I
don't know what to make of this film, honestly. It is cinematically very
appealing, with intriguing music and several thought provoking moments.
There are a lot of black people interviewed, or just appearing as part of the
scenery. It doesn't point fingers, or ask its audience to reach any
particular conclusions. It leaves a lot of questions unanswered.
For
example, it's titled the prison rather than a prison. So,
which prison? The one at the end of the movie, the huge fortress-like
place in upstate New York? Or the prison of economic madness, the prison
industrial complex with its "job security," with side industries like
the guy in his warehouse full of prison approved clothing, music, and food for
sale to families and friends who want to make life more comfortable for their
incarcerated friends. He's a nice guy, the warehouse owner, it's a smart
business. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who wants the prison
system to expand, though it would be good for his bottom line.
Early
on a young man implies prisons provide the best kind of work because those are
jobs that definitely won't be shipped overseas. He's hoping the prison
will return to his town because the coal industry has pulled out and left them
economically devastated.
What
kind of freedom is this nation, this economy, promoting, when young black men
are killed on the streets but their murderers go free, while a woman spends 15
days in jail for refusing to pay the $175 fine she received when her garbage
can lid wasn't securely enough fastened to the garbage can?
Is
there something I'm supposed to get from this film that I just didn't? I
feel frustrated.
Go
see the film February 7th at 9:15 or February 9th at 6:30 pm at the Capitol 6.
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