The older generation in America has learned to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but the younger generation knows that doesn't work. How can they trust strangers after hearing about murders, rapes, kidnappings, shootings, robberies and gangs? Yet their behavior is dictated by the benefit of the doubt when lovers only think about leaving horrible or awkward dates and ignore the awkward feeling of being alone with a stranger in an elevator. Filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni has a broader claim. He argues that morality, especially in marriage, is outdated. However, since man continues to use obsolete morals, he is unable to find happiness. Antonioni explores the harmful role of morality in marriages in his films: La Notte and Desert Rouge. He expresses his conviction when he writes: “…Eros is sick; the man is worried, something is bothering him. And every time something bothers him, man reacts, but he reacts badly, only out of erotic impulse, and he is unhappy” (Antonioni 34). . According to Antonioni, what morality destroys marriages? He doesn't directly state a specific moral, but he could argue that it's about the structure of marriage and the societal hatred of divorce and infidelity. Marriage in ancient civilizations and until the 20th century was an indictment between two families to achieve political and social agreement. benefits. One of the reasons divorce and infidelity were prohibited was to ensure that families could not lose these benefits. Instead of developing a different system for bringing two people together, intimacy became another basis for marriage, but divorce and infidelity remained social taboos. Marriage was not structurally constructed to provide eternal intimacy and those who profited from the escapes of divorce and infidelity were punished and made social pariahs. ...... middle of paper ......io. Giuliana only focuses on her own problems and, as a result, emotionally neglects her son. To gain his mother's affection, Valerio fakes paralysis because the viewer assumes that the only time Guiliana pays her full attention to her son is when he is sick. Yet Valerio's choice of illness is dramatic and revealing. The structure of marriage indirectly isolated Valerio from healthy, lasting love and he became emotionally paralyzed. He learned that love is a limited source and that to get love he must lie. La Notte and Red Desert examine the destructive nature of the structure and morality of marriage. Couples learn the hard, painful, and embarrassing way that they cannot get the intimacy they want, but that their only escape routes are blocked roads. As a result, they are unhappy and teach this unhappiness to their children, creating a never-ending cycle..