How The Shawshank Redemption Humanizes Prisoners

On a narrative level The Shawshank Redemption is a movie about the power of hope in the face of extraordinary hardship. But underpinning Andy Dufresne’s story we also find a blistering critique of the prison system and criminal justice policy in the United States.

VIDEO LINK FOR EDUCATORS
• Internet Archived video link + download

RESOURCES
• Just Detention International
Statistics and facts about sexual violence
How to support male survivors
Criminal Justice and Prison Facts

REFERENCES
Ava DuVernay’s documentary The 13th
Watch The 13th on Netflix
The Race Gap in US Prisons
Biden’s Crime Bill Speech Is Worse Than You Think
Rope Needs More Gay by Rantasmo

CITED ARTICLES
LA Times movie review, September 23, 1994:
Washington Post movie review, September 23, 1994:

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Full text transcript coming soon

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