# Why is The Shawshank Redemption rated so high? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 19, 2009, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310 "2009-10-19T09:29:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/61 "2009-10-19T19:26:53Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Tim Robbins is not a little guy. little, adj. 8. not strong, forceful, or loud; weak 9. small in consideration, importance, position, affluence, etc. 12. amusingly small or so considered: _a funny little way of laughing._ 13. contemptibly small, petty, mean, etc., or so considered: _filthy little political tricks._ ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/62 "2009-10-19T19:30:12Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I don’t know if this is what you mean by “balance”, but I can start watching _Shawshank_ at any scene and be captivated. There aren’t any boring, filler-type scenes, no long scenes of people driving or having inane conversations. And the actors are all wonderful, especially James Whitmore. That’s a good yardstick for me, too. The novella and the movie have both stuck in my head ever since I read/saw them, and that is another yardstick of something that is just plain good. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/63 "2009-10-19T19:34:04Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I haven’t. I’ve tried, but I can’t get through one. I find the acting styles in those old movies so ridiculous that I can’t get into them. I’m not much of a fan of the Hayes code era straightjacket either. Wait a second… you’ve never even seen _Casablanca_? Usually considered one of the top 5 movies of all time? That’s fine if you haven’t, of course, it’s just kind of weird. It’s such a cultural touchstone and so highly regarded; I can understand not liking it but I don’t understand not having seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/64 "2009-10-19T21:14:04Z")
Re Biggirl > [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I have always been fond of you. I think I may now have a crush. Got to get past me first. MiM Sorry for the hijack. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/65 "2009-10-19T21:18:07Z")
> [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](#): > > That’s because the question is not wether or not it is any good. The question is why is it so succesful. Not: do people like it, but: Why do people like it. Many people wrote meaningful replies so I know I am not mad or incomprehensible. Should I answer this and continue my newbie picking (not that I noticed he was a newbie until it was pointed out to me) or should I leave it alone? Should I address the idea that there are factual answers to why a person may like a thing or should I post rhetorical questions that I do not expect answers to? Or should I start calling myself Red and pretend I’m Irish? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Piranha_Brothers)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/66 "2009-10-19T21:22:35Z")
Don’t ask me - you might not like the answer. Another question. If I joined early in 2006, does that make me a newbie? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/67 "2009-10-19T21:45:40Z")
You two are on your own! (get a room) ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/68 "2009-10-19T22:16:35Z")
> [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](#): > > That’s because the question is not wether or not it is any good. The question is why is it so succesful. Not: do people like it, but: Why do people like it. Many people wrote meaningful replies so I know I am not mad or incomprehensible. But dude, all of those meaningful replies were Cafe Society material, not General Questions material. Newbie or not, you don’t seem to have a basic grasp of where discussions about movies should go. They go in Cafe Society, not in General Questions. Pretty simple. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/69 "2009-10-19T22:20:10Z")
> [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](#): > > It was really about why it was popular, which is a fact. But never mind. That’s irrelevant. Factual questions about movies go in this forum, too. Just like factual questions about video games, cooking, TV Shows, etc. I take it you don’t hang around in this forum often enough to notice that? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/70 "2009-10-19T22:55:15Z")
Ya know, this could have been an interesting GQ or , more likely, GD (IMHO?) if a specific movie had not been mentioned. What physical or physiological things influence Zeitgeist? Are there certain elements needed before something becomes popular in Pop Culture? Or something along those lines. But to ask what makes a particular movie (or song or book or perfume or name or anything) popular-- and expect a _factual_ answer not based on the subjective strikes me as, um, how do I put this. . . futile. Quite a few in this thread say it is popular because was well made, thought-provoking and well acted. But there are other movies that _I[ think_ are all of those things that are not popular at all. There are movies that _I think_ are slapped together, have no lasting impact and are acted by chatbots that are wildly popular. There is absolutely NO accounting for taste. It’s silly to try. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/71 "2009-10-20T00:35:14Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > Stephen King called him Red in the book, because he was a white Irish guy with red hair. Whereas in the film, Freeman’s character is called Ellis Boyd Redding. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/72 "2009-10-20T01:26:44Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Ah. I didn’t catch the different wavelength part. Reading back, I see what you mean. I didn’t think I was being particularly harsh but then I never do. > > Anyways. . . why was he called Red? He didn’t have red hair. Maybe Morgan was a communist. Or David Caruso was too busy learning to whip off his sunglasses to play the part. Morgan Freeman has a rather reddish complexion-my WAG. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/73 "2009-10-20T01:34:42Z")
