The Film The Mission

Latin America throughout the early 16th century was a time of constant conflict between the different powers that were trying to occupy more land, the church, Spain, and Portugal. Through the lens of the film The Mission, directed by Roland Joffé, this conflict illuminates as the Church’s influence becomes threatened by the Portuguese King. This causes the Cardinal’s decision to go against his own peaceful values and opinion henceforth, giving Spain and Portugal the ability to conquer the native’s land. By looking at the common trend of the negative effects civilization partakes over human beings, we can see that a lot of Rousseau’s values are a leading foreshadow for how certain characters react in certain scenarios in the movie. One character …show more content…
Throughout the film, Mendoza’s persona shifts multiple times as he phases from slave hunter, to a Jesuit, to later renouncing himself from the church. Once he had finally became a Jesuit, he was considered and acted as a “good” and pure human. However, once he and his fellow Jesuits lose their support from the Cardinal, all of them react the same way except Father Gabriel. Rodrigo renounces himself strictly because he believes he is doing the right thing by fighting off the expansionists, not because he is a bad Christian. Despite the fact that Rodrigo is fighting for good, this does not excuse him from Rousseau’s values that he is corrupted because of this. In a conversation between Gabriel and Mendoza, Gabriel counters Mendoza’s intentions by exclaiming, “Then help them as a Priest (The Mission SC12)”! Here, Gabriel is saying that violence and force is not the answer in this scenario, completely disregarding the fact that they are weak and defenseless. This type of reply directly correlates to Rousseau’s view on the priority of religion and peace over the duties of morality, “...inner worship is the first of these duties… without faith no true virtue exists (Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men)”. Rousseau’s values state how there should be no other value or obligation that comes before inner …show more content…
This is how Rousseau’s values were best represented as seen through one of the film’s most integral characters, Rodrigo Mendoza. By acknowledging the drastic influence that civilization can cause to certain people, it is evident that much of Rousseau’s values correlates greatly to how characters in the film speak and react to each other. To further illustrate Rousseau’s place in The Mission, Rodrigo’s obtainment of the sword, and the dichotomy of the opposing definitions of doing “good” are all moments and themes that are examples of how corruption emerges and effects inherently good human