The Overlooked Moral Dilemma of M$B

Rating: Null/10 (14 March 2005)

Nowhere, in all the debate about Million Dollar Baby, have I seen the moral point raised that bothered me when I saw the film (I had no problem with the ending). When Clint Eastwood tells Hilary Swank to cheat in the fateful fight (ie. to hit up under the fighter's backside), she queries him and he tells her not to let the referee see her do it. So they both know it's wrong, yet she does it and sinks to the level of the other, 'bad' fighter. This enrages the other woman and prompts THAT punch after the round has ended. Yet, later, Clint has the gall to blame Morgan Freeman for what happened, but neither he nor anyone else ever even refers to the heroine's cheating.
This to me is a major missed opportunity by the film to explore the implications of Hilary and Clint's characters' own lapse of morality, and I can't understand why everyone has ignored it. What do others think?
By the way, I think the film was very good but not the untouchable masterpiece some are hyping it as. Martin Scorsese and The Aviator would have got my vote.