Love vs. Special Obligations

            Diane Jeske says, “our special obligations to care for our intimates result from the special character of our relationships to the obliges, not simply from the character of our intimates and the character of the actions involved in caring for them.” I think the movie Moulin Rouge displays how, while special obligations to family and friends make a difference in the choices we make, the human emotion of love can affect those special obligations. In fact, I think the emotion of love is more so the contributing factor to our special obligations as opposed to simply the relationships to the obliges. For example, Saline wanted to be an actress her whole life and even went to the lengths of selling her body to do it. However, when Christian comes into the picture those obligations to her career dreams and her company change. I think the movie displays how “love” is the determining factor within special obligations.

            The more Saline gets involved with Christian, the more her obligations change. For example, at first, she is content with being with him for part of the time and pretending to care for the Duke for the other. However, as her feelings of love grow more and more for Christian, she is physically unable to keep her obligation to the Moulin Rouge and her career goals. It is not as difficult for her to pretend to care for the Duke in the beginning because her feelings of love for Christian have not grown. When Saline escapes from nearly being raped by the duke she tells Christian, “I just couldn’t go through with it!” Her love for Christian has grown so much that she is physically incapable of keeping her obligation to the Moulin Rouge whereas before it was easy for her to pretend. While her special obligation had always been to herself and her dreams, “love” makes her incapable of keeping that obligation because the emotion is stronger than her predetermined mindset and relationships.

            Similarly, Saline’s love for Christian also causes her to begin to put his wellbeing before her own. For example, she is willing to give into the Duke’s demands to save Christian’s life but not to achieve her dream of becoming an actress. This displays how the emotion of love can cause humans to do things they wouldn’t normally do.

            I think the movie, Moulin Rouge, displays how the emotion of love has more of a contributing factor to whom we give our special obligations to as opposed to predetermined relationships. When Saline develops love for Christian, he becomes her priority as opposed to the career goals and people who have surrounded her for so long. The movie also displays how love can change your special obligations. For example, while you may have a special obligation to your family if you fall in love you may feel more obligated to he or she. The movie Moulin Rouge emphasizes love as the determining factor in which humans set priorities. While outside factors can get in the way of love, the emotion is often so strong that it causes us to put the object of our love before other things.