well-respected teacher in the community. During the trial he noticed that his client
was really enjoying himself and was aroused by her accusations and testimony. At this
point he had to make a moral decision that only he could make. Should he continue to
represent his client, even though he strongly believed that he was guilty of this crime?
He appeared to have a personal struggle with this question, but in the end he decided to
defend his client and actually won the case, ultimately keeping his perfect record, but
also cheating the abused child who was unfairly molested by this man. He was then offered
a great job in New York for a large law firm and became the new hot shot at the company
because of his reputation in winning cases. This is when the movie gets extremely
interesting, and also a little scary. He and his wife were so surprised and overwhelmed
by this new lfie full of nice things and new friends. This new life was possible because
of his willingness to do anything to win a case. As it turned out, the head of the law
firm was actually the Devil who recruited him because of his disregard for morals in
order to do one thing, and that is to win at all costs. The deception of the Devil is not
recognized by the main character because he is too busy trying to win cases for the new
law firm, which are merely tests that the Devil has set up for him. His vanity is his
ultimate fault.
This is always a great subject of argument and conversation because of people's different
views and sense of morality. I don't agree with his decision to defend the guilty child
molester. I believe it is immoral and especially unfair to the victim who is hurt by such
ascts. The main character was not motivated so muc hby the riches that his success
brought him but, as the Devil later points out, it is his vanity and fear of losing that
destroys him. The most interesting aspect of the movie comes when the Devil and the
lawyer finally confront each other. All of the choices that the lawyer makes, good or
bad, are of his own free will. He had willingly chosen to defend a guilty man. Every
individual has free will in choosing to do good or evil. The devil didn't make him do it.
His own selfish needs and wants drove him to his own fate. We are constantly confronted
with such choices every single day, every single second.
The movie was gruesome in it s portrayal of the evils of such an immoral profession, but
the basic principles of individual morality and how it ultimately affects our society as
a whole was a major success. I think that if people would just stop to think of how their
personal decisions and actions will affect not only themselves but others around them
that our society would be less likely to include such plain and suffering.