What Wouldn't You Do?

What Wouldn't You Do?

By. William C Walker Jr

September 24, 2013

I saw the film Prisoners this weekend and it made me wonder about how much a child in your life could change who you even are as a person.  While I thought the movie had some very solid performances, I felt a bit drained from the running time, and the really weak ending.  But this isn't a review of the movie this about the moral dilemma and question the film presents to parents.  In the film Hugh Jackman's character daughter is kidnapped, now he doesn't go all Taken Liam Neeson style on the guy. But he does go Jack Bauer style on suspected assailant, trying to do everything in his power find and save his daughter. The film makes it a moral dilemma because you don't necessarily know if the guy is the actual kidnapper, or if he just happens to know something about it.  So even though what Hugh's character is presented as this typically moral man, his morals go out the window when it comes to trying to save his child.  It seems crazy to the level and extent he goes, but it made me think and wonder.  If I where a parent and to the parents out there. What wouldn't you do on behalf of your children?

Again I'm not a parent, but I have an abundance of nieces and nephews that I'm very protective of.  So if anyone where to threaten them or harm them, I could see doing everything in my power to protect them or seek justice for them.  Now I'd like to say my parents' raising and my Christian faith would keep me from going all Jack Bauer on someone.  But I honestly can't say I wouldn't, that's just real.  There's this instinct that's naturally in humans to defend themselves and what they deem valuable.  I think this instinct is only amplified when there's a emotional connection to someone you care about.  Sometimes it's easy to accept bad things that happen to adults, no one relishes in another person's misery.  Most aren't sociopaths when it comes to misfortune that befalls another.  There is however a totally different reaction to crimes against children.  

Children are just naturally perceived as innocent so it's always hard to hear when tragedy befalls them.  I'd imagine as a parent you'll always want your kids to not have to feel what you felt, or go through what you had to go through.  So it's that much more important to you to protect them from harm or danger.  It's why even if you may be up for hours on end, you don't want your kids to be up because it's not good for them.  While you may have no problem watching extreme violence, it's not something you'd want your kids exposed to.  So how much of your own moral compass would you ignore when it came to your kids?  I guess it can depend on what you view as right or wrong in general.  I do think most parents when posed with the question of, what wouldn't you do for your kids? The answer would easily be anything, and I believe that to be the case.  But does a line even exists?  I know my parents love me tremendously but I couldn't see them break the law for me.  Even with that being said I still wouldn't doubt as a child my parents going to extreme lengths to ensure my safety.  So again I pose the question if faced in a situation such as in the film Prisoners.  What wouldn't you do for your child?