Hollywood is now starting to present morally gray characters who are neither good nor evil. In this trend, the audience might have difficulty determining the ethical principles of characters as they would commonly perform crimes and justify their crimes as something normal and fair. One of the films that present this is Cruella (2021), which is a remake of Disney classic 101 Dalmanation. This research studies the film Cruella (2021) to understand Estella’s morality, whether she is morally good or evil. The research applies Ayn Rand’s concept of 'virtues of selfishness' to determine Estella’s morality, which believes that humans rationally prioritize their lives as it is their responsibility to do so. It is necessary for their survival responsibility. The research applies textual analysis where I analyzed the dialogue, character's actions, and mise-en-scene elements in the film such as costume and lighting. This research concludes that Estella is a virtuous character, and this contests the popular opinion that views Estella as a villain.

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Hollywood is now starting to present morally gray characters who are neither good nor evil. In this trend, the audience might have difficulty determining the ethical principles of characters as they would commonly perform crimes and justify their crimes as something normal and fair. One of the films that present this is Cruella (2021), which is a remake of Disney classic 101 Dalmanation. This research studies the film Cruella (2021) to understand Estella’s morality, whether she is morally good or evil. The research applies Ayn Rand’s concept of 'virtues of selfishness' to determine Estella’s morality, which believes that humans rationally prioritize their lives as it is their responsibility to do so. It is necessary for their survival responsibility. The research applies textual analysis where I analyzed the dialogue, character's actions, and mise-en-scene elements in the film such as costume and lighting. This research concludes that Estella is a virtuous character, and this contests the popular opinion that views Estella as a villain.