Se7en

Se7en is a great critique on modern society. The movies exploration of sin and how desensitized our society is to it is something that holds true today, with violence and corruption being an ongoing issue, and a major one at that. Detective Somerset is someone who has lived through our society and is tired of it. He no longer holds any hope for society, believing that violence and sin will never end and that there's nothing you can do about it, which is why the movie starts off with revealing how he is retiring as a detective. Somerset is so desensitized to the world that he chooses to ignore it, like how he uses a metronome to tune out the arguments and fights going on outside of his apartment, to completely ignore his surroundings. This nihilistic view is also shown when Somerset details how he refused to have a baby with his lover, with the thought of bringing a child into such a dirty world scaring him. Somerset is also well educated, with him enjoying things like classic books, and preferring something wine over beer. He is sophisticated, which creates even more hate for this modern, unsophisticated, society full of vice. Detective Mills, however, is everything Somerset is not. Mills may be unsophisticated, he drinks beer, he's not much a reader, and he's hotheaded. Despite this, Mills is a good person. He is familiar with the vice of the world, yet chooses to have hope. He believes in saving people, and how the world isn't all that bad. He even leads a nice life, with a loving and caring wife at home waiting for him when he gets back. Mills represents how in a society full of vice, there is still virtue to be found. John Doe is what happens when society is left unchecked. John despises the world and how sinful it has become, how far he thinks it has fallen. John is what Somerset could have been, as they are both well educated people who have grown tired of and hate the world they live in. Yet Somerset has had firsthand encounters with good, such as when he has dinner with Mills and his wife, where they all share stories and laughs, where Somerset realizes that there is good in this world, which he shows when he finally throws out the metronome in his room, choosing to accept the world instead of of ignoring it. John Doe is the very thing that he preaches against. Unlike Somerset, when John learns of the good in Mills, instead of realizing this as how there is still good to be found in the world, John gets jealous. The only thing he thinks of is how he wants to be like Mills, to be such a virtuous person that leads such a nice, happy life. Mills is the victim of the whole movie, showing us how good people have to suffer the most. One small way this is shown is when Mills and his wife trust their real estate agent and are then left with an apartment that vibrates once a subway passes through, leaving good people to live in such a terrible place. This is then again shown when John reveals how he killed Mill's wife and their unborn baby, killing Mills hope itself. John hopes that he could corrupt Mills, that he could prove that there really is no virtue in the world, and he succeeds. John corrupts Mills, showing that John is a hypocrite who plays a hand in creating the very society that he hates. Se7en not only shows us how sinful our world is, but also how if we try, there can also be good, it's just up to us to choose.