EthicsPolicy
The Departed Ethical Summary
For my independent research project, I chose to watch the movie entitled The Departed. Centered on the Boston mob/drug lord scene and the Massachusetts State Police effort to put an end to it, The Departed is about as unethical as it gets. Frank Costello, the leader of the mob, starts off the movie with a rare ethical act as he buys a young boy, Colin Sullivan, some food for him and his grandmother and gives him a little spare change. One could say that he is sharing his wealth by giving to the less fortunate people of the city, an act in which John Paul II would applaud. From this point on, Costello continues to mentor the boy and be a fatherly figure to him, all the way until Sullivan graduates the state police academy and works himself to the head of the Special Investigations Unit of the Massachusetts State Police. Sullivan is now a mole on the inside for Costello and in a very high position of authority, practically ensuring that all of the efforts the police task force puts into capturing Costello will be wasted. That is, however, until the heads of the Massachusetts State Police, Quanum and Dingman, put rookie cop Billy Costigan into an undercover operation as well. Costigan does some fake time in jail, makes his way back into the public, and eventually becomes one of Costello’s men. And if these two double-crossing men weren’t unethical enough, add in the fact that Sullivan’s girlfriend is a shrink that sees Costigan as one of her patients and ends up sleeping with him, and The Departed covers all sides of double lives that one can imagine.
Costello is quoted in the movie saying, “I don’t want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me” and “No one gives it to you, you have to take it.” What he does for a living is obviously unethical, but John Paul II would also discern that how he lives, because he is such a powerful man, is sinful. Costello lives as greedily as humanly possible. He is
For my independent research project, I chose to watch the movie entitled The Departed. Centered on the Boston mob/drug lord scene and the Massachusetts State Police effort to put an end to it, The Departed is about as unethical as it gets. Frank Costello, the leader of the mob, starts off the movie with a rare ethical act as he buys a young boy, Colin Sullivan, some food for him and his grandmother and gives him a little spare change. One could say that he is sharing his wealth by giving to the less fortunate people of the city, an act in which John Paul II would applaud. From this point on, Costello continues to mentor the boy and be a fatherly figure to him, all the way until Sullivan graduates the state police academy and works himself to the head of the Special Investigations Unit of the Massachusetts State Police. Sullivan is now a mole on the inside for Costello and in a very high position of authority, practically ensuring that all of the efforts the police task force puts into capturing Costello will be wasted. That is, however, until the heads of the Massachusetts State Police, Quanum and Dingman, put rookie cop Billy Costigan into an undercover operation as well. Costigan does some fake time in jail, makes his way back into the public, and eventually becomes one of Costello’s men. And if these two double-crossing men weren’t unethical enough, add in the fact that Sullivan’s girlfriend is a shrink that sees Costigan as one of her patients and ends up sleeping with him, and The Departed covers all sides of double lives that one can imagine.
Costello is quoted in the movie saying, “I don’t want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me” and “No one gives it to you, you have to take it.” What he does for a living is obviously unethical, but John Paul II would also discern that how he lives, because he is such a powerful man, is sinful. Costello lives as greedily as humanly possible. He is