So after watching the first half hour of Shakespeare behind Bars I was ready to turn it off. I just wasn’t able to sympathize with these criminal actors. My first thought was, you killed your wife I don’t really care for you to be happy or engaged in activities. I am going to continue to write this rumination as I watch, perhaps my feelings towards these men will change as the documentary continues. After a few more minutes we learn about Leonard’s story, a man who sexually abused seven girls talking about how he wants to get out on parole and redeem himself. He did not want to be remembered as a sex offender. I was ready to scream. I feel as if when he was moved to a high security prison, people were probably sympathetic, but why?! He is getting what he deserves. I maintained these feelings up until about an hour in (especially in regards to the man with the hair dryer in the tub), when I decided I needed to look at this situation through a different lens. I need to look past the terrible crimes these men have committed and look at the Shakespeare Behind Bars program itself.
Not only during the end was I able to look past the crimes and see these men as the human beings that they are, I actually ended up having some sympathy for them. When Sammie was talking about leaving his friends and Shakespeare Behind Bars if he makes parole, I was able to really see him as person with feelings and emotions not as a murderer. His time as an inmate seemed to have allowed him to really change, and he got to better himself in the process. Ideally that is what as a society we want prisons to do.
I have to say, I am glad I didn’t turn it off. Something I have always believed is that there is always two ways to handle any adverse situation, a really great way and a really bad way and as an individual you should strive for the really great route as best as you can. Shakespeare Behind Bars is a really great way to handle a really bad situation. These men are in jail, they are serving their time, but they are doing everything they can to make meaning for their own lives. At one point the director says to them, “you can’t change the past, the past is gone, that moment in time is gone, it’s only this moment, and in this moment it creates the future.” He was referring to acting, but to me that should be one of two take- home messages of Shakespeare Behind Bars, the first being what I mentioned before about making the best out of bad situations.
On a final note I really thought Sammie was going to get parole, and found myself a little sad for him when I read he didn't.
I was in the same boat as I watched Shakespeare Behind Bars. The weird thing about how the documentary presents these inmates is that you first get to know them a little bit before you actually know about their crimes. That really affected me as I watched it. To be honest, I really couldn't sympathize with Leonard and the hair dryer guy (was that one Hal?). But, I did come out of the documentary with the realization that all of these inmates were actually rehabilitated or in the process of being rehabilitated. It was pretty hopeful to see a prison system that took an active approach to rehabilitating prisoners that worked so well. I usually think of prisons as essentially massive guarded cages. I guess I never really took the time to actually look into those kind of systems for myself.
ReplyDeleteI liked your point of view, and agree with your comments. It was refreshing to see a prison and rehabilitation center that actually wanted to affect their inmates in a positive way by reforming their motives and passion for life.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is good to see a system that promotes positive change for the inmates. I remain, however, a little skeptical about how it will really be for them once they leave the life they have known for so long.
ReplyDeleteThe shakespeare behind bars program was something they truly seemed to enjoy and look forward to.