# 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:** 5
**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 20, 2009, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/81 "2009-10-20T08:08:48Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > 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. Seriously, I don’t care. > [@BigT](#): > > 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? Honestly, it doesn’t make any difference to me what category it’s in. It’s about what makes something popular and it’s at the same time about a specific movie. Either way it’s fine with me. And can I just say that some of the replies could very well be perceived as a little bit condescending? Why do I have to be tarred with the epithet ‘noob’ merely for doing something completely unimportant? I’ve heard tell that Barrack Obama, the US president, often double posts on forums because he keeps clicking the submit button. Nelson Mandela has a signature that is two pages long, the Dalai Lama doesn’t shrink his photos when he includes them, Nigella Lawson, the British restaurant critic, mentions spoilers without warning, and J.K. Rowling posts explicit material. So if you’re calling the author of Harry Potter a newbie, I’m going to have to ask you to log off! ---
**Author:** ![Aquila\_Be](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Aquila\_Be](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquila_Be)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/82 "2009-10-20T08:40:19Z")
> [@Icerigger](#): > > I remember Michael Medved really ranting against this movie as another example of Liberal Hollywood against America. The heroes in the film are criminals and the bad guys are the authorities, typical leftist fare. At least according to some conservatives. The political aspect to that criticism is not really relevant, but the portrayal of all of the prison officers as really, horribly evil and corrupt, and all of the criminals as really, incredibly angelic, struck me as being quite silly. Then there’s hero’s use of a tiny geologist’s pick to build a superhighway through the solid concrete of his cell wall (luckily for him the prisoners never had to change cells in twenty years). The newly built cell exit was effectively concealed from prison searches (did they even have them?) by a large pin up poster which got updated every five years. I can’t believe how highly this movie’s rated either. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/83 "2009-10-20T09:01:14Z")
> [@Aquila\_Be](#): > > Then there’s hero’s use of a tiny geologist’s pick to build a superhighway through the solid concrete of his cell wall (luckily for him the prisoners never had to change cells in twenty years). The newly built cell exit was effectively concealed from prison searches (did they even have them?) by a large pin up poster which got updated every five years. I think it was pretty clear that Andy had special privileges based on his role as the warden’s money launderer. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/84 "2009-10-20T10:55:56Z")
Yes, and the book also goes into the particulars of the concrete, it is an inferior quality prone to cracking and disintegrating, large chunks would fall out on a regular basis. Had the cement in the walls been up to par Andy would have made no headway. Also, in the book he did have roommates from time to time but they did not want to stay there because the cell was always too cold. I wonder why.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/85 "2009-10-20T12:04:28Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > 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. I would submit _The Day Of The Jackal_ (the 1973 film with Edward Fox and [del]Hugo Drax[/del] Michael Lonsdale) as being another “perfect adaptation of a written story”- it’s completely faithful to the story and an excellent film in its own right. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/86 "2009-10-20T12:08:15Z")
> [@Aquila\_Be](#): > > and all of the criminals as really, incredibly angelic Not all. Remember the guys who raped Andy? ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/87 "2009-10-20T13:11:19Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > 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. Tiny, tiny, tiny nitpick: they should have left out the very last scene in the film. The ending of the novella was perfect… it’s not whether Red makes it, it’s that after decades in a place without hope, he _hopes._ Tacking on that last scene reduces the impact of the ending ever so slightly for me. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/88 "2009-10-20T13:30:23Z")
Just checking in to say the reason I love this movie is not because it’s brilliantly written… it’s because most of it was filmed in my hometown. That prison is on the road between where I grew up and Gramma’s house, so I’ve been by there more times than I can count. I didn’t live there anymore when it was being filmed, so of course I had no idea that there was even a film crew in my hometown. Imagine my delight when I’m watching the movie and when I got to the scene where Andy and his friends are tarring the roof, my eyes narrowed. I thought, “Wow. That looks just like home!” And then the scene where Brooks gets out and works in the grocery store? Again, “Hmmmm… that looks really, \*really \*familiar. Like, I’ve been there familiar.” And yes, my hometown is stuck in the 1950s. So I had to watch every last credit to discover that, in fact, the movie was all filmed in and around where I grew up, so it will always have a special place in my heart. If I ever get homesick, I just watch it again and I’m reminded why I love living in Florida so much. 😃 ---
**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, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/89 "2009-10-20T13:38:56Z")
> [@Aquila\_Be](#): > > The political aspect to that criticism is not really relevant, but the portrayal of all of the prison officers as really, horribly evil and corrupt, and all of the criminals as really, incredibly angelic, struck me as being quite silly. > > Then there’s hero’s use of a tiny geologist’s pick to build a superhighway through the solid concrete of his cell wall (luckily for him the prisoners never had to change cells in twenty years). The newly built cell exit was effectively concealed from prison searches (did they even have them?) by a large pin up poster which got updated every five years. > > I can’t believe how highly this movie’s rated either. Only the warden and Hadley were corrupt-the guard whom Andy locks in the head when he plays the aria seemed on the level. And aside from the sisters of course, I don’t know if I would characterize the likes of Haywood as “angelic.” The second point is more apropos-once the tunnel was completed, drafts would cause the poster to constantly buckle, in and out. Still doesn’t really ruin my love of the film tho. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/90 "2009-10-20T13:45:13Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. There will be payback. In a decade or so, you’ll be talking to some teenager and make a reference to Luke Skywalker or Indiana Jones or E.T. and they’ll look at you blankly. You’ll explain what you meant and express amazement they didn’t get it. “Oh, I never saw Star Wars/Raiders of the Lost Ark/E.T.” “What? How could you not have seen Star Wars/Raiders of the Lost Ark/E.T.?” “I never watch old movies I guess.” “Old movies? These aren’t old movies!” “If you say so. But the oldest movie I ever watched is Titanic.” ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/91 "2009-10-20T15:02:01Z")
