Blog Post 2

Political beliefs serve a purpose in both the poem and film adaption of Dante’s Inferno. Dante uses his poem in part to condemn his political adversaries, while the filmmaker’s biggest priority is to condemn the actions of their political opponents. Although they serve a different purpose between the two versions of the story, politics are addressed in both the poem and the movie.

Dante condemns his political opponents directly in Canto VIII lines 37-39. “In weeping and in grieving, accursed spirit, may you long remain; though you’re disguised by filth, I know your name.” (Alighieri 71).  Dante expects the reader to agree with his view, and makes this point clear with Virgil’s shoving of the sinner out of the boat in approval of Dante’s words. Dante uses Virgil as evidence to the reader that this sinner deserves his punishment and should not be pitied. In the movie, one of the worst sinners portrayed by the filmmakers is Dick Cheney, who resides in the 9^th circle of hell. Cheney describes himself as having one of the few souls that are “so evil, they are condemned to hell during life.” Rather than using the established source of knowledge and Dante’s guide as evidence of the person’s condemnation, the movie uses humor and a direct comment from the sinner that he deserves to be in hell. This is one of the many differences between the movie and the poem, and I believe that this difference makes the poem more effective in its sorting of sinners. By using Virgil, a knowledgeable guide from a God more present in the poem than in the movie, Dante gives additional credibility toward his condemning of his political adversary and is more effective in swaying the reader in this way. The filmmakers are direct and use humor to convey their opinion of Dick Cheney and his place in hell. In this case, the humor and direct quote from the sinner take away from the filmmaker’s message. The reader is more invested in Virgil in the poem as a source of reason and knowledge than they are in Dick Cheney, a sinner who was quickly introduced and left in the movie. For this reason, the poem is more effective in its condemnation of its political adversaries than the film.