Shawshank Redemption Stereotypes

536 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How stereotypes hurt us

In Shawshank Redemption good and evil though personalities were shown as opposite to the stereotypes society holds. We would expect characters like the warden and the guards to be good people yet we are proved different after watching the movie. The same thing is shown with some of the prison inmates. This shows us how society sets norms that portray law enforcers as good and prisoners as evil; Shawshank challenges these stereotypes.

If asked which you would rather leave your children with between a law enforcement officer and a prisoner most people would choose the law enforcer. We consider these people as good and decent people because of the title they have, not knowing if these people are good. The public doesn’t know what mistakes they …show more content…

Prisoners like Red and Andy take the situation they are in and try and make a positive environment for all involved. We see Red as a friend to everyone in the prison. He has respect from the other prisoners and is known as the guy who can get things. Even though he made a mistake in his past, he moved past it to become a better person. Andy on the other hand was wrongly convicted but still tried to be a good person. He gained respect from his fellow inmates by doing nice things for them; he got them beer and played music for everyone to hear even though he knew he would get in trouble for it. Again we are proved the opposite to our previous views on prisoners.

Shawshank Redemption was a movie that really made you think. It made you think about how you judge people in society. We’ve all done bad things in our life, maybe not to the extent as these prisoners but we are given a second chance. It also makes you think twice about trusting people just because everyone else does. Shawshank Redemption does an amazing job at taking stereotypes we are all aware of and challenging them and completely flipping them

Show More
Related

  • Analysis of Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    I feel that this book gives a rough, inspiring and passionate warning that the rush to imprison offenders hurts the guards as well as the guarded. Conover reminds us that when we treat prisoners like the garbage of society, we are bound to treat prison staff as garbage men -- best out of sight, their own dirt surpassed only by the dirt they handle. Conover says in one part of his book, “Eventually admitting that being in a position of power and danger brings out a side of myself I don’t like.” I feel both prisoners and officers deserve better.

    Read More

  • Behind Convict's Eyes by Cerceral Prison

    1338 Words  | 3 Pages

    After reading the book I have gained a new understanding of what inmates think about in prison. Working in an institution, I have a certain cynical attitude at times with inmates and their requests. Working in a reception facility, this is a facility where inmates are brought in from the county jails to the state intake facility, we deal with a lot of requests and questions. At times, with the phone ringing off the hook from family members and inmates with their prison request forms, you get a little cynical and tired of answering the same questions over and over. As I read the book I begin to understand some of the reason for the questions. Inmate(s) now realize that the officers and administrative personnel are in control of their lives. They dictate with to get up in the morning, take showers, eat meals, go to classes, the need see people for different reason, when to exercise and when to go to bed. The lost of control over their lives is a new experience for some and they would like to be able to adjust to this new lost of freedom. Upon understanding this and in reading the book, I am not as cynical as I have been and try to be more patient in answering questions. So in a way I have changed some of my thinking and understanding more of prison life.

    Read More

  • Argot Roles In The Movie Shawshank Redemption

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    These are the individuals that never give the guards a break. The stereotype given to these individuals is that they are respected by the other inmates, however the reality is that they are looked down upon due to their disregard for the negotiations and compromises which comprise the social order of a prison (Lovell, 1998). While the ball busters are portrayed in a negative manner by many inmates, the real men are the most admired in the prison world (Lovell, 1998). The ball busters tend to disrupt the social order of the prison, the real men on the other had do their time without confronting their captors by not acknowledging them. According to Sykes “it is the man who can stop himself from striking back at the custodians that wins the admiration and thus their image of the hero functions wittingly or unwittingly to maintain the status quo” (Sykes,

    Read More

  • America’s Prisons and Their Effects On Society

    1532 Words  | 4 Pages

    Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. To this day governments struggle to figure out the best way to deal with their criminals in ways that help both society and those that commit the crimes. Imprisonment has historically been the popular solution. However, there are many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Prison affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Prison as a punishment has its pros and cons; although it may be necessary for some, it can be harmful for those who would be better suited for alternative means of punishment.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Racial Profiling

    1433 Words  | 3 Pages

    How these law enforcement officials are raised is how they are going to carry out their duties. If they are raised without morals or with racial influence, they will most likely use that influence and bad judgment during work. Additionally, terrorism and hate crimes instill great fear in today's society. With all the recent violence against law enforcement, I can understand why they profile or may come off defensive to the general public. At the same time, I can also understand why the public may fear police officials.

    Read More

  • Functionalism In The Shawshank Redemption

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Shawshank Redemption is a 1997 drama film which takes place in a prison during the late 40’s. The film focuses on Andy Dufresne’s transition from his old life as banker to becoming a prisoner in the Shawshank penitentiary. The life shown in the Shawshank penitentiary is similar to that of normal society such as norms, economic transactions, and functions both prisoners and the officials. The roles the prisoners and officials take shows that Functionalism does not only take place in a normal functioning society, it also takes place in a total institution such as the prison shown in the film.

