Movies You Should Watch Before Suicide: The Shawshank Redemption

On a rather well-known website, I saw a list of films entitled "Before You Wanna Commit Suicide, Watch These First".  I was intrigued.  So, I took a look at the list.  There were 692 titles.  I don't know about anyone else, but, that seems to me to be something of an absorbitant list.  It got me to thinking about what would make these movies something a person should see in the face of considering suicide.  (According to the author of the list, it's not really about preventing anyone from killing themselves or dying or whatever.  It's just a list of really, really good movies that you really, really should see.  A better way of saying it might be "Movies You Should See Before You Die", or something like that.  You know, like a movie "bucket list".)  Actual intentions notwithstanding, the title got me to thinking about what it actually said.  As I examined the list, I asked myself, "What would I like to see if I were actually considering ending my life?"  Of course, being the habitual over-thinker that I am, I started to categorize what I might look for in that state of mind.  I narrowed it down to two categories that seemed appropriate.  Inspiration or escape.  Or some combination of the two. 

For myself, were I to reach a state of mind where suicide was an acceptable option, my choice of movies (if I were to go the route of seeking solace in movies) would be about "taking the edge off".  It would be about minimizing the depression or despair that would accompany the consideration of suicide.  Hence the resort to inspiration or escape.  This helped me to thin out the choice of films quite considerably. 

The first of the films on the list that fit either one or some percentage of both of the aforementioned categories was "The Shawshank Redemption".  As a matter of note, I would place this film in the category of inspirational (specifically with respect to the aforementioned state of mind).  The setting of this film is something that I would consider a bit "dark".  Its "darkness", however, wouldn't be about any level of evil, but about the despair present in the circumstances of the main character.  This would probably be why I might be attracted to this kind of movie in that state of mind. 

Based on a short story by Stephen King, "The Shawshank Redemption", directed by Frank Darabont, starring Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, Mark Rolston, and James Whitmore, tells of a young banking executive who is wrongfully convicted of the murder of his wife and her lover.  During his time in prison, he is victimized by a prison gang on a regular basis until his friendship with an entrepreneurial inmate provides an opportunity to reap unexpected benefits from his knowledge and experience as a finance executive.  After enduring 19 years of prison life, usable evidence of his innocence in the form of a cellmate-to-cellmate confession from the true killer of his wife and her lover comes to his attention.  But his hopes are dashed by the warden who is exploiting his financial experience for his own gain.  After being cruelly punished for his protests, he decides enough is enough. 

"The Shawshank Redemption" is a well told story of adversity and triumph.  The shock of the realization of the worst development in a person's life can be seen on the face of the main character at the moment of his sentencing.  The look of one forced to the realization that his life, for all intents and practical purposes, is over, punctuates the beginning of the film and his journey through the 19 years of trials and triumphs that make up his incarceration.  Adversity meets triumph as the oppression at the hands of "the sisters" is brought to an end by the allies he makes among the corrupt guards.  Triumph meets adversity when hope of his release is answered with cruel punishment.  Between these points and throughout the film, there is both the turbulent struggle to survive prison life and the execution and fruition of a long term, quietly implemented plan.  All of which is topped off with an awesome touch of vengence and justice.  What makes the "cherry on top" at the end of the movie is that the story, which began in the gloom of prison walls, ends on a bright sunny beach under an open, clear sky, next to a boundless ocean.  If this doesn't make you feel better, nothing will.

I can't tell you much more about this movie without telling you the entire film.  Being the well told story that it is, it is easy to get caught up.  One of the things that stood out to me was the portrayal of the despair that is a part of long term incarceration.  In the course of the story, one of the characters, after serving 50 years, is released on parole.  Having been incarcerated as a relatively young man, he is released as a senior citizen.  Surprisingly enough, he has no wish to be released.  He has become what the main character's friend describes as "institutionalized".  Prison life has become the whole of his existence.  Life outside of prison fills him with fear.  Unable to adapt, he is overwhelmed by futureshock.  When the main character's friend is released after 40 years, he experiences the same fear and loneliness.  That is, until he remembers the favor the main character asked him.  "The Shawshank Redemption" is a story with stories in it, all of them good, and all of them connected in one way or another.

If I were of a mind to end my life, and of a mind to seek solace in film, this would be one I might choose.  Watching this would have the potential to take enough of the edge off to get me to change my mind.