Nilai Moral Melalui Karakter dalam Film The Whale

Abstract

Background: film The Whale (2022), directed by Darren Aronofsky, tells the story of Charlie, an English teacher who suffers from extreme obesity and lives in isolation. Behind his miserable physical condition, Charlie carries deep emotional wounds from a past filled with regret, including the loss of his partner and a broken relationship with his daughter. Objective: This paper aims to describe how the main character, Charlie, is portrayed in the film The Whale and to provide a description of the moral values reflected through his actions and interactions, such as honesty, compassion, love, self-reliance, and justice, as shown particularly through the main character. Method: This paper uses a qualitative descriptive method through observation and content description of dialogues. Robert Stanton's theory is used to describe the main character based on speech, behavior, conversation, and action. Good moral values are described using the theory of Linda and Richard Eyre, while Bad moral values are described using Aristotle's ethical theory. Result: The findings show that Charlie, the main character in the film, is portrayed as a complex figure struggling with guilt, loss, and worsening physical condition. Despite his suffering, he continues to demonstrate moral values such as honesty, respect, compassion, self-reliance, mercy, and justice. On the other hand, he also reflects negative moral values such as akrasia (weakness of will) and despair. Conclusion: This film successfully conveys a strong moral message through the inner conflict of its main character, serving as a reflection that every human being, no matter how dark their past may be, still has the opportunity to change and do good.