# Why is the Shawshank Redemption considered to be so good? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 19, 2002, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809 "2002-12-19T15:08:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Peutl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d9b06d/32.png) [@Peutl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peutl)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/21 "2002-12-19T21:16:23Z")
It helps if you look it as an allegory instead of a story. The movie isn’t supposed to be a straightfoward adventure about How An Innocent Man Went To Prison Then Escaped After 20 Years. It’s more of a Passion Play, whose actors play archetypes instead of characters. (Pilgrims Progress, anyone?) It’s a study of the human soul and the r-word. But I don’t see it being the #2 film either. It’s just a good flick. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/22 "2002-12-19T21:57:46Z")
It is a good story and it is very well made. I love the use of color in the film. Most of the time the screen is filled with greys, dark browns and muted blues. However during parts where the men feel free the screen gets much lighter in colors. Finally at the end when Red joins him we see the brillant white sand and startling blues of the ocean and sky. Also the structure of the film is very good. The various parole meetings for Red are dropped at the right time in the film. The way the Red repeats the story of the other older con who was freed but has a different end is very good. Then there is the acting. The warden, the top guard, the other cons all (to me) hit their notes perfectly. That’s why it is a really good movie. (if you ask me, and you did) ---
**Author:** ![Slainte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Slainte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slainte)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/23 "2002-12-19T23:04:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ivylass \* > \*\* > I loved the scene with the opera music…anyone know what that’s from? That’s not in the novella, BTW. \*\* > [@](#): > > Special mention has to be made about the scene in which Andy plays the duet ’’Sull’aria… Che soave zeffiretto ’’ from opera ’’Le nozze di Figaro’’(The Marriage of Figaro composed by Mozart), as audiences we can feel the freedom that Andy speaks about and that’s what Opera is all about. [From this site](http://www.mouthshut.com/readreview/27866-1.html) ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/24 "2002-12-20T00:26:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by djf750 \* > \*\*. > > This guy gets RAPED by other MEN in prison, yet gets stronger, and it doesn’t seem to have any effect on him? No, it DOES NOT work that way. Men raped and brutalized in prison suffer horrible psychological effects. They don’t do other people’s taxes for them. > > \*\* He doesn’t get raped. Remember, they are about to and he gives them the line about his jaw clamping shut if he dies, so they just beat the crap out of him. He gets beat up quite a few times,but never raped. ---
**Author:** ![Slainte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Slainte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slainte)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/25 "2002-12-20T00:30:08Z")
IIRC, Red says something along the lines of: “sometimes Andy was able to fight them off and sometimes he wasn’t”. I think he did get raped. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/26 "2002-12-20T01:57:23Z")
In the short story, he definitely got raped. I figured it was implied in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/27 "2002-12-20T02:09:24Z")
I didn’t like the movie. It bored me. Maybe I got whooshed by it, but if so, I’m not interested enough to watch it again. YMMV, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/28 "2002-12-20T02:19:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Pashnish Ewing \* > \*\*\ I believe the transition was from Rita to Marilyn to “Lovely Raquel” (aka Fuzzy Britches) \ > > Pash \*\* \ I think you forgot the forward slash. It should have ended \ \ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![djf750](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@djf750](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djf750)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/29 "2002-12-20T02:23:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dewey Cheatem Undhow \* > \*\ ***djf750** , while it is doubtlessly true that most people brutalized in a prison situation find their spirits crushed beyond all recognition, it is certainly possible – even probable – that there will be exceptions to that general rule. > > Consider tales of POWs like John McCain, who were subjected to brutality far in excess of that depicted in _Shawshank_, but who nonetheless have managed to get on with their lives. \*\* Are you telling me that John Mccain was regularly beaten and then gang raped by a group of North Vietnamese? I don’t think so. Ok it was a wonderful parable about the human spirit and all that crap. But someone tell me how Tim Robbins got the warden’s suit cleaned AND lengthened after dragging it through the sewers of that prison. How do you lengthen pants so they fit a tall man that good? Oh yeah…its just a movie. If that was made about a woman who was repeatedly gang raped, humiliated and beaten and then went home and said “who wants pancakes?” to her husband and kids and went on to live a normal life it would have been laughed out of the theatres. But I guess a man can have that happen to him and shrug it off. Bullshit. Do some research and see what happens to those guys who are raped in prison. They are never the same. Men are not Clint Eastwood. Clint Eastwood is not Clint Eastwood. ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/30 "2002-12-20T02:23:54Z")
