A while back this person called Mariame Kaba dissed prison movies. I like to read her blog a few times a week. Knowing that she does what she does gives me a lot of solace. Her dim view of all prison movies irks me. Her main claim follows:
In the U.S., we learn about prison through books, music, movies, and television. These images greatly influence public perceptions. I think that they actually serve to reinforce unconscious racism which leads people to support more draconian measures to curtail what they perceive to be black and brown criminality.
Further:
Prison stories in popular culture are framed in terms of personal responsibility and this obscures the structural factors and oppression that play a major role in landing people in prison in the first place. As such when asked why people are in prison, the public’s default response always focuses on personal failing. Popular culture depictions of prisoners feed into this narrative and I believe that this ultimately impacts public policy.
Imagined fears contribute to actual incarceration…
Her critique is fair for a lot of the drivel NBC and CBS air during prime time.
A path breaking drama like Oz doesn’t exactly fit the bill. Here’s what the NYT had to say back in Oz’s heyday:
So far ”Oz,” one of HBO’s highest-rated dramatic shows, has received mostly favorable reaction. The critic Stanley Crouch, writing in The New York Times Magazine, praised it for its ”consistently brilliant acting — some of the best in the history of television.” The show, Mr. Crouch wrote, ”is a landmark for the medium.”
Others, however, have condemned it for its violence. ”Ultimately,” a critic for USA Today wrote, ”the show is as dehumanizing as the prison system it attacks.” Mr. Fontana and Mr. Levinson are in effect glorifying the violence they depict, another critic wrote, in The Village Voice: ”Levinson and Fontana estheticize the material at the same time they’re hyping its raw realism.”
Like with most things, it’s important to evaluate prison movies one at a time. As Ms. Kaba points out, “Most people in America don’t know anyone who is currently or has been in prison since incarceration disproportionately impacts only certain groups. Most people have never set foot inside a prison either. As a result, popular culture images of prison fill this breach.” Oz probably did more to make people think critically about hyperincarceration than most of what’s on TV.
Rather than defend Oz, I’d like to direct people to Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo. I guess you could call it a heartfelt documentary about a few women in an Oklahoma prison who rodeo once a year. Here are four generally positive reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4.
What I like about Sweethearts is that the subjects have a lot of room to just talk about life. Sure, some of what they say sounds cliche at first, but the movie busts through that kind of thing pretty quick.
The other reason I highlight Sweethearts is that it draws attention to the prison rodeo as rehabilitative program, as opposed to a gory spectacle. As evidenced by the youtube video below, rodeo participants seem to be doing pretty well.
I have a few friends (in the women-over-60 set) who consider prisoners scum. They’re all for death penalty and throwing away keys. Sweethearts is the kind of movie that would totally mess up their world view. It frustrates me that our media culture is so fragmented. I can’t really force people to watch movies that would make them think like me.
At least they can’t force me to watch shit that makes me think like them either.
Hi, I was just e-mailed your blog post. Let me first say thank you for following my blog. I am glad to discover yours. I would like to push back (in a friendly way) on two of the arguments that you advance in this post. I think that OZ actually did a lot to distort the public’s view of prisons. Many former prisoners would attest to this. For the majority of prisoners, the incarceration experience is actually more like watching paint dry on a daily basis. The torture of the prison experience is actually that it is so predictable, boring, and frankly unexciting. While there are of course instances of prison rape, violence, etc… most of the experience is about monotony and slowly losing your bearings.
My second friendly push back is that you suggest that I ought to evaluate prison films one at a time. Yet the reality is that prison media (film, music, tv, magazines) does not present itself to the consuming public “one at a time.” It comes at us fully formed and in large number. So my point was about the “cumulative” effect of prison media (including films). That cumulative effect is toxic and ultimately contributes to other-ing prisoners and perhaps more importantly in making the public fearful and willing to accept draconian policy prescriptions.
So in conclusion, while I take your point that not all prison films are equal, I would ask that you consider the reality that prison films are consumed by the public wholesale not piecemeal.
Peace to you and I appreciate the exchange of ideas.