Forbidden Fruit
Author: Rachel Avina
Made for: COMPLIT 154A / ENGLISH 154F / FRENCH 154 / ITALIAN 154 / PHIL 193C / PHIL 293C: Film & Philosophy
This screenplay draws influence from Bernard Williams's “The Women of Trachis” and “Utilitarianism and Moral Self-Indulgence”. This work questions the coping mechanisms humanity uses to rationalize and accept seemingly unnecessary pain and poses a new world to the reader in which pain can be reduced and minimized through time travel. Throughout the story, the characters commit premature murders to prevent tragedies. While Williams argues in favor of morally unsavory actions to achieve favorable outcomes, terrible actions are often retrospectively justified as “necessary evils”. In this story, the main character questions this notion through her hesitation to commit murder and her disbelief that her actions impact the future.
