Fight the Power

The song Fight the Power is commonly seen remixed by Public Enemy in 1989 or by Korn and Xzibit in 2005, but both of these songs were remixed from the original Public Enemy by the Isley Brothers in 1975.  The Isley Brothers formed in the 1950s and played for over the course of almost half a century.  The Isley brothers spanned two generations of Isley brothers.  The early formation of the band consisted of Ronald, Rudolph, O’Kelly, and Vernon Isley. This song is commonly thought to be about the experiences of being black in 1975 around the nation, however, it is actually about rising above the power of oppression no matter who you are. In an interview with the magazine Blues and Soul the youngest Isley brother, Marvin, said ” ‘Fight The Power’? Well, we decided not to be passive, to take a stand. And we met hardly any resistance because that power could be anything – we all have our different conceptions of what it is to each of us. And just letting it out – about the bulls–t that does go down – is something that everyone wants to do.”  For many years, fame eluded the Isley Brothers.  They released singles that became famous, but the fame never stuck until 1973 when they scored a big hit called “Who’s that Lady”.

The remix written by Public Enemy in 1989 features song lyrics that express revolutionary rhetoric calling to fight the “powers that be”.  The main point of this song is to reconsider the racial equality that is supposed to be in effect.  Public Enemy brings up the idea that in fact racial equality has not been reached and that inequality still exists all across the United States.

The 2005 remix by Korn and Xzibit reiterate that the problems of racial inequality is still present even in the 21st century.

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The increased prison lengths help establish a sense of purpose for a prisoner.  This idea of purpose or identity is showed in Shawshank Redemption when Red and Andy are talking after Andy’s long sentence in the box.  Red says that he doesn’t think he will be able to make in the outside world.  He says that he is an institutional man now.  In here he is the guy that can get you stuff, but out there he wouldn’t know where to begin.  The prison has created an identity for Red other than just a criminal.  In Shawshank, he is a valuable member of the community.  People look to him for help and advice.  Out in the real world, know one will consult a former prisoner for help. Without the prison, Red’s identity is shattered.  He just becomes another face in the crowd and after living 40 years with a certain reputation, living as another face in the crowd is devastating. In Dr. Haney’s article, he comments on the difficulties of reintegration of home life.  In his article he states, “The psychological consequences of incarceration may represent significant impediments to post-prison adjustment. They may interfere with the transition from prison to home, impede an ex-convict’s successful re-integration into a social network and employment setting,” (Haney). The impact of long-term incarceration can cause difficulties assimilating back into society.  Without the same needs and wants that a prison system provides, the outside world is a much different place with much different priorities. The same things that Red once was needed for are unneeded in society.  Many, including Red, lose their purpose and identity during post-prison adjustment.

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Original:

The prison system creates a sense of institutionalization that anchors inmates into the prison system, making them reluctant to leave.  Brooks Hatlen is a very good example of this.  Brooks Hatlen came to Shawshank as a young man and spent the next 50 years of his life inside those prison walls.  He built his life in that prison and for him prison was home.  He didn’t know anything else other than prison.  When he was granted parole, he was devastated because he didn’t want to leave his home.  After Brooks threatens to kill Heywood so he can stay in prison, Red describes Brook’s situation.  He says, “These walls are funny. First you hate ’em, then you get used to ’em. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That’s institutionalized,” (Darabont).  Red describes that Brooks was reliant on the four walls that make up the prison yard.  Without them, his life is unstructured and chaotic.  Red says that “First you hate ‘em”, meaning that when you first come to prison you are lost.  You reject the notion that you deserve to be in prison and you find yourself in a whole new institution.  This institution is trying to reshape the values that you have developed over the course of your life and you reject them.  As time goes by, you start to assimilate into these new roles and you begin to depend on the structure that the prison has created.  Dr. Craig Haney of the University of California in Santa Cruz comments on this same notion in his article “The Psychological Impact of Incarceration: Implications for Post-Prison Adjustment”.  Dr. Haney describes the term “institutionalized” or also known as “prisonization” to be a “unique set of psychological adaptations that often occur — in varying degrees — in response to the extraordinary demands of prison life. In general terms, the process of prisonization involves the incorporation of the norms of prison life into one’s habits of thinking, feeling, and acting,” (Haney).  Dr. Haney describes this term to be the adaptations to norms, beliefs, and values in response to the new prison surroundings.  Essentially prisoners have to completely change all of the things the once held dear to themselves in order to survive this new institution.  This process is called total institution.  Dr. Haney later comments that, “Thus, prisoners do not “choose” to succumb to it or not, and few people who have become institutionalized are aware that it has happened to them. Fewer still consciously decide that they are going to willingly allow the transformation to occur,” (Haney).  This process of institutionalization is not something that is being done consciously, but rather unconsciously in response to prison. Prison life is filled with stresses and structure helps as a stress reliever.

