The Progress and Impact of Evil in the Last Supper

Taylor LeBlanc 0669467        

Dr. Randi Warne        

RELS 2201

March 24, 2016

The Progress and Impact of Evil in The Last Supper

Using Amelie Oksenberg Rorty’s “How to Harden Your Heart” article, the progress of evil, through the character of Paulie, can be specifically followed and categorized. Using the same article, the impact of evil can be analyzed through the character of Jude. While these two characters represent different outcomes of evil, they both have to deal with the internal struggle that evil creates. In order to understand the characters and their motives, there has to be an understanding of what the film is about.

The 1995 film The Last Supper is a comedy with a morbid take on issues of evil and morality (The Last Supper IMDb). Five liberal, stereotypical graduate students living in Iowa begin a tradition of inviting conservative, right-wing guests over for dinner to discuss their political, theological, and cultural beliefs. Some examples include a white supremacist, an anti-abortion extremist, a homophobic priest, a sexist man who claims rape is not real, a global warming denier, and a librarian who thinks The Catcher in the Rye is “mean spirited garbage littered with the F-word” (The Last Supper). Once they have confirmed that the guest’s beliefs differ from their own, they “do society a favour” (The Last Supper) and kill their guest. Poisoned wine is the students’ method of killing, the body is then buried in the backyard, and a tomato tree is planted on top of the grave to avoid suspicion. The film makes viewers question whether or not it is acceptable to kill for the greater good, and who, if anyone, can define what that greater good is. The film also initially evokes a good versus evil plotline, with the liberals playing the good role, and the conservatives playing the evil. Further into the film, the once clear lines of good and evil start to blur, making viewers question if the lines were ever clear in the first place. The lines are blurred by all five students, but particularly by the characters of Jude and Paulie.

        Paulie is introduced to viewers as a sweet and earnest person. Her high school yearbook picture is shown listing her achievements as Miss Congeniality, for class spirit, honour roll, and as chairman of the canned food drive. She owns the house the students are living in and is most often responsible for the majority of the cooking. Paulie’s moral character is first shown when the first dinner guest is killed. She is distraught with the idea of killing, wanting to “call the police”, claiming “he didn’t hurt anyone” (The Last Supper). When Luke, a leader type character, defends the action by saying “he was a right-wing asshole”, Paulie replies “that’s no excuse to kill a person” (The Last Supper). These reactions exemplify Paulie’s dedication to her morality. This initial image of Paulie as a character of morality is essential to her role of representing the progress of evil. Her decline into an immoral, evil character can be categorized by following Amelie Oksenberg Rorty’s “How to Harden Your Heart: six ways to become corrupt”.