Throughout the movie “Chocolat”, prejudice is ripe as the citizens abide by a strict set of morals and directions. The freedom of speech that we, as American’s have become so readily accustomed to, is lacking in the town. The tactics that their mayor employs verges on unethical as he hypocritically, and in a way dictatorially, enforces his opinions and beliefs. While, yes everyone seems to be lawfully entitled to their own opinions and actions, there is a distinct overlay of Catholic bias that everyone abides by. The mayor of the town even encourages the prejudice seemingly as a way of maintaing order. It is almost as if this prejudices is derived from an obsession with status and reputation. Each of the citizens seem to struggle with valuing their stature in society of their happiness. The Comte hides his failed marriage by lying to his town, Guillaume hides his affection for Madame Audel, Josephine hides her abusive marriage to Serge and Caroline hides her son from his grandmother. Vianne and Anouk move into the town in the beginning of the film and immediately open up their chocolate shop. Coincidingly, Lent has just begun and their shop creates a strong force of temptation among the citizens. As everyone is rightfully entitled to religious freedom, the mayor attempts to backhandedly control the situation. By creating a boycott of the store he hopes to run Vianne into bankruptcy and eventually out of town. However as with any movement, there are dissenters. As they discover the essence of the chocolate, word spreads and the movement begins. The chocolate seems to represent a sort of common ground between the people. It is a uniting force as they each struggle to overcome its allure, and, once they give in, together learn acceptance and tolerance along as a result . As they each discover its taste, they cannot resist. The mayor becomes highly disappointed in his flock and his attempts become even more tactical and machiavellian. This religious intolerance however stretches into other areas of the town. When a group of river gypsies arrive in their town, Comte de Reynaud urges his fellow citizens to avoid and shun them. Vianne finds a sense of empathy as she can relate to the prejudice the gypsies are afflicted by. In finding common ground she begins to associate with Roux and his clan which only fuels the mayors anger with her. The Comte de Reynaud seems to use his position in the church as a sort of bully pulpit. And yet his efforts at spurring a sense of passion and disapproval take a turn for the worse.Their intolerance and devotion reaches a new level when a drunk Serge sets fire to the gypsies boats, endangering the lives of countless citizens as well as gypsies. However after losing a bit of his sanity and awaking inside the display at the chocolate shop, he finds a sense of acceptance. As he gives into the chocolate on the last day of Lent he comes to the understanding that a strict lifestyle can result in unhappiness and stress. After breaking into Vianne’s chocolate shop and devouring the chocolate in the window he realizes the lack of harm and detriment in such a pure and innocent indulgence. By the end of the movie, and lent, he realizes that a little bit of existentialism can be good. Pere Henri is left without a sermon on Easter Sunday and finds it in himself to preach of the benefits of of a bit of indiscretion every once in a awhile. We need to be happy, first and foremost, and in order to be so we must let ourselves be free of complete and utter devotion. We should recklessly pursue mindless desires and enjoy ourselves to the fullest. Armande seems to best embody this perception. Frail and burdened by diabetes she chooses to refuse her daughter’s recommended nursing home. In doing so she can live out the rest of her life happy among society. She even takes this belief to a different echelon in her choice to consume copious amounts of chocolate. This only works to exacerbate her diabetes leading to her eventual death. The Comte uses her funeral as a platform to gain influence over his flock. By blaming her death on the overindulgence of chocolate, he attempts to scare his citizens from the shop and use her as an example, therein mitigating the atmosphere of the funeral. The entirety of the town proceeds to undergo a reawakening as they each learn the powers of acceptance.