Revised:

The prison system creates an institutionalized inmate who becomes anchored in their ways of thinking and makes them reluctant to leave prison. Brooks Hatlen is a good example of this. Brooks came to Shawshank as a young man and spent the next 50 years of his life inside those prison walls. He built his life in that prison and for him prison was home. He didn’t know anything else other than prison. When Shawshank granted Brooks parole, he was devastated because he didn’t want to leave his home. After Brooks threatens to kill Heywood in the library so he could stay in prison, Red and the crew discuss the altercation. Red says, “These walls are funny. First you hate ’em, then you get used to ’em. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That’s institutionalized,” (Darabont). Red describes that Brooks was reliant on the four walls that make up the prison yard. The prison walls create structure for Brooks and alleviates chaos. Red says that “First you hate ‘em”, meaning that when you first come to prison you become lost in the prison system. You lack an identity and everything you once took for granted the prison has taken away from you. You reject the notion that you deserve to be in prison and you find yourself in a whole new institution. This institution is trying to reshape the values that you have developed over the course of your life and you reject them. As time goes by, you start to assimilate into these new roles and you begin to depend on the structure that the prison has created. Dr. Craig Haney of the University of California in Santa Cruz comments on this same notion in his article “The Psychological Impact of Incarceration: Implications for Post-Prison Adjustment”. Dr. Haney describes the term “institutionalized” or also known as “prisonization” to be a “unique set of psychological adaptations that often occur — in varying degrees — in response to the extraordinary demands of prison life. In general terms, the process of prisonization involves the incorporation of the norms of prison life into one’s habits of thinking, feeling, and acting,” (Haney). Dr. Haney describes the term institutionalization to be the adaptations to norms, beliefs, and values in response to the new prison surroundings. Essentially prisoners have to completely change all of the things the once held dear to themselves in order to survive this new institution. This process is called total institution. Dr. Haney later comments that, “Thus, prisoners do not “choose” to succumb to it or not, and few people who have become institutionalized are aware that it has happened to them. Fewer still consciously decide that they are going to willingly allow the transformation to occur,” (Haney).

The Psychological Impact of Incarceration

The movie Shawshank Redemption, directed by Frank Darabont and written by Stephen King takes an analytical look at the prison system in the United States through the eyes of its inmates. Characters such as Andy Dufresne, Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding, and Brooks Hatlen show us the drastic impact that prison has on its inmates both psychologically and physically. The movie is set from the periods of the 1940s all the way through the 1970s. The long-term prison sentences that are administered to most of the inmates in Shawshank creates a sense of institutionalization within the prison walls. When prisoners are deemed rehabilitated, which occurs very often, they reenter the outside world. They have a very hard time being able to assimilate and adapt to society, so they think of ways to break their parole and go back to prison. This creates a vicious cycle of recidivism. My question would be then: How do long term sentences affect prisoners’ mental and physical capabilities to adjust to the outside world?
The prison system creates a sense of institutionalization that anchors inmates into the prison system, making them reluctant to leave. Brooks Hatlen is a very good example of this. Brooks Hatlen came to Shawshank as a young man and spent the next 50 years of his life inside those prison walls. He built his life in that prison and for him prison was home. He didn’t know anything else other than prison. When he was granted parole, he was devastated because he didn’t want to leave his home. After Brooks threatens to kill Heywood so he can stay in prison, Red describes Brook’s situation. He says, “These walls are funny. First you hate ’em, then you get used to ’em. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That’s institutionalized.” Red describes that Brooks was reliant on the four walls that make up the prison yard. Without them, his life is unstructured and chaotic. Red says that “First you hate ‘em”, meaning that when you first come to prison you are lost. You reject the notion that you deserve to be in prison and you find yourself in a whole new institution. This institution is trying to reshape the values that you have developed over the course of your life and you reject them. As time goes by, you start to assimilate into these new roles and you begin to depend on the structure that the prison has created. Dr. Craig Haney of the University of California in Santa Cruz comments on the this same notion in his article “The Psychological Impact of Incarceration: Implications for Post-Prison Adjustment”. Dr. Haney describes the term “institutionalized” or also know as “prisonization” to be, “unique set of psychological adaptations that often occur — in varying degrees — in response to the extraordinary demands of prison life. In general terms, the process of prisonization involves the incorporation of the norms of prison life into one’s habits of thinking, feeling, and acting,” (Haney). Dr. Haney describes this term to be the adaptations to norms, beliefs, and values in response to the new prison surroundings. Essentially prisoners have to completely change all of the things the once held dear to themselves in order to survive this new institution. This process is called total institution. Dr. Haney later comments that, “Thus, prisoners do not “choose” to succumb to it or not, and few people who have become institutionalized are aware that it has happened to them. Fewer still consciously decide that they are going to willingly allow the transformation to occur,” (Haney). This process of institutionalization is not something that is being done consciously, but rather unconsciously in response to prison.

Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Hainey, Craig. “The Psychological Impact of Incarceration: Implications for Post-Prison Adjustment”. From Prison to Home: The Effect of Incarceration and Reentry on Children, Families, and Communities. Online. 22 Oct. 20014.

In this article the author talks about the psychological affects of long term-imprisonment on a persons mental health. He explores the concepts of being institutionalization or prisonization, in which the inmates begin to change their behaviors and beliefs that they held as a citizen to that of a prisoner. He describes how prisoners become dependent on the system that has been placed in front of them. Without a set order of responsibilities and expectations they begin to lose their identity. Because of this lack of dependency and structure in the real world, prisoners have a difficult time adjusting back into society. This is a credible source for my topic because Dr. Craig Hainey, the author of this article, is a professor of psychology at the University of California in Santa Cruz. The majority of his work is done with the use social psychology in legal and civil rights issues. He received his Bachelor of Arts at the University of Pennsylvania and finished graduate school with a Ph.D. at Stanford University. This article is going to be very helpful while writing my Inquiry because it directly relates to the movie Shawshank Redemption. Many of the topics covered by Red in the movie, are discussed in Mr. Craig Hainey’s article.

Visher, Christy, and Jeremy Travis. “Transitions from Prison to Community: Understanding Individual Pathways”. The Urban Institute, Justice Policy Center. 22 Oct. 2014

This article is an examination of the transition back home after prison. It tries to discuss the problems with the reintegrating of thousands of prisoners back home each year. This process puts strain on the prisoner, family, friends, and the community. Prisoners who are trying to assimilate back into society have many complex problems and realities for not only the prisoner themselves, but also people around them. One section of the article specifically deals with the mental and physical health of prisoners, the troubles with job employment, and the use of drugs. The Urban Institute is a think tank that carries out economical and social research and reform in order to raise money to help fix these economical and social issues and inform the public. All three of these authors are successful members of the organization that are looking to inform the public of the reentry strategies that are underway. This book will help me write my paper because it talks explicitly about a majority of the topics that have been shown in Shawshank Redemption. This book directly relates to affect of long-term imprisonment on mental and physical health.

Tripodi, Stephen J. “Emphasis on Rehabilitation: From Inmates to Employees”. Therapy and Comparative Criminology. Database. 22 Oct. 2014. < http://ijo.sagepub.com/.

This article expresses the shift in our beliefs of long-term incarceration and rehabilitation. The article states that earlier in our history before the 1970’s that the emphasis was on long-term sentences and no rehabilitation processes. This is evident in Shawshank Redemption because most of the men in the movie have been in prison for at least thirty years and when they are released have very little rehabilitation processes. This era of mass incarceration did not prove to create lower recidivism rates, so we have reformed the rehabilitation process in order to create lower recidivism rates. In order to accomplish goal the Risks-Need-Responsivity (RNR) model has been implemented and the recidivism rate has declined by 35%. This article was written by Dr. Stephen Tripodi, a professor at Florida State University. Dr. Tripodi work focuses on corrections, prisoner reentry, and criminal justice. He received his Bachelor of Arts at Michigan State University and his Ph.D. at the University of Texas. This article will help reiterate the fact that long term incarceration has mental and physical affects on reentry.

