The 'Moral Police'
Aug. 30th, 2016 04:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anjali_vij posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
engh_2016 'The funny thing is, on the outside, I was an honest man, straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook.' - The Shawshank Redemption
It is a very difficult decision to watch a very hyped about - doing the rounds of classics - movie. On one hand, there is this excitement of being able to contribute to the talk regarding the movie but what largely nags us is the question - What if it isn't worth it? What if it doesn't really lives up to the hype? The Shawshank Redemption is one such movie for me.
For starters, it is no ordinary movie. It is not about a common man's everyday life to which extraordinary things happen sort of a movie. It has nothing remotely familiar or on the lines of love. Hell, the only women in the movie are the ones that are frozen in the posters on the wall of Andy Dufresne's cell. All in all, it is a prison movie and no life in a prison is a fairy - tale. The Shawshank State Penitentiary is a 'salvation station' for all offenders - Red, Heywood, Brooks and even, Andy - of moral and legal laws to redeem themselves into civilized human beings. But, it is not only just that.
This movie is a mirror to the world of corruption we all facilitate, even if unconsciously. It is such an enticing guilty pleasure that even the warden and guards of the much reputed prison are entangled in its web. The first scene where this corruption comes alive is when Byron Hadley, the captain of guards, almost drops Andy from the roof they are working on. But, by giving legal advice on how to shelter the money - received through inheritance - from paying taxes, Andy saves his life and even wins free alcohol. This scene triggers a chain of corruption within the prison such that every other guard and worker employs Andy to manage their financial matters. It reaches to such an extent, that guards from other prisons also arrive to take help from Andy's financial and legal expertise. Even the warden isn't spared.
Andy is the banker of the prison. Funny, how he was mocked in the beginning for being a 'smart' banker who killed his wife and still got into prison. To cite exact words of Hadley - 'Why should I believe a smart banker like you? So I can end up in here with you?' Isn't it ironic that Hadley was the first customer of Andy in the prison? And Hadley is the one who protects Andy from any violence and harm. The humour!
Another major corruption that is brought to light is the siphoning off of money by the warden to a fictional person's legal account and how it is the warden who has the most amount of dirty money running under the place. Yet, it is Andy - the convicted murderer, the sinner who needs rehabilitation - who uses the profits of this money to build a library and helps get other dozen guys their high school diploma.
The narration is ripe with irony but is portrayed through such moral detachment and triviality, almost like a smart joke, that the point hits straight at home.
But, this ain't a corruption movie, you see.
This is a prison movie and prisons are so much more than that.
Want to know more? Stay tuned for the next posts.
It is a very difficult decision to watch a very hyped about - doing the rounds of classics - movie. On one hand, there is this excitement of being able to contribute to the talk regarding the movie but what largely nags us is the question - What if it isn't worth it? What if it doesn't really lives up to the hype? The Shawshank Redemption is one such movie for me.
For starters, it is no ordinary movie. It is not about a common man's everyday life to which extraordinary things happen sort of a movie. It has nothing remotely familiar or on the lines of love. Hell, the only women in the movie are the ones that are frozen in the posters on the wall of Andy Dufresne's cell. All in all, it is a prison movie and no life in a prison is a fairy - tale. The Shawshank State Penitentiary is a 'salvation station' for all offenders - Red, Heywood, Brooks and even, Andy - of moral and legal laws to redeem themselves into civilized human beings. But, it is not only just that.
This movie is a mirror to the world of corruption we all facilitate, even if unconsciously. It is such an enticing guilty pleasure that even the warden and guards of the much reputed prison are entangled in its web. The first scene where this corruption comes alive is when Byron Hadley, the captain of guards, almost drops Andy from the roof they are working on. But, by giving legal advice on how to shelter the money - received through inheritance - from paying taxes, Andy saves his life and even wins free alcohol. This scene triggers a chain of corruption within the prison such that every other guard and worker employs Andy to manage their financial matters. It reaches to such an extent, that guards from other prisons also arrive to take help from Andy's financial and legal expertise. Even the warden isn't spared.
Andy is the banker of the prison. Funny, how he was mocked in the beginning for being a 'smart' banker who killed his wife and still got into prison. To cite exact words of Hadley - 'Why should I believe a smart banker like you? So I can end up in here with you?' Isn't it ironic that Hadley was the first customer of Andy in the prison? And Hadley is the one who protects Andy from any violence and harm. The humour!
Another major corruption that is brought to light is the siphoning off of money by the warden to a fictional person's legal account and how it is the warden who has the most amount of dirty money running under the place. Yet, it is Andy - the convicted murderer, the sinner who needs rehabilitation - who uses the profits of this money to build a library and helps get other dozen guys their high school diploma.
The narration is ripe with irony but is portrayed through such moral detachment and triviality, almost like a smart joke, that the point hits straight at home.
But, this ain't a corruption movie, you see.
This is a prison movie and prisons are so much more than that.
Want to know more? Stay tuned for the next posts.
