stacie
Cadet
Regular
Posts: 188
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Post by stacie on Jun 30, 2003 23:49:41 GMT -5
Earlier today I was channel surfing, and came across a show where they were debating and/or giving a critique of "The Green Mile". One person was insisting that it was a anti-death penalty movie, where as the others saw it as a right/wrong (guilty/innocent) type of story line. I happen to own the movie, and it never fails to bring me to tears. To me the movie seemed to go right to the heart of innocence v. guilt and not whether the guilty should pay for their crimes with their lives. In fact if one decided they had to caterogize it as a pro/anti film, they certainly couldn't get past the fact that John Coffey (the very innocent one) brings about the death of a prisoner that he discovers butchered the little girls that he is accused of murdering. (It also makes it very clear that he does not do this out of revenge for him being found guilty) Anyway, it got me to wondering if my view of the movie was based, whether wholly or partially, in the fact that Mom was murdered. Yes, I personally believe in the DP, but hold no malice against those that don't. Especially when they are MVS. Most of us agree to differ, and it ends with that. However as I listened to the discussion on TV, it made me angry that someone would try to twist what to me is a beautiful expression on the plight of an innocent man who blessed/cursed with the ability to feel all the evil in the world into a message against capital punishment. He also has the ability to set some things right, but that also becomes a curse when he is not able to. (As when he isn't able to bring back the two little girls that he comes across after they have been murdered) It haunts him so much that he is willing to die in order to stop being able to sense such evil, and in fact refers to his death as a "kindness". Does anyone else see the movie this way?
-stacie
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Post by cyndie on Jul 1, 2003 15:00:15 GMT -5
Hi, Your post was very interesting. Being a long time Stephen King fan, let me first say they did an excellent job of bringing John Coffey to life, and all the other characters. I totally agree with you. My original thoughts when I read the book(s) were that it was more about compassion, sensitivity, and the cruelty vs. beauty that is in the world, rather than anything to do with a social issue such as capital punishment. SK creates stories that do have messages, but not with any political agenda. I too felt like John wanted to die to leave this world which is evil more than kind, and be released from the curse of his strange gift. I also cannot watch the movie without crying every time. Such a wonderful story. People should let it stand as it is, a story. John Coffey is one of the most memorable literary characters since Boo Radley.
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Post by Snowleopard on Jul 9, 2003 1:19:44 GMT -5
Being so involved with literature, I often see a different interpretation than what is said by others. For example, the critics call "28 Days Later" another version of "The Omega Man", but from what I've read on the movie, I'd say it pulled from "Day of the Triffids" or maybe even "Night of Trolls" by Keith Laumer. Or Terminator 3 sounds like it pulls from Trancers 3 and the Alien movies. Incidently, I've not seen either of these two movies, so it's not really spoilers.
Our experiences shape how we see things. "Screamers", for example, I see as an example of abandoned ground troops in something say like Cambodia......but if you read any of the reviews, hardly anyone touches on that at all.
I have not seen "The Green Mile", it is probably not my type of movie.
But two things should be remembered when it comes to movies.
They are generally made to make money. Occassionally, there is the message bit as well, but often enough, it is the money thing that is at the top of the list.
And people's opinions vary, usually based on their experiences. ----------------------------------------------------------- (The movies, "First Family" or "Deal of the Century", are usually considered terrible by most people. My father who had worked in diplomancy/military assistance found them HILAROUS!)
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Post by Charlene on Jul 9, 2003 8:47:00 GMT -5
I read somewhere that Stephen King did not feel that it was an anti-penalty story at all. Tom Hanks, the star of the movie, also did not see it as an anti-death penalty movie. He expressed his opinion in the article excerpted here: "The movie The Green Mile contains three different scenes involving execution by the electric chair, including one grueling centrepiece in which a routine electrocution is botched. Does that make the movie an anti-death penalty tract on the order of Dead Man Walking? Not according to Tom Hanks, who plays the chief prison guard in the film. It didn't change his mind anyway. "I don't think it possibly could change anybody's idea of whether you are or aren't in favour of it," he says. "You think it's important or it's not. You can think it's an abomination or you think it's justice." And how does Hanks feel about it? "I'm sure everybody else is going to dodge it, but I'll tell you," he says. "I think there's plenty of people who should be put to death for their crimes and I think there's a lot of people who shouldn't be put to death for their crimes. On a case-by-case basis, I think there's a lot of room for grey area."
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