The Fudge Factor

This week I watched “The Lorax,” and surprisingly I found that there were several ethical issues riddled throughout the Dr. Seuss movie.  I think that one of the most significant aspects that I have noticed since I started taking this ethics course is that there are ethical dilemmas and ethical issues everywhere if you keep an eye out for them!  Granted, ethical dilemmas make for great movie plots because it is intriguing to see how others get themselves out of binds and sticky situations.  In “The Lorax,” the main character, the Once-ler, breaks his promise to the Lorax and makes the decision to cut down the trees in order to produce his new line of Thneeds (weird sweater/scarf things); however, in doing so, he robs the animals of their homes and he severely damages the environment.  He sings a song called “How Bad Can I Be,” and I think that this song sums up the message of the entire movie, so I am going to post the link so that you can listen to the lyrics before I discuss it further: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp3Iy06NYaw.

The Once-ler kicks off the song by asking the duck if the duck thinks that he is bad.  The duck cannot talk and simply quacks back to everything that the Once-ler asks, and the Once-ler takes that as an agreement that he is a good person.  I think this symbolizes that people often hear what they want to hear—regardless of if it is the truth.   Our textbook discussed how and why honest people sometimes do dishonest things; many people who engage in unethical behaviors do not consider themselves to be dishonest people.  Bowman and West (2015) referred to this as the “fudge factor” and elaborated that this notion occurs as people contemplate just how much "bad" they can do while still being a "good" person.  Bowman and West (2015) further discussed how many people find it easier to act in unethical manners when there is more distance between them and the actual act; an example of this that they provided in the text was that if a person nudged his golf-ball with his shoe to inch it closer to the hole, this would likely be "easier" for him to do than to actually lean down and physically pick up the ball to move it.  The latter is blatant cheating; whereas, someone could justify the former action as an accident to minimize the guilt/blame.  I wonder how much fudging has to occur before a person will no longer feel that they are an honest person.  At what point do people cross the line?

At one point in the song, the Once-ler sings something along the lines of money makes the world go round, which shows that he is starting to lose his moral compass and get lost in the profits.  He even tries to justify his actions by saying that he is boosting the economy, so he questions how this can possibly be bad?  Furthermore, he sings that he cannot be bad because a portion of his profits go to “charity” although who knows which one or how much, if it is even true at all (the guy winking made me think otherwise).  I think that while the Once-ler started out feeling guilty about breaking his word to the Lorax and cutting down the trees, he eventually lost sight of his moral compass and could only see dollar signs.  The Once-ler was not a “bad” character at the beginning of the movie; on the contrary, he was one of the “good” guys just trying to succeed in life.  

Last week we had a class debate about whether or not people are born evil, or if evilness is something that people learn over the years.  Students had good arguments for both sides, but ultimately there was no definitive answer.  Personally, I think that people are born good, and their interactions with others and societal influences cause people to engage in good or evil behaviors.  I would be interested to hear what you all think, though!  In the case of the Once-ler, I would argue that he was definitely born "good" but he let his personal desires get the best of him and cloud his judgment when he unethically engaged in the mass Thneed production.  While this was just a movie, I think it is a good one to watch because of the adult implications sprinkled throughout it.  The movie showed that there are consequences for our actions, even if we did not intend for them to be harmful.  It showed the importance of thinking through decisions before going through with them, and it also showed how the Once-ler was full of remorse after-the-fact.  It was not until Ted stumbled onto the Once-ler's property that the Once-ler had the opportunity to "right" his wrongs that he had previously made. 

The word "UNLESS" appeared on a rock outside of the Once-ler's isolated house, and this rock reminded the Once-ler of an important message that wrapped up the movie.  The message was that unless someone cares enough to do something, nothing is ever going to improve.  The Once-ler was able to pass along the last seed to Ted, so that Ted would be able to grow a tree and hopefully reverse the cycle. 

The very end of the movie had the following quote by Dr. Seuss, and I believe that it is a powerful message that should resonate within all of us:

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References:

Bowman, J. S., and West, J. P. (2015). Public service ethics: Individual and institutional responsibilities.  Thousand Oaks, CA: CQ Press.