We watched half the film, The Farm: Angola USA. Respond to the film here in a short three paragraph essay (250 words min.). Cite three arguments the directors make and concrete support or evidence for the claims. Don't forget to respond to at least one other student.
Name some of the hidden assumptions about guilt and innocence. Look at the story from the perspectives of the incarcerated men and the prison officials. How effective are the directors in presenting a variety of viewpoints? Is there an implied or unspoken bias? What do the director's think about Angola State Prison? Are they fair to all sides?
What type of reasoning this this: deductive or inductive? How is the profiling of the six men an effective way to tell the story? What surprised you most? How is film an important or useful instrument for argumentation and/or for stories like this?
What does the documentary form say about "best evidence"? Talk about what is stated versus what is implied. See WLTC (Chapter 2 and Exercise 2L page 52)
Complete the film: Visit http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/a-decade-behind-bars-return-to-the-farm-4329/Overview42#tab-Videos/06700_00
The Angola State Prison, once a slave plantation, is similarly conducting a same business as it did in the past, for prisoners were sent to work on the farm at 5:00 AM and getting paid 4 cents an hour to 20 cents an hour. The small number of authorities who gets to decide the fate of the thousands of prisoners are cold and biased as it was demonstrated in Vincent Simmons’s case. Money can buy the system as it was illustrated in George Crawford’s dilemma.
ReplyDeleteThe directors seemed to focus on the perspective of the incarcerated men. I don’t think they were quite effective in presenting a variety of viewpoints, because they did not really showcase the prison officials’ standpoint. The only officials I could remember who even had a significant part on any scenes were the warden and the three parole judges.
There is an implied or unspoken bias that the rich receive fairer trials for according to Crawford’s mother “Money works out a whole lot of stuff.” I think the director’s view on Angola State Prison was not so great. I believe they believe that it could be better and that it should be better. I feel as if they were exploiting the negativities and everything related to the prison. I do not think the directors were fair to all sides. I think they were more emotionally connected to the stories of the six men in which they chose to focus on more throughout the film.
This is an inductive reasoning. The profiling of the six men was a very effective way to tell the story, because in doing so, the viewer gets the personal account of their personal lives, thoughts, and opinions coming directly from them. Hearing them speak of their hopes, fears, and thoughts, while seeing their facial expressions mixed with worries, sadness, and anxieties strengthens the emotional aspect of the film. Moreover, the testimonies of the six men allowed for the opportunity of somewhat having a personal connection with them, because in the end, especially after seeing them wanting to better their lives, the viewer wants circumstances to get better for them.
Vincent Simmons’s case for 2 counts of rape that he was sentenced to serve for 100 years surprised me the most. It surprised me, because the three officials in the hearing whom he was trying to convince of his innocence were very cold, calloused, and unsympathetic. It seemed they’ve already made up their minds before he even walked in through the door to represent himself. When hearing his case it was as if they were just being polite and going through the motions. His fate was decided by their haste decision, while he on the other hand, will probably keep trying in vain. Film is an important and useful instrument for argumentation and for stories like this, because it keeps the audience engaged. Use of film also presents the emotional and dramatic aspects of any issues better than other tactics.
People commonly refer to and treat convicts and prisoners with caution and callousness. They often oversee the fact that prisoners and convicts had their own lives and that they are still human. The documentary, The Farm: Angola USA, put faces on the many prisoners of the former slave plantation and the largest prison in America today, Angola. The directors of the film, The Farm: Angola USA, argues that slavery still exists in America, that most black men in prison are unjustly placed in there, and that rehabilitation works.
