In Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 more modern, musical interpretation of Moulin Rouge!, the star courtesan of the Moulin Rouge, Satine, must choose between her life long goal of becoming an actress and her love for the poor bohemian poet, Christian. Satine also faces an internal conflict of where her loyalties and obligations lie. There is little to no background on Satine revealed during the course of the film, yet it is made apparent that her cohorts at the Moulin Rouge act as her pseudo-family. Especially with Harold Zidler acting as somewhat of a father figure for Satine. Satine is faced with a choice: seduce the Duke, gain his funding, and become a famous actress like she always dreamed or let herself succumb to love. Satine choses the later.
Diane Jeske defines special obligations as “obligations that are owed not to all persons, but to some limited class of persons, where the fundamental justification for the having of such obligations is not the intrinsic nature of the obligee as such, or, at least, not only the intrinsic nature of the obligee.” Jesse makes the distinction that these are not the same as natural duties which are moral requirements for how one should act. In Moulin Rouge!, natural duties are pretty much a non-issue. Seeing as almost all of the characters are members of the underworld in Paris and characters such as the Duke are simply immoral characters, they do not hold the same belief that is expected of natural duties. Therefore, Satine’s motivations are based in special obligations. She has an obligation to the Moulin Rouge and its inhabitants to seduce the Duke in order to keep the doors of the Moulin Rouge open after Zidler signs away the deed.
Satine’s special obligation to Zidler and the Moulin Rouge lies in a sense of reciprocity. They have made her what she is so she owes them her aid with the Duke. Although this special obligation extends to a sense of a familial obligation, Satine develops somewhat of a familial relationship with Christian.
“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”
When Satine finally admits to her love for Christian, her loyalties to him begin to surpass those to the Moulin Rouge. Her ultimate decision to succumb to the Dukes desires is not out of a repayment to the Moulin Rouge, rather it is solely based in her need to save Christian’s life because he is actually someone whom she loves. The focus the film has on the ideas of Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Love reveal that ultimately the greatest of these is Love.
To go along with your mentioning of the obligations Satine has to her pseudo-family, Jeske also mentioned how the family is obligated to understand and respect her decision to choose love. Satine merely feels like she is owed, but she never promised them that she would do everything in her power to save Moulin Rouge. They other characters merely assume it. I can't help but support Satine's decision. Sure, Moulin Rouge's deed gets signed away, but in the end, her happiness is the ultimate goal here. I think the quote you mentioned above mimics that point, too. She has learned what love feels and how to be loved in return, so now she wants to transition that. To also draw from Nick's post, this helps mark the transition from voluntary involvement to commitment. She ultimately moves away from her supposed familial obligations (which I think Jeske would argue aren't actually obligations) to obligations of love, which truly matters in love. Can't help but wonder, do you also support her decision? Or do you wish Moulin Rouge could have been saved?
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