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Drama in ethics, ethics in drama
Good drama is about the vivid, compelling depiction of the characters’ decisions, and the ethical challenges that confront the dramatis personae are an essential ingredient.
“Drama is truly compelling when it exposes the raw, painful trade-offs its characters face”, I wrote in Good drama = good economics. Good drama does not just entertain you, but makes you think. Why do these characters behave the way they do? What motivates their choices and decisions? Perhaps even, what would I do if I were this or that character? Classic plays by Shakespeare, or even 2000 years earlier, by Sophocles or Aristophanes are masterful in their observation and depiction of human behaviour and the moral dilemmas that characterize it. But modern TV drama can do so, too. A recent episode of the Italian TV series Il Commissario Montalbano contained no less than three separate story lines, each one set around ethical challenges, and with a particular moral dilemma facing the protagonist.
The womanizing deputy
A Swedish film crew has descended on Vigata, the mid-sized Sicilian town where inspector Montalbano runs the police station, assisted by his deputy, inspector Augello. Augello, who in this episode is in charge of escorting the…
