Blog 3: Ethics In "Nightcrawler"

Blog 3:

Ethical Choices in “Nightcrawler”

2014’s “Nightcrawler” focuses on Louis Bloom, a strange and desperate man looking for work. Bloom finds himself in engrossed in the world of journalism, recording crime scenes and selling his footage to a news channel. “Nightcrawler” effectively blurs ethical boundaries, as Bloom ends up becoming a part of the crime scenes he records.

One of the most important ethical codes in journalism is the ability to seek the truth and report it accurately. Louis Bloom faces danger seemingly without a single fear. Bloom is the poster child of courageous journalism, facing cops, gunman and risking his life for every shot. However, Bloom is not motivated by truth. Bloom is motivated primarily by social success. Gyllenhaal does an excellent job portraying a lonely and socially awkward character, who is motivated by success and a desire to feel needed. His motivations are evidenced frequently throughout the film, as he is more than willing to bend the truth and set up events in order to make his reporting more valuable. Bloom alters crime scenes, fails to report criminals, and even goes as far as to allow his partner to die. While Bloom is fearless, the movie shows a dark underside of journalism that makes us question what we see on the news.

Bloom’s twisted view of journalism ties into another important ethical code. To minimize harm is an important aspect of a journalist's career. Louis Bloom does quite the opposite, and often times maximizes harm in pursuit of a more interesting story. Bloom does not show care or compassion for victims, instead charging head first into a crime scene in pursuit of a shot. He maximizes harm by failing to report fleeing criminals at a shooting, giving them a chance to strike again. Bloom also violates the privacy of a multiple parties by illegally entering their homes throughout the film. There is a character named Frank who is the voice of ethical reason throughout Bloom’s antics however Frank makes little change to Bloom’s actions. “Nightcrawler” gives an interesting view of journalism, depicting it as being filled with corruption. The movie reinforces the necessity of ethical codes.

Another important ethical code of journalism is the ability to act independently. Bloom acts outside of the news station in the film, and seeks out his stories only on his own funds. In essence, Bloom and all “nightcrawlers” are the poster children for acting independently due to the fact that they are people who go out and film the news on their own. Bloom and other nightcrawlers act outside of marketing and advertising and thus completely remove all bias or politics from their filming. Bloom does not actively attempt to separate marketing from the news however no advertising is even relevant to him in his process of obtaining news.

        A major purpose of this film is to depict how quickly news can be changed and how quickly ethics can become irrelevant. Director Dan Gilroy has gone on to state that Blooms drive and determination to make the news more interesting rather than ethical is similar to an infection, spreading to others involved in news throughout the film. The film ends with Bloom establishing a crew and his company vans are seen moving throughout L.A. This is meant to symbolize this new breed of journalism spreading through the veins of the city.

“Nightcrawler” provides an interesting depiction on how business and capitalism could potentially damage the ethics involved in reporting. An insatiable drive for success and acceptance brings Louis Bloom far away from most ethical codes of journalism. In the end, the film poses many questions for the world of news as we know it.