Peter Brooks The Moral Occult

Sometime morally we cannot make decisions that are in our best interest or make us happy.  Many times we make decisions based the reactions and actions of others and not on make will make us happy. Choosing between what we deem as right for us and what is right for others can be summed up when Brooks says “the domain of operative spiritual values which is both indicated within and masked by the surface of reality"(Brooks 5). In other words he believes we hide under the surface our true desires. This thought/belief of what is deemed right for us or other is called the moral occult. The melodramatic film All That Heaven Allows is a perfect example of this moral occult. In the film Carrie the main character is a widowed mother of two who falls in love with her gardener Ron. In one instance of the film Carrie tells her children that she is engaged to Ron and this infuriates them. Due to the fact that she and he come from two different classes her children naturally reject Ron. Carrie must choose what is morally right for her or her children. Despite her love for Ron, Carrie chooses not to marry him because that is what is morally right in the situation and also so that she would not lose her children. Carrie decides her children’s happens is more important than hers. After she tells them she is no longer going to marry Ron, her son Ned informs her that he will living and her daughter also tells her that she will be busy. Carrie realizes that she would be losing her kids regardless with or without Ron; she changes her mind and goes back to Ron ignoring her children’s thoughts of him. The moral occult within this film is made clear and is noticed. The film supports Brooks’ claims about the moral occult and how we hide things “by the surface of reality” (Brooks 5).