Topic > The theme of freedom in Soderbergh's thriller film "Traffic"

Helena Ayala lived a happy life with her husband and son. However, everything changes when Carlos is arrested. She is therefore forced to take risky measures just so she can reunite her family and reduce the problems they have. She and her son are threatened as Carlos owes $3,000,000 to the Obregons. We can see that violence is used here. Later in the film, she hires Francisco Flores, or Frankie, to kill Eddie during the trial so that her husband can be freed. She was voluntarily passive in this situation as she hired Frankie herself. She too knew what she was getting into and was fully aware of it. Although it was a risky task, she completed it and therefore it can be considered a perfectly voluntary act. Although this is the case, we can see that Helen is trapped in a dangerous situation. He has no ability to do what he truly wants as he has no choice but to have Eddie killed. Frankie plants a bomb under a car, but Tigrillo sees it and ends up shooting Frankie. The bomb, instead of killing Eddie who decided to go for a walk, kills Ray. We can see that the intention to kill Eddie was not fulfilled, and instead he takes the lives of both Francisco Flores and Ray Castro. This resulted in an indirectly voluntary, i.e. unintentional, effect. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Through these characters and the rest of the characters in Traffic, we can see that these people do not have true freedom. Some of them are affected directly because they are under the influence of drugs, while others are affected indirectly because the drug issue has been brought to the family. A problem that affects many teenagers is that of drug abuse, seen in the situation of Caroline Wakefield. This often leads to sexual intercourse without consent or rape. According to Humanae Vitae, "Sexual activity, in which the spouses are intimately and chastely united with each other, through which human life is transmitted, is, as the recent Council recalled, 'noble and worthy'". We see it here. that sexual intercourse is a sacred act and should not be something that can be taken advantage of. People must learn to respect the bodies of others, as the Papal Encyclical itself states: «'Human life is sacred: all men must recognize it', recalled our predecessor Pope John XXIII. 'From its inception it reveals the hand of God's creation.'" In addition to this, drugs also affect the dignity of a person. As stated in Dignitatis Humanae, "God has regard for the dignity of the human person, by Himself created, and man must be guided by his own judgment and enjoy freedom.” As God's creations, we have the ability to abuse our freedom to harm ourselves and violate our dignity, and this is common through drugs to respect ourselves and take care of ourselves since drugs have caused many problems for young people, even death. In the end, we are all free to do what we want and become what we want to become. However, since freedom exists, it also exists evil, and it is our job as Christians to try to avoid these evils. Nowadays drugs are common among young people, but we must realize their harmful effects. We must take care of our dignity and respect our bodies, since these are the gifts that God has given us.