IMHO (and with apologies for any redundancy) one of the reasons that it rates so well is because it a uniquely perfect adaptation of the work of an insanely popular author. This means you’ll generally have the positive ratings of the author’s fanbase, without the negative effects of people influenced by their opinion that it’s a bad _adaptation._ This is helped enormously by the fact that the length of the source material is perfect for a feature film, without requiring necessary sins of omission or addition. Cf. the reaction to (the execrable) _Simon Birch._ I was totally prepared to nitpick this movie to death when it came out, and the only objections I had aren’t of the sort that are likely to diminish the experience for… uh… _anyone,_ really:[ol][li]The shorter title (and the change-up of the eponymous Rita Hayworth poster to indicate the passage of time to Bo Derek) break some of the symbolism of Andy’s “rebirth.” (Really, does anyone care?)There’s a little bit of dissonance going on when you cast Morgan Freeman as “Red” and leave the nickname intact. (The nickname is easy to take as jailhouse irony; better that than a lesser performance.)[/ol][/li] This movie is one of the few perfect adaptations the written words out there. The only adaptation I can think of that’s as good is _A Scanner Darkly_, and it suffers from not having anything anywhere near the broad appeal of _Shawshank Redemption_’s story, as well having a visual style that draws a lot of negative comment. ---
**Author:** ![jimmycolorado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@jimmycolorado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmycolorado)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/74 "2009-10-20T02:38:20Z")
[quote=“Larry\_Mudd, post:73, topic:514310”] [ol][li]The shorter title (and the change-up of the eponymous Rita Hayworth poster to indicate the passage of time to Bo Derek) break some of the symbolism of Andy’s “rebirth.” (Really, does anyone care?)[/ol][/li][/QUOTE] This little bit, I think, is another hint at why the film is so popular: to me, after having seen it, came across as an almost perfect [Campellian hero myth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hero_with_a_Thousand_Faces). I think that also helps to explain the observation made upthread that the film speaks to large swaths of people across large swaths of cultures/countries/backgrounds, etc. That, combined with great (practically iconic) performances, a well-done score, and a happy ending, and you have a winner. It’s the kind of movie I’d sit through commercials to watch. _On Telemundo_. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/75 "2009-10-20T03:00:12Z")
> [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](#): > > Why is The Shawshank Redemption rated so high? Don’t know. It was okay, even pretty good (considering how obvious the plot turns were and how sappy it was), but it was far from great. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/76 "2009-10-20T03:12:33Z")
I am one of the many who rated this movie a 10 on IMBD. (And I saw it when it was first released, having read Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redepmtion years before.) It tells a great story, with great dialogue, and great acting, and it has one of the coolest endings of all time. Oh, and the Mozart scene? One of the best of all time. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAJ2skOJvdY) ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/77 "2009-10-20T03:20:03Z")
Personally, I can’t explain just why Shawshank is so great. That said - The film is like a damn hypnotist. It’s on, I can’t help but watch it. This has gotten me into trouble many times. It should be bed time - but hey! Shawshank is on! I always end up watching it to the end. I love this movie so much. Freeman and Robbins are good, no doubt. The tempo of the movie is slow, but steady. I can’t quite explain why it gets such a hold on me. But it does. I put Shawshank in my top five favorite films. And I still don’t know why. It’s just…so true, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/78 "2009-10-20T03:25:10Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > …to indicate the passage of time to Bo Derek) […] (Really, does anyone care?) I guess Bo Derek would. (In a hurry to get dinner on; didn’t proofreed. ;)) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/79 "2009-10-20T03:52:09Z")
I dislike Shawshank, and my husband loves it. I think it’s a guy equivalent of a chick romance flick, featuring a romance between 2 men, with suffering, revenge and truimph, and then they live happily ever after together. My husband doesn’t watch it when I’m at home anymore. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/80 "2009-10-20T07:39:16Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Wait a second… you’ve never even seen _Casablanca_? Usually considered one of the top 5 movies of all time? > > That’s fine if you haven’t, of course, it’s just kind of weird. It’s such a cultural touchstone and so highly regarded; I can understand not liking it but I don’t understand not having seen it. Boomer culture, I guess. Very few people in my age group tend to watch movies before, roughly, 1980. I know plenty who won’t watch black and white movies on principle. You can quote them famous lines all day and they’ll have no idea what you’re talking about unless they heard it on SNL or something. They’ve probably heard of Casablanca though. From one of these lists, most likely. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310.md?page=5)