Unthinkable - American thriller film

Unthinkable is a 2010 American thriller film that revolves around in finding three nuclear bombs planted in different cities of United States by a Muslim citizen who taped himself saying his demands that the American government needs to grant immediately for him not to let the bombs explode. It was also about how the CIA tortured him to say the location of the bombs, his experiences, his whole plan and his decision after. Among all of the characters, who do you think is ethical and who is not? What is your basis?

If I were to choose who I consider ethical in all of the characters, I would probably choose H and Yusuf.

It was a decision I had to make after hours of thinking who is more deserving, the one who planted bombs so that he could kill American citizens to get what he wants and to fulfill his duty to protect his nation or the one who extremely torture the suspect to the point of killing his wife so that he would know the location of the bombs to save his own countrymen.

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I know that most of you wouldn't agree and will probably think that no one can be considered as ethical between the two since they hurt and kill somebody, but what is my basis?

According to the Utilitarianism theory, "we should act always so as to produce the greatest good for the greatest number" so it means that we have to choose the decision that will provide an overall happiness for many even if it means sacrificing the happiness of the few.

It was quite brutal and immoral to some because this theory seems to encourage us to hurt an innocent person to attain the satisfaction that the majority can attain, but let's put it this way, the case of H and Yusuf are included and more relatable here since they are both fighting for the peace and safety of their nations, the reason why they do not care about who will die or get hurt because the number of people sacrificed wouldn't compare to those who'll suffer if the situation gets worst. They are the one who are ready to get their hands dirty to save what they needed to save.

At first, I really wanted to choose Brody, because she can be under the virtue ethics that tackles about your own character and what is morally right but I realized that in able to be considered as a follower of that theory, she must obtain the golden mean which is the midpoint of both extremes, but as I observed, she was always in the vices or extremes, she couldn't get just the right amount of compassion, and is always struggling in the things that she must do. Also, according to Aristotle "Having virtue just means doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, in the right amount, toward the right person" and she often contradicts the passage, because, in her position, Yusuf is certainly not the right person nor it was the right time to show weakness to a person who is causing a great damage to the other citizens.

The plans of the two may look cruel and wicked but who are we to judge? If we are in the same situation as Yusuf who is so tired of seeing his country get controlled and manipulated by the other who do nothing but to make life harder for them and kill his fellow men even because of a slightest mistake, what would you do? If you are in the same situation as H who is more than willing to save those who are bound to be dead because of the bombs planted but do not have a better option but torture, wouldn't you do the same?

"We live in the world where sometimes people do terrible things. And if we're the one who happens to be there and we can do something to make things better, we must." As a conclusion, I just wanted to say that pain is pain regardless of who experience it so I think that choosing a decision that will make the life better for the majority even if it means hurting someone wouldn't be a gross mistake, after all. It wouldn't make you a bad person or immoral, you just have to choose what battle are you willing to sacrifice.