# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![djf750](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@djf750](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djf750)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/61 "2002-12-24T23:53:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cisco \* > \*\*Sorry if I don’t share your feelings that every movie that’s not completely realistic sucks. I mean, I would agree with you and all, but that would require disregarding EVERY SINGLE MOVIE EVER MADE. \*\* “Schindlers List” was very realistic, I thought. The violence was realistic and upsetting. Unlike Shawshank where “Andy” tells the guy he might bite off his dick. Sure, someone being held down by other convicts in prison in that situation would be that cool under pressure. ---
**Author:** ![djf750](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@djf750](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djf750)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/62 "2002-12-24T23:56:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blalron \* > \*\*djf750, you clearly have some misperceptions of Shawshank. I recommend you go watch it again and maybe then your memory will be refreshened for a more accurate post to spew your anti-shawshank point of view. \*\* You know. i think the reason I hate it so much is I went in with my expectations too high because of all the great things I had heard about it. People actually named it as their ALL TIME favorite movie on some other threads. Sorry, I can’t watch that melodramatic nonsense again. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/63 "2002-12-25T00:49:54Z")
Oh gimme a break, Schindler’s list was practically fantasy. You actually fall for that crap about everything being black and white? And don’t even get me started on how Liam Neeson wasn’t even _born_ until after WW2! There’s no way he couldn’ve been there! I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief long enough to get through that melodramatic nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![djf750](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@djf750](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djf750)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/64 "2002-12-25T03:01:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cisco \* > \*\*Oh gimme a break, Schindler’s list was practically fantasy. You actually fall for that crap about everything being black and white? And don’t even get me started on how Liam Neeson wasn’t even _born_ until after WW2! There’s no way he couldn’ve been there! > > I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief long enough to get through that melodramatic nonsense. \*\* So what you are saying is anything goes in a movie? If Andy had levitated straight up and out of the yard to freedom while all the cons looked on in astonishment, it would have been ok because it was just a movie? When I want to see fantasy, I see James Bond movies where you are not expected to take it seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/65 "2002-12-25T03:14:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by djf750 \* > \*\*So what you are saying is anything goes in a movie? If Andy had levitated straight up and out of the yard to freedom while all the cons looked on in astonishment, it would have been ok because it was just a movie? \*\* Ummm, yea, that’s exactly what I’m saying. ---
**Author:** ![yetiboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ed655f/32.png) [@yetiboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yetiboy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/66 "2002-12-25T05:56:35Z")
I had to join if only to enter this discussion. I’m surprised nobody has even made mention of the score for this movie…I’ve had it on in the background as I’ve been reading through all the threads, and I have to say it’s one of the most beautifully written scores I’ve ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/67 "2002-12-25T06:19:31Z")
So, djf750, are you telling us that your prison experience wasn’t as uplifting as a FICTIONAL CHARACTER’S was depicted to be? Good lord. If you can’t fathom the idea of someone coming through a terrible, brutal, oppressive and dangerous situation and bettering himself afterward, please don’t ever write to Elie Wiesel. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/68 "2002-12-25T07:28:21Z")
Diogenes: I was indeed thinking of the story of Lot, thanks for the correction. It’s been about 20 years since my last bible study class. My point, however, still stands. ---
**Author:** ![presidebt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c37758/32.png) [@presidebt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/presidebt)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/69 "2002-12-25T08:17:25Z")
I really liked Shawshank Redemption as well. I think it’s worth noting that Morgan Freeman and Time Robbins are two very fine actors who managed to capture some wonderful chemistry in this film. KG- This exceprt from the script demonstrates that Andy was put in solitary for a month for threatening Norton with squealing about his money laundering, not calling him _obtuse,_ which incidental, as well as true. Norton was obtuse, or _dull and stupid_. - ``` ANDY ``` They’d have his last known address. Names of relatives… (Norton shakes his head) Well it’s a chance. isn’t it? How can you be so obtuse? ``` NORTON ``` What? What did you call me? ``` ANDY ``` Obtuse! Is it deliberate? The country club will have his old time cards! W-2s with his name on them! ``` NORTON (rises) ``` Dufresne, if you want to indulge this fantasy, that’s your business. Don’t make it mine. This meeting’s over. ``` ANDY ``` Look, if it’s the squeeze, don’t worry. I’d never say what goes on in here. I’d be just as indictable as you for laundering the money! ``` NORTON ``` Don’t you ever mention money to me again, you sorry son of a bitch! Not in this office, not anywhere! (slaps intercom) Get in here! Now! ``` ANDY ``` I was just trying to rest your mind at ease, that’s all. ``` NORTON (as GUARDS enter) ``` Solitary! A month! - info taken from [here](http://www.angelfire.com/movies/moviefreak/shawshank.html) That said, I can’t imagine why this flick has been named number 2. That makes only slightly more sense than Eminem making Blender mag’s top 50 rock geniuses. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![presidebt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c37758/32.png) [@presidebt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/presidebt)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2002, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/70 "2002-12-25T08:35:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cisco \* > \*\*Oh gimme a break, Schindler’s list was practically fantasy. You actually fall for that crap about everything being black and white? And don’t even get me started on how Liam Neeson wasn’t even _born_ until after WW2! There’s no way he couldn’ve been there! > > I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief long enough to get through that melodramatic nonsense. \*\* [http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/happy/roflmao.gif](http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/happy/roflmao.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krisfer_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/71 "2002-12-26T03:53:07Z")
