>>...shows that not only is what she did not okay, but it
>>haunts her.
>
>Well, what exactly Sister Aloysius has "doubts" about is
>purposely left open ended, which you know. But, again, if he
>look at through the prism of her getting Father Flynn to
>leave, and taking into context Flynn's opening speech, the
>fact that she has doubts redeems her in the eyes of the story.
>That she has doubts about what she actions, not her actions
>themselves, that are really important.

People aren't redeemed by having doubts. Don't read that people find the righteous path by following their doubts. It doesn't say that doubt is right, it says that it's human, and feeling lost is a common link. Also, don't ignore Shanley's parable about gossip.

Now, Flynn at the end says he's grateful, because the wind pushed him through there and to the place where God intends him to be. Would Father Flynn say at the end that Sister Aloysius's doubts led everyone "home," a.k.a. to the places where God intended them to be? Absolutely yes.

Father Flynn has a promotion, and has maintained his position in a male-dominated Catholic world-- he's fine with it.

Sister James still can't sleep because she had doubts, but because she told Father Flynn there were only doubts, unfounded and wrong, she can play the role of the consoler and compassionate nun in a new progressive church that cares rather than disciplines-- this is what Father Flynn and the other men are about, so she's likely to do fine.

Sister Aloysius didn't have doubts about Father Flynn when she kicked him out. She wasn't following her doubts. She let her doubts become facts, and she turned a blind eye to the lack of evidence because of her own rage at his conduct, at his gender, and at the predicament. At the end, she opens up and acknowledges her doubts about Father Flynn, whether he did it. The FACT that she acknowledges she has doubts, which for the hour beforehand she did not have because she was so certain, leaves her shattered. She is a well-intentioned but damned woman, damned to be tortured by her actions, damned to be irrelevant in a compassionate male-dominated church, damned to be disliked by everyone. There's a reason why she cries at the end, and it's not because Shanley is condoning her behavior. It's because, regardless of the interpretation, she is unhappy. Doubts have led her to unhappiness.


>>Meanwhile, while Flynn suffered for a bit, his
>>doubts in his ability to stay untarnished by the Sister get
>>him promoted.
>
>If anything, Flynn's promotion is suggested to be the result
>of the Church's sexism (alluded by Sister Aloysius throughout
>the film) and the diocese's desire to protect their own and
>run the Church as just another old boy's network. Shanley's
>basically alluding to the pattern of behavior that the
>Catholic Church followed during the rampant abuse scandals
>over the years.

Yes, but does that mean that the Sister is approved of by Shanley? It shows why she might have had such passionate vendettas against Flynn, but her style of teaching isn't even in line with the younger generation of nuns, much less the men in the Catholic church. She's a relic, she's a has-been, fighting for relevance-- and doing a pretty damn good job of it, considering the little actual power she has.

>>I'm glad someone has a different take, since it stirs up
>>discussion. But I'm curious as to how you got such a boldly
>>different, like wildly off the mark I've found,
>>interpretation.
>
>There's a lot of people in this thread seeing something in
>this of this film that they want to see. You yourself you saw
>the film as partially an allegory for the post 9-11 mindset.
>I'm not saying that interpreatation necessarily wrong, but
>that's your own interpretation of it.
>
>You've got people all over this thread who think that the film
>is saying what Sister Aloysius did was wrong because they
>personally believe it's and can't believe that someone would
>write a play or a screenplay condoning those things. Hell, I
>think what she did is wrong, and that's why I'm annoyed that
>Shanley let's her off the hook.

He doesn't, she's unhappy at the end of the play. She says several times that she is damned for her actions. How is that letting her off the hook?

By making her "dobuts" the
>exclamation point to the film/play, it again suggests that
>she's just like the rest of us, and is worthy of our sympathy
>and doesn't deserve our scorn, because darn it, she was just
>trying what she believed was right. She stepped away from God
>to pursue justice, but her doubts bring her right back to
>God.

Aha! There's your booboo. Father Flynn's parable does NOT say that doubts lead you to God. It says doubts help you get to where God intended for you to be. Big difference. And if you're looking for how Father Flynn's parable relates to the film's story, there's your answer--- God intended for this woman to help up weeping, with the compassionate woman having the heart to warmly console her and forgive her. Do we as the audience forgive her? That's up for interpretation. Do we as the audience scorn her? Again, up for interpretation. But you're ignoring the verbiage of the speech by saying that that speech and the final moments bookend an honorable pursuit towards godliness without any negative repercussions whatsoever.