    Read More

  • Examining Influence of Children's Movies on Perception of Good and Bad

    1984 Words  | 4 Pages

    Not everyone that goes to the cinema wants to have complex moral dilemmas in every movie they see. With a good and bad side, it is easy to sit back and relax. It is simple, traditional, and fun. Sometimes this is just a result of bad directing and one dimensional characters. According to Brandi Reissenweber, one-dimensional characters are seen only when “one side of their personality comes through.” For this context, a one-dimensional villain would have no redeeming qualities to contrast is evilness. Similarly, a hero would have no flaws and would be the absolute image of good. As Omer Bartov mentions in his “Anti-Hero as Hero” article, “absolute goodness may remain so totally divorced from reality.” But even one dimensional characters are not the full problem. A character could be an elaborate and complex character yet still be portrayed by the director as someone who is evil and always will

    Read More

  • Theme Of Corruption In The Shawshank Redemption

    1324 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is also all part of the economic and social scene of the correctional facility (jail) system, where it forms a great part of the management of the jail. It helps to keep the harsh rules the warden and guards apply to the inmates in place. Systemic corruption is not a special type of corrupt practice, but rather a situation in which this jail and process of rehabilitation of the prisoners is routinely dominated and used by the corrupt warden and the guards. The prisoners have no alternatives to dealing with the corrupt jail staff. Letters are censored of not delivered, visits are controlled and when a prisoner is a threat, the warden and guards get rid of them. Tommy Williams who could have given the warden information to prove that Andy Dufresne was actually innocent, was removed by the Warden when he had Captain Hadley shoot him while he tried to escape. This was a false claim but no-one could prove it. In the end the warden is caught out when Andy gives all the evidence he collected during the years in jail against the Warden to a newspaper for publication. The warden takes his own life and in a sense it is retribution for all the terrible things he did against the prisoners and the

    Read More

  • Napoleon Dynamite Stereotypes

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    Movies are a new edition in today’s culture. They are a new form of art medium that has arrived in the late 1900s and were a new way to express ideas and viewpoints of the time. A good example of this is the movie The Manchurian Candidate. The movie had a simple plot a man is kidnapped after the Korean war and is hypnotized to work for the communists and take down the U.S. This movie showed the American public’s fear of communism at the time. If a movie like this can easily portray the fears of the American people at the time then it can easily portray stereotypes of gender. There have been thousands of movies where the male protagonist is a rough tough dude but there is one movie that has that stereotype is broken. That movie is none other than Napoleon Dynamite.

    Read More

  • Essay On Police Shootings

    1605 Words  | 4 Pages

    I believe officers in law enforcement are here to serve and protect the citizens of this country. Although as I stated before I also believe that there are still a few that are bad. The majority of them are good. For any kind of change to begin a number of factors need to be involved. The citizens need to use fairness.

    Read More

  • The Inmate Subculture in United States Prisons: An Overview

    1773 Words  | 4 Pages

    Prisons exist in this country as a means to administer retributive justice for those that break the laws in our society or to state it simply prisons punish criminals that are to receive a sentence of incarceration for more than one year. There are two main sub-cultures within the walls of prison the sub-culture of the Department of Corrections (which consists of the corrections officer, administrators, and all of the staff that work at the prison and go home at the end of their day) and the actual prisoners themselves. As you can imagine these two sub-cultures are dualistic in nature and this makes for a very stressful environment for both sides of the fence. While in prison, the inmates experience the same conditions as described in the previous

    Read More

  • The Faces of Evil in Fairy Tales

    591 Words  | 2 Pages

    Consequently evil is portrayed differently compared to their counterparts. They are not seen as youthful, happiness, or life. They give off the feeling of sinful, foul, wickedness and villainy.

    Read More

  • The Effect of Prison on Inmates

    1768 Words  | 4 Pages

    Something not very common in prisons is that some prisoners could, through reflecting on their own actions and correcting their own faults, fixing themselves emotionally they would leave prison better humans. Prison can be a place where criminals reflect on their actions and see who they are through other prisoners, and using this a sort of ‘therapy’ where they would better themselves. Yet even though this isn’...

    Read More

  • Criminals and Society: The Battle Between Reintegration and Recidivism

    3252 Words  | 7 Pages

    More than 600,000 prisoners are released into the main population of the United States every year. Of that 600,000, 30 percent end up back behind bars within six months of their release, and 70 percent end up returning to jail within three years (Reisig, 409). Upon release, many criminals find that life on the outside is harder on them than it was when they were convicted, sentenced, and locked away. People who know them may become just as prejudiced as the interviewers and landlords who deny them the chance to earn a living or a place to stay. Through the continued use of labels like criminal, thug, crook, and felon, many released offenders feel ostracized and isolated. Their friends and families may turn their backs on them, taking away the few things they have left...

    Read More

  • Film Analysis: The Shawshank Redemption

    1480 Words  | 3 Pages

    addresses the process of adaptation used when converting a literary hypotext to the film medium; The Shawshank Redemption (Darabont, Frank) is the film adaptation of Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (King, Stephen). The story follows characters Red and Andy who serve life sentences in Shawshank Prison. Over many years a strong bond develops, and Andy, wrongly convicted, inspires many at the prison. After Andy escapes, Red decides to follow him upon being granted parole. The story privileges themes of hope, freedom, institutionalisation, friendship, time, and brutality. The film is similar to the novella, however, some aspects differ from the hypotext. Within the novella, Brooks is a minor character, Tommy Williams doesn’t die, and Warden Norton merely retires. Through altering the story, the film modifies the essence of Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption for film audiences and utilises film language to convey meaning. By adding certain scenes, the text takes on stronger themes of hope, institutionalisation and brutality. This draws attention to the themes within the hypotext and thus enhances the parallels between texts.

    Read More

More about Shawshank Redemption Stereotypes

Open Document