Tomar, Shivani. “The Psychological effects of Incarceration on inmates: Can we Promote Positive Emotions in inmates”. Delphi Psychiatric Journal. Database. 22 Oct. 2014.

This article takes a look at the psychological effect of long term incarceration of prisoners. It looks at all of the things that can happen to a prison while serving a life sentence. Frist the article looks at the purpose of prison. The author notes that the purpose of crime is summed up in three things: punishment, deterrence, and rehabilitation. The article then looks at the psychological effects it causes in prisoners like delusions, depression, and more. The author also notes other effects such as dependence on institutional structure and contingencies, diminished sense of self-worth and personal value, and more. This article was published in the Gautam Buddha University by the Department of Psychology. This article was placed on the Miami University database, which is a very credible source. This source will help explain the effects of long-term imprisonment. It can indicate the future problems that inmates will face when they are released from prison. It can help predicate the recidivism rate, because of the known psychological effects of prison.

McCoy D. Robert. “Prison Rehabilitation: Concept Associates, Inc.”. Personnel and Guidance Journal. Database. 23 Oct. 2014.

This article focuses on the prison rehabilitation program called Concept Associates, Inc. This self-help program was started in September of 1971 at Parish Prison in New Orleans in order to make the transition back into society as easy as possible. There are four classes: Concept Therapy, Public Speaking and Speech Therapy, and Goal Setting Therapy. Public speaking and Speech Therapy helps prison inmates prepare for the outside world and job interviews. The prisoners’ exposure to each others problems and the interaction with the four classes will help orient them into a successful future. This article was written by Robert McCoy, a Assistant Director at the Counseling Center at Louisiana State University in New Orleans. This article will help explore alternatives to ways in which the long term effects of prison on an inmates mental and physical ability to re-assimilate could be diminished. This can help explain ways in which this transition is easier for people like Red and Brooks in Shawshank Redemption.

Shawshank Redemption

Jeff Spinello
ENG 112 EA
Movie Question
How do long term sentences affect prisoners’ mental and physical capabilities to adjust to the outside world?

Intertextuality

A prime example of intertextuality, or the referencing of other texts or films in other movies or books is the Walt Disney Picture’s The Lion King and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. While The Lion King is not a exact retelling or remaking of Hamlet, both stories share very similar comparisons. Since Hamlet was made in the late 16th century, The Lion King is an intertextual example of Hamlet.

For those of you out there that have not read Hamlet and were deprived of the joy of watching The Lion King as a child I will summarize both right now. Hamlet is the story of Hamlet avenging the death of his father. One night towards the beginning of the play, Hamlet is visited by the ghost of his father,Hamlet Sr, who has recently and suspiciously been killed. The ghost tells Hamlet that his own brother, Claudius, has killed him. With the death of the king, Claudius receives the power of the throne and marries Hamlet’s mother. Hamlet plans to determine if Claudius was the true killer of his father and if so he plans on avenging “this most foul murder”. The rest of the play follows Hamlets plans for vengeance.

The Lion King is a mere image of the play of Hamlet by Shakespeare. The Lion King is the story of a young lion prince who is born to be heir to the throne after his father, Mufasa. This new born’s name is Simba. While Simba grows up, his uncle who is much older than he is an feels that he deserves to be king grows envious of Simba. Simba’s uncle, Scar, devises a plan in order to become king before Simba can inherit the right. Scar plans to kill his own brother. When Scar and Mufasa are alone on a cliff, Scar pushes Mufasa off the cliff sending him plummeting to his death. Scar convinces Simba that his fathers death was in fact his fault, so Simba runs away from the kingdom out of shame. After years of exile, Simba is persuaded to return to the kingdom and take the rightful position that he deserves.