One of my favorite movies. A quote from it: “Get busy living or get busy dying…” ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/31 "2002-12-20T10:12:09Z")
He put the warden’s nice clothes in the plastic bag, where they stayed clean. He wore his prison uniform when he made his escape. Also, it was never said that he escaped with no emotional scars. He gave himself a new life. No one said he lived happily ever after. Anyway, I liked _Shawshank_ for being an uplifting tale set in a prison, with likeable a protagonist. Prison movies, like war movies, usually depress the hell out of me, and it was a nice change to have one that didn’t end with a major character dying or drastically changing. I still greatly prefer the book to the movie, though. The part about the concrete used to build the prison walls was my favorite. (IIRC, the movie didn’t give the details about the concrete that the book did, and as pivotal as it was to the story, it’s terrible that they left it out.) I also enjoyed Red’s narration, which unfortunately got downplayed in the movie. A pity, as I thought he was equally interesting as Andy. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/32 "2002-12-20T11:02:54Z")
I think this thread should have a spoiler warning. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/33 "2002-12-20T11:56:31Z")
It’s got every prison cliché in it. It’s predictable and yet I absolutely love the movie. I remember renting it, looking at it and then rewinding it and looking at it again. Great movie, everything just works. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/34 "2002-12-20T12:52:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Slainte \* > \*\*IIRC, Red says something along the lines of: “sometimes Andy was able to fight them off and sometimes he wasn’t”. I think he did get raped. ☹ \*\* He does get raped. More than once. The warden finally protects him from the Sisters after Andy proves himself a tax genius…the scene in the prison theatre is the last attempt. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/35 "2002-12-20T12:57:09Z")
Because by the end of it, you’ll think you’ve served a life sentence. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/36 "2002-12-20T17:00:46Z")
I see Shawshank on 90% of people’s top ten lists over at [rottentomatoes.com](http://rottentomatoes.com). I hear people on this board and others saying it’s their favorite movie of all time. And god forbid someone get’s raped and becomes more resolved to “make things right.” ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/37 "2002-12-20T19:53:16Z")
I really loathed the movie. Every performance in it was either flat or ham-fistedly over the top. The cinematography was nice, but incredibly predictable. In some ways it reminded me of a 50’s musical: (cue intro) Scene: Prattling dialogue transitioning to short monologue by character A (Crescendo and decelerando) Bom bom bom BOMMMMMMMM HEARTFELT revelation with lots of light happy colors fade back to dialogue. A genuine piece of overrated fluff in the best Steinbeck tradition of bludgeoning the reader (or in this case viewer) over the head with incredibly obvious messages over and over and (dare I say it?) OVER again. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/38 "2002-12-20T20:06:21Z")
I’m a big Stephen King fan, and this is probably my favorite movie made from one of his stories (Misery runs a close second). I like everything about this movie: the directing, the acting, the cinematography, the pacing, the casting. In fact, it is my “default movie”, meaning that if I’m folding laundry (which I do in my bedroom, and thanks to having 3 kids, do a lot of), and there’s nothing on TV I care to look at right then, I pop in my video of Shawshank, and go. FWIW, my favorite scene is near the beginning, when Andy finds a maggot in his food, and Brooks says “Are. . are you gonna eat that?” Andy replies “Hadn’t planned on it.” “Can I have it?” asks Brooks. The tone of voice and facial expressions are perfect! Also, for the record, I’m not a Tim Robbins fan, but Morgan Freeman is one of my all-time favorite actors! ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/39 "2002-12-21T00:53:48Z")
**djf750** - When I was a kid I used to wonder why the main character of the story always won. Then as I got older I realized that if he didn’t win there wouldn’t be a story. Also, if 50,000 people lose and one person wins then guess who the stories get told about? The one person that won. Surely there’s been more than one man that has gotten raped in prison in all the history of the world and not turned out to be a “pathetic figure.” I don’t know many details about John McCain in particular but I would most definately rather go through what Andy went through than what the average Vietnam POW went through, and John McCain seems to be doing pretty good for himself. If anything I would think the biggest burden on Andy’s soul was losing the 40 (or however many) years of his life by being falsely imprisoned. Being raped would be horribly bad but, IMO, it would be an afterthought compared to 40 years imprisonment for something you didn’t do. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/40 "2002-12-21T01:00:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by djf750 \* > **If that was made about a woman who was repeatedly gang raped, humiliated and beaten and then went home and said “who wants pancakes?” to her husband and kids and went on to live a normal life it would have been laughed out of the theatres.** This is of course a straw man seeing as how Shawshank wasn’t about “a man who was repeatedly gang raped, humiliated and beaten and then went home and said ‘who wants pancakes?’” anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809.md?page=3)