[hijack] Last night I was watching Cash Cab with my 85-yr-old dad. There was a question pertaining to _A Christmas Story_, about the BB gun, the Red Ryder. How many times has that movie been on? How many marathons have been run on Christmas eve? The man has NEVER seen the movie. I’m gonna tie him to a chair this Christmas and make him watch the movie. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/92 "2009-10-20T15:04:24Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Not all. Remember the guys who raped Andy? And Andy wasn’t a criminal, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/93 "2009-10-20T16:00:21Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There will be payback. In a decade or so, you’ll be talking to some teenager and make a reference to Luke Skywalker or Indiana Jones or E.T. and they’ll look at you blankly. You’ll explain what you meant and express amazement they didn’t get it. > > “Oh, I never saw Star Wars/Raiders of the Lost Ark/E.T.” > “What? How could you not have seen Star Wars/Raiders of the Lost Ark/E.T.?” > “I never watch old movies I guess.” > “Old movies? These aren’t old movies!” > “If you say so. But the oldest movie I ever watched is Titanic.” Empire Strikes Back was released 8 years before I was born. I’ve seen it about 8 times, and that number is certain to increase. However, I have not seen Casablanca. ---
**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 20, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/94 "2009-10-20T16:36:36Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Empire Strikes Back was released 8 years before I was born. I’ve seen it about 8 times, and that number is certain to increase. > > However, I have not seen Casablanca. _weeps_ ESB is a great movie. But seriously, anybody reading this should see _Casablanca_. I’m begging you, for your own good. ---
**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, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/95 "2009-10-20T16:41:35Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > _weeps_ > > ESB is a great movie. But seriously, anybody reading this should see _Casablanca_. I’m begging you, for your own good. Why? It seems like every line is a cliche. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/96 "2009-10-20T17:50:36Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There will be payback. In a decade or so, you’ll be talking to some teenager and make a reference to Luke Skywalker or Indiana Jones or E.T. and they’ll look at you blankly. You’ll explain what you meant and express amazement they didn’t get it. > > “Oh, I never saw Star Wars/Raiders of the Lost Ark/E.T.” > “What? How could you not have seen Star Wars/Raiders of the Lost Ark/E.T.?” > “I never watch old movies I guess.” > “Old movies? These aren’t old movies!” > “If you say so. But the oldest movie I ever watched is Titanic.” And here I am being remembered, again, of that time I overhead two airheads discussing the first two LotR movies, and one of them complaining that the studios were already cashing in by selling the no doubt spoiler-full novelization of the third flick, like, a year before it comes out. Never before had I wished I had a shovel in the subway. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/97 "2009-10-20T20:28:58Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Only the warden and Hadley were corrupt-the guard whom Andy locks in the head when he plays the aria seemed on the level. And aside from the sisters of course, I don’t know if I would characterize the likes of Haywood as “angelic.” Very true. And the likability of the prisoners shown most often in the movie is largely because this is a narrow, very specific group – the guys who were Andy’s friends. One would only expect that a guy like Andy would befriend the less evil / more sympathetic types. By and large these were the not-as-violent offenders. > [@](#): > > The second point is more apropos-once the tunnel was completed, drafts would cause the poster to constantly buckle, in and out. Still doesn’t really ruin my love of the film tho. Wait … if he’s chopping through a solid wall of cement (and if it’s a tunnel, it must’ve been a tunnel _through_ something), where is the cross-draft coming from? Like many others I adore this movie, even more than the excellent short story. You don’t expect a film about prisoners and brutality and injustice to be so damn beautiful, but it totally is. One of my favorite aspects is that it’s a rare modern film where opera is highlighted for its beauty, the Mozart duet being depicted as sublime and uplifting – no mockery about fat women with horns/shields. The William Sadler character does wish that Andy had played something more modern (I think he mentioned that he wouldve liked Hank Williams?), but that’s only after the fact: as _Sull’aria_ plays, every one of the prisoners seems transfixed. Also like others, _Shawshank_ is a movie I am compelled to watch whenever it’s on TV. I have the DVD but it doesn’t matter – when it’s on live, I’m there. (_Contact_ does that to me too.) ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/98 "2009-10-20T21:18:09Z")
I think it’s rated highly because of the ass-raping. Or maybe it’s the rock hammer. Most Americans can’t resist a movie that features the rock hammer. ---
**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 20, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/99 "2009-10-20T21:26:39Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > And here I am being remembered, again, of that time I overhead two airheads discussing the first two LotR movies, and one of them complaining that the studios were already cashing in by selling the no doubt spoiler-full novelization of the third flick, like, a year before it comes out. > Never before had I wished I had a shovel in the subway. And how that cavetroll was totally stolen from Harry Potter (OMG WTF dude). No. No. I refuse to believe it. Please, admit you were punked that day. Surely, these guys just pretended to be disgustingly stupid to taunt random bystanders. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310/100 "2009-10-20T23:38:05Z")
> [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](#): > > And how that cavetroll was totally stolen from Harry Potter (OMG WTF dude). > > No. No. I refuse to believe it. Please, admit you were punked that day. Surely, these guys just pretended to be disgustingly stupid to taunt random bystanders. It’s possible. When we left FotR the two gentlemen beside us were utterly puzzled by the sudden ending. :headshake: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-shawshank-redemption-rated-so-high/514310.md?page=6)