The directors of the Walt Disney movie, The Lion King cleverly made a kid friendly version of Hamlet in modern day. If we compare both movies, certain characters pair up almost perfectly. Hamlet and Simba, Hamlet Sr.and Mufasa, Claudius and Scar,Rosencratz and Guildenstern and Timon and Pumba, and Ophelia and Nala. Just like Hamlet did in the play, Simba has come back to the kingdom to avenge his fathers death. He fights Scar and eventually banishes him from the kingdom which is similar to when Hamlet fights Claudius at the end of the play and kills him. Both characters fathers were killed by their uncles and feel abandoned. For Simba, he runs away exiling himself from the kingdom and Hamlet stays in the castle planning his revenge. Hamlet Sr. and Mufasa are almost identical characters. Both characters are powerful rulers of their domain with jealous brothers. Both character are loving fathers to their son and are unfairly murdered. Claudius and Scar are also both very similar as well. Both Claudius and Scar are jealous of the power that their older brother has. Both fear that they will never be able to experience the power of the throne, so they murder their own kin in order to become king. Both characters try and assume a fatherly position to their brother’s son, however Scar makes Simba feel responsible for the death of his father. Rosencratz and Guildenstern are faithful friends to Hamlet until the end when they betray Hamlet. Timon and Pumba meet Simba in the woods and they become best friends. Both characters try and comfort either Hamlet or Simba. Both set of characters are always seen together and very rarely have there own parts. They are both like a tag team set of characters that go everywhere together. Finally, Ophelia and Nala have notable similarities between them. Ophelia and Hamlet have a romantic relationship at the beginning of the play, however, he ultimately tells her he does not love her. Nala is Simba’s sidekick and partner in crime when they are younger, and when Simba returns from his exile he establishes a romantic relationship with Nala. Both Ophelia and Nala share and intimate relationship with the king-to-be.

While there are some differences between the play Hamlet and The Lion King because The Lion King is a children’s movie and their can’t be a lot of killing and it almost has to end in a happy ending, the main plot line of Hamlet and The Lion King are virtually identical. This is due to the use of intertextuality by the directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. The most interesting part of this is that this combination of movies has been intertextualized another time. I know that you may think that I mean that it was just another interpretation of Hamlet but I don’t. This movie intertextualized both the play Hamlet and The Lion King. The movie Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa uses intertextuality from both examples above. The movie has a virtually identical plot to the movie The Lion King which is intertextualized from Hamlet. It is interesting to think how many directors have used intertextuality in their movies.

Oxford Magazine Readings

So, I just went to the first reading of the year for the Oxford magazine. The experience that I just had was, well I don’t exactly know. For now I will say it was interesting. There were 4 readers, 2 non-fictional stories, and 2 poetry presenters. I will start with the first non-fictional story.

The first story was a comedical interpretation of when the Earth was not destroyed. The point of this story was very straightforward which is more than I can say about the other readings. The presenter went through what would happen if people were told that the world would be destroyed. He described that there would be mayhem everywhere, but he did it in a funny way. he described how there would be mass orgies everywhere and anywhere. He said that people would tell there children that there artwork was only mediocre and would start shooting up black tar heroine. All of these interpretations were comedical satired. He then described how people would realize that the end of the world was actually not eminent, and people would have to correct their mistakes and reorganize there life. I really liked this story because it took a different perspective as to what people would do in a apocalyptic world. Above all I liked it because it was funny.

The next story was also a futuristic interpretation of a post apocalyptic world. At first I was very confused as to what the story was talking about but as the author progressed, I began to understand the context of the story. From what I took, the world is run by a man named Mr. Leech, who changed all foods to high sugar high fat foods, so everyone is fat in this post apocalyptic world. This kind of reminded me of the movie Wall-E where everyone is so fat that they cant even walk. In this world, all of the people are glued to the television except for those who have aired on television, like the main character of the story. She worked for Mr. Leech for money, but really was planning a revolution to get society back on track. She is concerned with the well being of the world and fixes to change it. I really liked the way this author wrote, and I was actually envious of his writing ability. I thought that the story was well crafted and very complex.

