The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Thriller/Crime
Brutal depiction of life in prison with an inspiring story of wits and perserverance, accompanied with good amount of senseless violence.
Overview: Violent, beautiful music, little positive messages/role models, signficant anti-Christian bias. No romantic interest in this movie, which is surprising since it's one of the highest rated of all time
Sex/Nudity/Pornography 5/5: There is a group of homosexual prisoners who pursue the main character, forcefully subdue him and rape is implied multiple times, with one time a graphic description/threat that they're going to force his d*ck in the Dufresne's mouth and he's gonna have to keep it there. Dufresne replies that he has a reflex that clenches his jaw and it cannot be opened after, which stops them. Clear sex scene with clothes on but with sounds and thrusting against a door, the two are cheating.
Violence 5/5: this movie has a significant amount of violence. A fat, crying prisoner who is new at the prison is beaten unconscious by a guard and someone comments the next morning that he died because the doctor wasn't available. An old man who was in jail for for a long time is released but is unable to adapt to the outside world so he commits suicide and he can be seen writing "Brooks was here" before he kicks the stool and hangs himself, with the camera showing his feet dangling and stopping movement as he dies.
Language 5/5: Warden and others take the Lord's name in vain often. One guard constantly curses, so do the prisoners.
Drinking, drugs and smoking 2/5: Most prisoners smoke cigarettes and use them as currency. One scene of the main character who is drunk on whiskey. One scene of responsible drinking after the main character negotiates a pack of beer with a guard, and they drink after an honest day's work, and the main character doesn't, he just enjoys the moment without drinking.
Virtuous examples 3/5: Dufresne is wrongly convicted in the end, and he has hope and is relentless to do what is right. The viewer can admire his courage, his wits, and his perseverance. He is a man who never gives up. No matter where he is, he’s always finding a way to improve his situation and never settles for less. Even when those around him are lost, he always remains hopeful (“Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies”). He does however steal from another criminal, and runs away with the money to Mexico where he lives the rest of his life by the beach. Red was a criminal, but doesn't do any wrong anymore and is later released. Besides that, there are far more worse examples than good.
Moral lessons 3/5: Hope, courage, perserverance are the main motivators for the main character. He undergoes a cheating wife, rape, wrongful imprisonment, among others, yet he never gives up and ends up escaping and going of to live his dream life by the beach in Mexico.
Anti-Christian Bias 5/5: The Warden of Shawshank prison is shown as a “Christian”, always very well dressed, wears a golden cross lapel pin, but he is shown to be a horrible, evil hypocrite. He says “Rule Number One of the prison is no blasphemy; I won’t have the Lord’s name taken in vain in my prison”, as well as “I believe in two things, discipline, and the bible: here you’ll receive both. Put your trust in the Lord, your ass belongs to me”. He has a bible quote framed up in his office, but keeps his dirty money in a safe right behind it.
To naive and young viewers, this is confusing and makes them angry against Christianity. They will ask themselves after the movie: Are Christians really like that?
This scene can serve as as teaching moment: While the historical impact of Christianity in the prison system has always been and continues to be overwhelmingly positive, this is an example first of the hypocrites that Jesus condemns multiple times (the hypocrites that we are when we commit a sin) and lastly of what anti-Christian writers like Stephen King write into their movies to discourage Christianity. If one grows up consuming this type of content without receiving the antidote of the truth, he will most likely not be a Christian, and that’s what we’re seeing most today. Keep in mind that Stephen King, who is well known for being anti-Christian, says “religion is a very dangerous tool”, and that heaven does not exist. He is infamous for using coke when writing his books, and even wrote a child sex scene into “It”, where 11 year old boys take turns on their 11 year old girl “friend” after defeating the clown Pennywise and then go on to do a blood pact. Shawshank Redemption has nothing like this thankfully. It does have an implicit homosexual gang rape though, which is quite intense and disgusting.
Conclusion: This movie is a brutal depiction of life in prison, with implicit gang rapes, frequent pointless beatings (one until death), one short sex scene involving cheating, and a Warden who pretends to be a goody-two-shoes Christian but ends up being the most evil character in the movie.
It is fitting as a movie for the grownups, but not for the kids. Teenagers should not watch it until they are mature, and take their faith seriously, because they might be confused about the Warden character, and think that prisons and Christians are actually evil like that (good conversation starter).
Despite all that, there are few positive messages. Hope, courage, perserverance are the main motivators for the main character who undergoes a cheating wife, rapes, wrongful imprisonment, extended solitary confinement, enslavement, among other challenges, yet he never gives up and ends up succesfully escaping thanks to his wits and meticulous planning. He goes on to live his dream life by the beach in Mexico, and gives instructions to his friend Red to join him.
Quotes:
Andy Dufresne: “I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living, or get busy dying.”
Final Rating: 9/10