ReplyDeleteSlavery still exists in America, in the form of prisons. Prisoners are forced to work from dawn to dusk for less than reasonable pay. An overwhelming majority of the inmates in Angola are African American as well. Four of the African American inmates that were interviewed all said that they were innocent and were placed in jail without sufficient evidence and proper trial while the two white inmates interviewed admitted to their crimes. One of the interviewees, Vincent Simmons, said that even though his accuser admitted that she can't identify her rapist even if he was presented before her, he was punished. The directors intentionally created this to show that black men are easily incarcerated while the white men who are in the jail went through careful scrutiny to confirm that they were the perpetrators before they are incarcerated. The director is also an advocate of the rehabilitation of prisoners over the death penalty. All the prisoners interviewed was shown to have changed from when they were initially placed in jail. The white prisoner that killed his wife said that he realized, the second he was placed into jail that he had gone wrong when he only valued material things. After the panel rejected John Brown's request for a pardon, the director showed a clip of a truck driver talking about christianity and forgiveness. The director shows that prisoners, no matter how bad the crime they committed, have the potential to change and to become better citizens.
Some of the hidden assumptions in this film are that all parole judges in Angola are biased. The director showed that these three parole judges were sympathetic to a white woman but were not to a black man. There may have been incidents were parole were granted to black men and not to white women, but no statistics were presented; nonetheless, the incident shown was outrageous and unjust. The director did not interview black men who admitted to their crimes and white men who felt that they were placed in Angola unjustly. The unspoken bias here would be that black men are easily incarcerated while white men aren't. The director thinks that Angola State Prison is like a slave plantation. The director isn't exactly fair to all sides, like parole judges and prisoners, but the overall idea is probably true for the majority of the inmates. The reasoning is inductive. The director gives a series of specific personal examples from prisoners and in the end makes general statements about forgiveness and the lack of justice given to the prisoners.
Both critiques raise important issues. Sherry the woman at the parole hearing is the victim. Angola is a all male prison now and it was a former slave plantation which incarcerates the descendents of the formerly enslaved by the former slave owner's descendents.
ReplyDeleteWhat irony.
Bernadette, I like the specificity of your examples and your quote. Your response shows a clear grasp of the key arguments, spoken and implied. Your analysis addresses the astrengths and weaknesses in the directors' argument.
In the next cyber assignment, reread the essay response before posting, both could use additional editing.
Black people were slaves for 400- 500 years. Working on plantations and in homes, taking care of babies and washing clothes. The work was tedious and it was rare that they were given breaks to recuperate from all the work they had done. But in addition to raising white people's families some slaves had families of there own to provide for. However, they worked for little or no money. Survival was hard and not all slaves got to see and feel freedom.
ReplyDeleteThis is much like the story of many men that are locked up at Angola State Prison. These men wake up at the crack of dawn much like some of their ancestors did during slavery. They wake up early to do work on the farm while getting paid as little as 4 cents an hour and up to 20 cents depending on the work they do. And we like to believe slavery is over; well for these men it isn't, and some of them will never be free.
The Farm: Angola USA, a documentary was filmed at the state penitentiary in Louisiana which, is called Angola because slaves from Angola Africa were brought to the plantation. The documentary that explores the lives of men that have been incarcerated for numerous reasons, gives a succinct yet detailed synopsis of life behind bars. From check in to 23 hours locked up in a cell and 1 hour outside of bars only to feel caged in again; men tell their stories of rapping, robbing and killing.
Some of the men both black and white speak into the camera telling their story. One man who was black, had a life sentence for murder. He said, "everything I did, I didn't get caught for but, it caught up with me." He made bad decisions and eventually he faced the consequences of his actions. Another guy that was white and in jail for life for killing his wife, expressed that it is possible to live your life while doing time in jail. There are some rehab programs that allow you to get your license doing different types of work.
The different perspective of these men of different backgrounds shows the bias that black men are angered and not free while white men have a feeling of comfort when doing time in jail because there is still the opportunity to learn and work.
I like what Sherry mentioned that these men that are incarcerated are still humans regardless of their convictions. Also, she touched on slavery still existing with in the prison system which I agree with.
