(Note: Spoilers follow.)
In 1992's "A Few Good Men," Tom Cruise's character is a military defense attorney who is defending two Marines who accidentally killed a fellow soldier during a hazing. As Cruise investigates, he begins to suspect that this wasn't a spontaneous action, but rather was ordered by the base commander himself.
Cruise comes to the conclusion and almost has good evidence that Jack Nicholson's character -- the base commander -- ordered the hazing action that resulted in the death. But then, circumstances intervene, and the defense is left with nothing.
What follows is a classic storied scene from American cinema. In a wildly risky maneuver, Cruise calls Nicholson to the defense stand. Defying all sorts of protocol and risking his career, Cruise berates and provokes Nicholson into admitting guilt.
Here's the scene (note: spoilers and profanity) --
What can be said about it?
The first thing, the thing I think most of us don't realize here in the States -- this is an incredibly American scene.
Both characters in the scene defy written law, protocol, and custom to do what they believe is right. Nicholson's character is unapologetic even as the illegal actions cost the hazed soldier his life -- "...Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives."
Nicholson is following his own morality, his own cost-and-benefit calculation, his own code of honor. He doesn't follow the rulebooks, and believes the rulebooks are written by people who refuse to publicly admit in polite conversation what's really necessary to keep people safe --
"I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post."
It's not because Nicholson's character is corrupt that he gets caught. He was well on his way to getting away with the orders he gave. It was rather because he believed he was honorable and in the right that he's eventually charged and has his life and career ruined. Someone who was just simply corrupt would've gotten prepped by their lawyer, lied and given non-answers, and gotten away with it.
Meanwhile, Cruise's character also breaks protocol. The judge declares loudly, "You're in contempt of court!" as Cruise is berating and insulting a veteran senior officer in a way that completely breaks protocol. Cruise risks his career and reputation on a "Hail Mary" shot of provoking and unraveling the base commander on the witness stand, also breaking established protocol (and perhaps, the law) in the process.
Both characters are being very American. They've dispatched with what other people think should happen, they've dispatched with rulebooks, they've dispatched with protocol, and they publicly live their own internal morality, and don't even question that it should be any other way. There's no conciliation or modesty. The feeling is along the lines of, I am an American, and I do what is right, regardless of what rulebooks or people in power say.
When people from other countries and societies wonder why there's so much innovation in America, you can point to scenes like this.
Of course, the world rarely actually works that way. Usually, if someone pulled a maneuver like Cruise's character, they'd simply just ruin their career. Rarely do people publicly defend and risk their reputation on the back of a strong defiant moral sense.
Yet, constantly steeped in media like this, the message is one of breaking harmony and doing what's right, damn all costs. And if this filters even ever-so-slightly to the American population, then it provides that ever-so-subtle nudge to constantly push back, constantly fight, publicly proclaim moralities and allegiances, even though doing so is entirely un-pragmatic the vast majority of the time.
Perhaps 10,000 years in the future, when archaeologists and historians are analyzing the American Republic, they'll look at movies like A Few Good Men. Scribbling in notebooks and trying to figure out how so much of the world's innovation happened in the United Sates, perhaps one of our far-flung descendants will write:
"Hypothesis: Americans came to believe that their personal morality was superior to any written law or code, and that any individual had the right to defy law and structure to do what's right. This rare and puzzling attitude seems to have been believed on a fundamental level by the vast majority of Americans."