Hell people Tim Robbins could STAND around for 2 hours just fashin that smile and those eyes and I’d pay 7 bucks to watch it! Reality bites… if I want that I’ll go read a book. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/72 "2002-12-26T22:56:52Z")
This movie really strikes a chord with me as well. I think another reason it worked so well is that the supporting cast was so good. I can’t remember his name, but does anyone remember the blond, blue-eyed actor who was kind of dumb? As I recall, he handed Andy Dufresne six feet of rope in one scene. In another, Brooks held a knife at his throat, threatening to kill him so he could stay in jail. I thought he did a good job. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/73 "2002-12-26T23:52:15Z")
**medstar** I don’t recall the actor’s name, but the character’s name is Haywood. The same actor played Klaus Detterick in The Green Mile. I liked him, too. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/74 "2002-12-27T00:02:23Z")
His name is William Sadler. He was also the main bad guy who kicks Bruce Willis’s ass in Die Hard 2 on the airplane wing. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/75 "2002-12-27T01:35:17Z")
I didn’t think Shawshank was all tht good a movie – it barely held my attention when I watched it. The only theory I can come up with for its popularity is that it assuages a common fear very successfully. We live in a society in which all of us know that it’s possible fror us to go to prison, even if we’re innocent, and once in prison, it’s very possible to be raped. While I’m sure most of us don’t go around worrying about this situation, it’s kinda like driving a car – we know that it’s possible we’ll be in a horrible accident even if we’re careful, even if we don’t consciously think about it every time we ride or drive. Shawshank shows a man who endures the worst – he’s innocent, he’s imprisoned for life, he gets beaten, he gets raped, he gets beaten and raped a LOT – and still he triumphs, after a fashion. The movie tells us it’s possible to triumph over the worst that can happen in this regard. It’s the only movie that deals directly with the prison experience of being beaten and raped and yet shows the victim overcoming his situation. That’s why it’s popular, it assuages that common fear we have to deal with because we permit rape to occur in our prisons. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/76 "2002-12-29T07:57:18Z")
Why is everyone so focused on the rape element of the film? It really is a very small part of the story. sheese ---
**Author:** ![Liakela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/58f4c7/32.png) [@Liakela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liakela)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/77 "2002-12-29T09:16:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by djf750 \* > \*\*"Unlike Shawshank where “Andy” tells the guy he might bite off his dick. Sure, someone being held down by other convicts in prison in that situation would be that cool under pressure. \*\* It’s amusing to me that you phrase that in that particular way… Only because that’s a key point of Andy’s personality, that’s given to the audience at the beginning of the film, by the judge at his trial: _“You strike me as a particularly icy and remorseless man, Mr. Dufresne. It chills my blood just to look at you. By the power vested in me by the State of Maine, I hereby order you to serve two life sentences, back to back, one for each of your victims. So be it!”_ Also, re: Andy and fighting off the ‘Sisters’: \*He always fought, that’s what I remember. He fought because he knew if he didn’t fight, it would make it that much easier not to fight the next time. \* And personally, speaking as a vicitim of rape myself, I can identify with both ‘reactions’. I simply did not have the ‘luxury’ of falling to pieces. Doesn’t make me strong, or people who fall to pieces weak. It just makes me different. Anyway, it’s a good movie. I liked it. It’s one of those movies that I’ll usually stop on if I’m flipping through the channels on TV. But that doesn’t mean that everyone must like it. Nor does it mean that those who don’t should feel the need to convert those that do. And vice versa. It’s just a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/78 "2002-12-29T11:15:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\*. God then destroys Sodom, not for homosexuality but for their inhospitality to the angel. > \*\* Wasn’t the Angel there to tell them to leave Sodom? I.E., that God had already decided to destroy it? ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/79 "2002-12-29T13:20:45Z")
**Liakela** you made some very good points in your post. Welcome to the boards, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809/80 "2003-01-07T23:58:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Evil Captor \* > \*\*I didn’t think Shawshank was all tht good a movie – it barely held my attention when I watched it. > > The only theory I can come up with for its popularity is that it assuages a common fear very successfully. We live in a society in which all of us know that it’s possible fror us to go to prison, even if we’re innocent, and once in prison, it’s very possible to be raped. While I’m sure most of us don’t go around worrying about this situation, it’s kinda like driving a car – we know that it’s possible we’ll be in a horrible accident even if we’re careful, even if we don’t consciously think about it every time we ride or drive. > > Shawshank shows a man who endures the worst – he’s innocent, he’s imprisoned for life, he gets beaten, he gets raped, he gets beaten and raped a LOT – and still he triumphs, after a fashion. The movie tells us it’s possible to triumph over the worst that can happen in this regard. It’s the only movie that deals directly with the prison experience of being beaten and raped and yet shows the victim overcoming his situation. That’s why it’s popular, it assuages that common fear we have to deal with because we permit rape to occur in our prisons. \*\* lol, are you sure you saw the movie? Andy’s being raped and physically abused are not the focus of the movie at all; heck for the majority of his stay, he doesn’t experience these things at all (though the mental enclosure surely persists). I think the reason Shawshank is so popular is because Andy is essentially larger than life, but emotionally real somehow, an incarnation of our resilience and heart. He is almost like a blank slate in the movie; Red is our human, Andy is our mirror. Andy is the part of ourselves that we like to see, and damn if we don’t stare at the mirror long and hard. The plot, supporting cast, cinematography, etc. are all quite solid at setting the stage and building a sharp contrast to Andy (Brooks’ finisher was particularly effective). However, what gives this movie its timelessness is our perception of Mr. Dufresnes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-considered-to-be-so-good/143809.md?page=3)