I agree with many of Sherry’s statements in her response. The one that stood out to me the most was the prisoner’s change in character from when they were initially placed in jail. One of the white prisoners named “Bones,” did in fact realize his wrongdoing. I did remember him mentioning how he valued materialistic things which he later learned were not valuable at all. I was fond of “Bones” and his personal testimony. He seems very experienced and philosophical. The three parole judges who were significant in Vincent Simmons’s case were only sympathetic to the white women but lacking sympathy for Vincent. Thus, further supporting the assumption that they were indeed biased. Like Gzzle, I too appreciated Sherry’s introduction in which she acknowledged that the prisoners are human beings, but nonetheless, are treated with callousness.
ReplyDeleteAngola penitentiary was a plantation for hundreds of years but when slavery was outlawed the plantation was turned in to a prison. Angola is known as the bloodiest prison in the U.S. and has been around for more than one hundred years .The prison is made up of few white men and around eighty percent black men who work daily in the crop fields under the surveillance of armed guards. The guards are predominantly white with only a few black guards. Several of the prisoners in the movie are serving sixty years to life sentences and many claim to be wrongfully incarcerated. One example is Vincent Simmons who was charged with aggravated rape and has been researching his conviction for 20 years while in prison. He receives a parole hearing during the film where he shows evidence that proves his innocence. The parole board listens to what he has to say but then deny his parole without even discussing the evidence. Eighty five percent of the prisoners that enter Angola die there. An example of this is Logan Theriar who dies during the film after living in the infirmary for several months. The heath care in Angola because of its reputation is better than many people receive outside of prison. The focus of the movie is on the prisoner’s outlook of Angola except when interviewing the warden who talks about the food the prisoners receive and not the real issue of the movie. Many of the men within the walls of Angola are serving sentences that out weight the crime they have been convicted of.
ReplyDeleteThe Angola Prison now compared to back in the days hasn't been much of a changed. Back then it was a slave plantation, and now it is a prison for people that are usually kept there for life sentence. We saw in the movie that the people in the jail have to wake up every single morning and go out to the fields to work the crops for a few cents a day same as back in the days. The director doesn't profile the people that are in that prison because out of the 6 people that they interviwed have both white and black people. While interviewing the prisoners they each share their own story about how they were sent to prison for life. Out of the six prisoner that were interviwed Vincent one of whom claims that he was innocent because he was accused of rape, as he was in jail everyday he kept gathering evidence to prove his innocence, and ask the parolees to grant him a date in court to prove himself. As a day came for him to meet with the parolees he walked into the room, the parolees started off by asking Vincent how long he's been in Angola, and if he committed the crime he was accused of, and his response was no. As Vincent pulled out the evidence that took him over 25 years to gather, the parolees looked it over for 2 minutes and asked the Vincent to step out of the room so they can make a decision. As Vincent stepped out the three parolees started talking, and they were saying to one another that of course the man did the crime, and denied his request to see his day in court. The scene of this made me angry because of the way Vincent was treated in that room, and how he never really had a chance to really prove his innocence even though he had all the evidence ready. As Sean stated
ReplyDelete"Many of the men within the walls of Angola are serving sentences that out weight the crime they have been convicted of."
We do not know if every single person in Angola prison is 100% guilty, and yet we will never know due to the way the law system works there.
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ReplyDeleteThis film gives us insights into the value of freedom from the point of view of the long-time prisoner, and psychological mechanisms by which such prisoners attempt to deal with their plights, including at least one on death row. If you know someone you think might be headed for a life of crime, this should be your special gift for them. It might even be required viewing for the unruly adolescent boys in the family. This film would likely make one think twice or three times before committing a felony. The value of not being in prison has never been clearer to me.
ReplyDeleteThe warden comes across as a pretty interesting character. We see an actual parole board hearing, which is fascinating, as well as a hearing before a board of pardons. Therein lay some interesting insights into the victims' perspectives, which contrast sharply with the perspectives of the prisoners, and even that of the prison warden.
It gives only a very faint outline of some portions of the history and structure of the Angola prison. Angola is not what this film is really about.