The last two presentations were presentations of poetry. The first presenter seemed very nervous, like it was her first time presenting in front of people. Her poetry was very detailed and talented but I was having trouble hearing her so I couldn’t quite make out what her poems were about. The second presenter, I am at a loss for words. I have no idea what it was about, but the audience seemed to love it. To be honest, I just thought she was combining words and making it sound like a comprehensible sentence. I applaud her for her ability to perform like she does and I recognize the unbelievable talent that has been bestowed upon her, but I have no idea what she was talking about.

Break Down of The Graduate

The scene that I have decided to break down is the first scene of The Graduate. The scene opens with Ben Braddock on a plane home. We are led to assume that he is coming home from college and he is landing in the Los Angeles airport. The shot then cuts to Ben walking onto a moving walk way and staring aimlessly ahead while he waits to get off the moving walkway. The most interesting part of this entire scene is when he is on the moving walkway. So many things are shown to the audience in this first scene, and that is why I chose to pick this scene to break down.
When Ben steps onto the moving walk way he steps into the frame. The director shoots this whole scene in a medium shot, always trained on the upper half of Ben’s body. Ben does not move into the middle of the scene, but stays on the right hand side of the frame. This shows that the focus of the camera is not on Ben, but what lies beyond Ben. As Ben stands idle on the moving walkway, people enter and leave the frame. In the background of the scene the song Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel is being played. During all of this, Ben, for the most part, keeps his eyes trained on what’s ahead. To me this is a significant part of the scene. The director includes all of these little things in order to convey a message to the audience.
The director is trying to convey that Ben is uncertain about his future. In the scene Ben only stands on the right hand side. Now why does he do that? The director does this to show that Ben doesn’t know what lies ahead of him. He has just come back from college and now has his whole life to figure out what he wants to do. He has acquired the necessary knowledge to advance himself in life, but he doesn’t know how to apply it. He stares ahead in the scene like the answers to all of his problem lies ahead of him in the distance. That is why the director leaves Ben out of focus in this scene. The director wants to focus on the uncertainty of what lies ahead. The significance of the other people moving in and out of the frame is to add to the confusion of Ben’s life. All of these people have direction with their lives and that is why they are walking. They all have it figured out and Ben is standing still to reiterate that he doesn’t have any direction in his life yet. Notice that there are no other people on the moving walk way. It is just Ben standing by himself, while other people walk. The director does this to isolate Ben and to make the audience feel like he is all by himself.
The reason that I chose this scene was because I can relate to this scene and so can many other college students. Just like Ben is, I am unsure of what lies ahead of me. There is so much uncertainty in my life and very little answers. I am unsure of what all of this education will amount for. Will I get a job once I finish my four years at college? Will I like what I do? Did I choose the right major? There are so many things that I cannot say for sure, and it is scary. Nobody likes to have uncertainty in their life, and because of this I can relate to Ben. There is so much uncertainty in both our lives because we are afraid of what lies ahead of us.

The Graduate Scene

The scene that I found most interesting was the scene after Ben and Mrs.Robinson first go to the hotel too. In the next scene we see Ben at his house aimlessly drifting in the pool and then suddenly it meshes into the night and he is back with Mrs. Robinson. This transitional period of shifting between day and night goes on for the next few frames. I thought that this scene was particularly interesting because it shows that Ben is just drifting aimlessly through his life with no intentions of doing anything. It seems as if his nights and days mesh together into one.

I thought that this scene was particularly interesting because it shows that Ben is just drifting aimlessly through his life with no intentions of doing anything. He spends his days either sitting on a floaty in the pool letting the current take him wherever it pleases or in his room staring aimlessly into his fish tank with a cigarette in hand. His nights are spent with Mrs. Robinson in a hotel room. It as if his life suddenly has no meaning, no purpose, and no direction. He is drifting through life like he would on a floaty in the water.

He spends his days either sitting on a floaty in the pool letting the current take him wherever it pleases or in his room staring aimlessly into his fish tank with a cigarette in hand. The fish tank holds metaphorical meaning because Ben feels as if he is the scuba diver in the bottom of the fish tank. He feels like he is drowning even though he has a life line in his scuba tank. He feels like he has the neccesary tools to save himself from drowning, but he doesn’t know how to. Ben feels this in both his future, and his relationship with Mrs. Robinson. Ben is a highly educated and successful college student with plenty of experience, but he doesn’t know how to apply himself in the real world, and that scares him.