The movie opens with a homily from Father Flynn that sets the premise for a story about the parish priest who has been caught in a sexual abuse scandal, and the nun who ultimately catches him.
"What do you do when you're not sure? That's the topic of my sermon today. You look for God's direction and can't find it. Last year, when President Kennedy was assassinated, who among us did not experience the most profound disorientation. Despair. 'What now? Which way? What do I say to my kids? What do I tell myself?' It was a time of people sitting together, bound together by a common feeling of hopelessness. But think of that. Your bond with your fellow beings was your despair. It was a public experience, shared by everyone in our society. It was awful, but we were in it together. How much worse is it then for the lone man, the lone woman, stricken by a private calamity. 'No one knows I'm sick. No one knows I've lost my last real friend. No one knows I've done something wrong.' Imagine the isolation. You see the world as through a window. On the one side of the glass: happy, untroubled people. On the other side: you. Something has happened. You have to carry it, and it's incommunicable. For those so afflicted, only God knows their pain, their secret. The secret of their alienating sorrow. And when such a person, as they must, howls to the sky, to God, 'Help me!' What if now answer comes? Silence... There are those of you in church today who know exactly the crisis of faith I describe. I want to say to you: Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty. When you are lost, you are not alone."
From here, the movie sets up several intriguing questions. Who can we trust? Is morality absolute? 'Doubt invites the viewer to think... to push beyond their blind devotion and black-and-white worlds, and to experience the uncertainty and grayness that is life. In this way, 'Doubt' raises some probing questions about the challenges of navigating a world increasingly confronted with moral dilemma and societal change.
For me, the most thought-provoking moment occurred with the final line. Throughout the movie, Streep's character, Sister Aloysius is confident and strong. No obstacle will deter her from achieving her vision of justice and morality. She is the singular stronghold of certainty in an uncertain world. But once Father Flynn has been driven out of her parish, and she has achieved her aims, instead of relishing in her victory, Sister Aloysius breaks down. Sobbing, she concedes that she too, has doubt.
What does this mean? The one character who seemed to be above all uncertainty, and so strongly anchored to her faith and her morality simultaneously doubts those tenets so basic to her existence. The viewer comes to the realization that doubt has an infinite nature. No one is above doubt.
In terms of faith, I think everyone, at one point or another, experiences doubt. Without doubt... without ever truly examining or challenging our faith... I think it is impossible to truly believe. And the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that it is the same in life. Doubt is a life-sustaining force, if understood properly. Doubt allows for growth and change, whereas certainty is a dead-end. Where there is certainty, the conversation is over. There is no point in further exploration or discussion. Where there is certainty, we have given up on the challenging, fulfilling aspects of life. We must learn to live life with a measure of uncertainty.
And now going back to Father Flynn's homily which opened the movie. Doubt can be a bond. It is a public experience. How much worse is it when we believe we are alone... when no one knows of our pain, or our problems, or our sin? When no one can understand us, or can commiserate? The overarching message of this movie, is ultimately that everyone doubts. Of that, we can at least be certain. And so throughout those times when we feel so incredibly isolated and despair that we are the only ones, we can find certainty in one thing. We are not alone.
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