Movie Journal 1 : Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption

             Since it was the second time I watched this film, frankly I did not concentrated much on the film itself. Rather, I got lost in my daydream about social hierarchy. Watching the film of “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”, I thought that the prison looks like a small miniature of society. There is a clear social hierarchy from the prison wardens to the prisoners. There are even classification within the prisoners – Red, the leader, the Sisters, the gang, Brooks, the deliver and Andy, the novice.

             These characters reminded me of a cliché, “Position makes people.” Indeed, every character, except Andy, acts just as what he is expected to be. Norton is a typical greedy prison warden, Hardley is a typical harsh prison guard and prisoners are typical prisoners whom people generally imagine. These characters also reminded me of a documentary film I watched a few years ago.

             To briefly summarize this video, people are dominated by the situation they belong. For instance, people do not get out of subway, full of exhaust, solely because the driver broadcasted that the train is safe. In another example, people do not hesitate to make a wrong choice even though the right answer is obvious, because others around them argue that the wrong choice is right. I thought the characters in Shawshank is not much different from people in the above video film. They behave as they are expected.

             However, Andy is the only one who could go against the power of situation. He tries to mount the social hierarchy of Shawshank despite his lowest initial position. He succeeds in protect himself from the Sisters, by making a negotiation with prison guards. Ultimately, he gets out of Shawshank, where he should have spent his life although he is not a criminal. I believe this bravery of Andy, brave enough to conflict with situation, plays a vital role in Andy’s infectious hope.

             Obviously, the main theme of this story is “hope”. What makes “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” special is that hope is contagious even in the gloomiest place. As Andy shows his own hope to others in Shawshank, Red first becomes hopeful just like Andy. In that way, the story changes into “the story of Red”, not confined to the story of Andy. Also, other prisoners are profoundly influenced by Andy, too. That every prisoner praises Andy as his hero is largely attributed to the significant impacts Andy manifested in his prison life. The concept of infectious hope successfully drew my attention.

             On the other hand, however, I was incessantly disturbed by the severe dichotomy in < Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption > at the same time. Indeed, all characters in the plot can be divided into two extremes: the good and the evil. I believe there is no one purely good, nor one purely evil. Nevertheless, it happens in the story. Since Red is an unreliable narrator, prisoners are generally depicted as good people, while prison wardens and prison guards are described to be evil.

             Unlike what Red narrated, I think prison wardens and prison guards are victims of institutionalization, just like prisoners. In the story, Brooks, who lived in Shawshank more than several decades, commits suicide, because he fails to adjust himself to the society. There is no difference between Bryon Hardley, the harsh prison guard, and Brooks. His harsh and cold personality may be greatly ascribed to his job, prison guard. To be a good prison guard, he had no choice but to be so severe and pitiless that he can efficiently deal with aggressive and rebellious prisoners. He is not a purely evil person, but a poor father who must do whatever it is for his own family.

             Additionally, I cast a heavy doubt upon the image of Andy described in the story. He seems to be a pure good, who spread his hope to others. However, I cannot agree with this point. Rather, I would agree with the point that Andy is a good agitator, like Hitler in WWII. In fact, Hitler gave “hope” to Germans, as Andy spread “hope” to prisoners. The only difference between these two people is that Hitler is described by the winners of the war while Andy is narrated by Red. Also, I wonder that is it right to give hope to prisoners. I do not mean that they should live a hopeless life, but I believe that the one value to which prisoners must give priority is self-reflection, not hope.