Sep
29
The Green Mile, a Stephen King Movie
Filed Under Movies | Leave a Comment
The Green Mile is a movie about a series of events on Louisiana death row in the 1930s. The original story was written by Stephen King. The movie was directed by Frank Darabont, who wrote the screenplay. Tom Hanks stars as the main character Paul Edgecomb, Michael Clarke Duncan co-stars as John Coffey.
The movie centres on Paul Edgecomb, head of the guard of a death row facility. Paul and his guards take custody of an unusual inmate, John Coffey. Coffey is a gigantic yet extremely compassionate and gentle man. Coffey has been convicted of raping and killing two young girls. At first the guards are wary of Coffey, but his kind nature soon changes the guards perception of him.
John Coffey soon displays extraordinary healing powers. He heels Paul Edgecomb’s urinary infection, and brings back to life a mouse killed by another inmate. The guards realise that Coffey has supernatural powers, and that they will be lost when he is executed.
The wife of the warden of the correctional facility is terminally ill. Paul Edgecomb is upset by this news of his friend. The guards develop a plan to smuggle John Coffey out of the prison, to the warden’s house, to cure the warden’s wife, and then return Coffey to The Green Mile. They all risk their jobs, and possibly becoming criminals themselves to move Coffey in and out of the prison. Coffey is taken to the warden’s house, where he removes the disease from the warden’s wife.
The story also contains the character Percy Wetmore. Percy is a vicious and unpleasant prison officer. He intimidates and injures the inmates. He is unlike the other guards, who are firm but compassionate prison officers, and is not liked. Wetmore agrees to transfer to a different position if he is in charge of the next execution. A reluctant agreement is made. However, Wetmore sabotages the electrocution, causing maximum suffering to the inmate.
John Coffey seeks revenge on Percy Wetmore, for the pain he caused the inmate during the electrocution. After Coffey is returned to The Green Mile, from the warden’s house, he transfers the disease he removed from the warden’s wife to Percy. Percy is then set in a permanent catatonic state.
A violent prisoner called William Wharton arrives at The Green Mile. During one scene Wharton grabs the arm of Coffey, who sees that Wharton is the true killer of the girls for which Coffey has been sentenced to death. Coffey then uses his powers to transfer this image to Paul Edgecomb, the head of the guard.
With this information Paul Edgecomb still has to execute John Coffey. A man he knows is innocent and who posses’ incredible powers.
The movie is told in flashback. Paul is now an elderly main, and is explaining the series of events to another resident in his care home. After the story is told Edgecomb reveals that he is now 108 years old. This is an apparent side effect of John Coffey’s life giving powers. However, Paul believes his outliving of his relatives and friends is a punishment from God for not stopping Coffey’s execution.
The Louisiana death row is called The Green Mile because death row is often called “the last mile”. In Louisiana the floor is green.
The Green Mile was written by Stephen King. King has written two prison stories, The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption. Both were adapted to movies, and directed by Frank Darabont.
The Green Mile was nominated for four Academy Awards in 2000. These were Best Actor in A Supporting Role, Best Picture, Best Sound and Best Writing: Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published. It won none of these awards.
By: Darren Lambert
The movie centres on Paul Edgecomb, head of the guard of a death row facility. Paul and his guards take custody of an unusual inmate, John Coffey. Coffey is a gigantic yet extremely compassionate and gentle man. Coffey has been convicted of raping and killing two young girls. At first the guards are wary of Coffey, but his kind nature soon changes the guards perception of him.
John Coffey soon displays extraordinary healing powers. He heels Paul Edgecomb’s urinary infection, and brings back to life a mouse killed by another inmate. The guards realise that Coffey has supernatural powers, and that they will be lost when he is executed.
The wife of the warden of the correctional facility is terminally ill. Paul Edgecomb is upset by this news of his friend. The guards develop a plan to smuggle John Coffey out of the prison, to the warden’s house, to cure the warden’s wife, and then return Coffey to The Green Mile. They all risk their jobs, and possibly becoming criminals themselves to move Coffey in and out of the prison. Coffey is taken to the warden’s house, where he removes the disease from the warden’s wife.
The story also contains the character Percy Wetmore. Percy is a vicious and unpleasant prison officer. He intimidates and injures the inmates. He is unlike the other guards, who are firm but compassionate prison officers, and is not liked. Wetmore agrees to transfer to a different position if he is in charge of the next execution. A reluctant agreement is made. However, Wetmore sabotages the electrocution, causing maximum suffering to the inmate.
John Coffey seeks revenge on Percy Wetmore, for the pain he caused the inmate during the electrocution. After Coffey is returned to The Green Mile, from the warden’s house, he transfers the disease he removed from the warden’s wife to Percy. Percy is then set in a permanent catatonic state.
A violent prisoner called William Wharton arrives at The Green Mile. During one scene Wharton grabs the arm of Coffey, who sees that Wharton is the true killer of the girls for which Coffey has been sentenced to death. Coffey then uses his powers to transfer this image to Paul Edgecomb, the head of the guard.
With this information Paul Edgecomb still has to execute John Coffey. A man he knows is innocent and who posses’ incredible powers.
The movie is told in flashback. Paul is now an elderly main, and is explaining the series of events to another resident in his care home. After the story is told Edgecomb reveals that he is now 108 years old. This is an apparent side effect of John Coffey’s life giving powers. However, Paul believes his outliving of his relatives and friends is a punishment from God for not stopping Coffey’s execution.
The Louisiana death row is called The Green Mile because death row is often called “the last mile”. In Louisiana the floor is green.
The Green Mile was written by Stephen King. King has written two prison stories, The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption. Both were adapted to movies, and directed by Frank Darabont.
The Green Mile was nominated for four Academy Awards in 2000. These were Best Actor in A Supporting Role, Best Picture, Best Sound and Best Writing: Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published. It won none of these awards.
By: Darren Lambert
Sep
19
what steps should I take to become a corrections officer (prison guard,not local county)?
Filed Under Law Enforcement Police | 2 Comments
What are the physical fitness requirements(New Mexico)? Any other tips or advice?
Sep
10
Women in Prison Cinema
Filed Under Art And Entertainment | Leave a Comment
Women in Prison Cinema
by Robert Meeks
Firehoses, handcuffs, chains; the ingredients needed by an emergency response team?
No; just a few of the ingredients possible in any good Women In Prison ( WIP ) Flick. To that, we can add shower scenes, lashings, baton beatings, sweat, nudity…oh, and let’s not forget the all important lesbian scenes.
WIP flicks have a certain charm to them; they are frankly our fantasies of the taboo molestation and imprisonment of women brought to the screen for our enjoyment. Let’s face it, we enjoy the fantasy of being able to imprison a woman ( too many men practice this today in what we call bad marriages ), tie her up, strip her nude, wash her down, watch her squirm in mud, and see her and another woman fulfill each other’s sexual desires.
In many parts of the world, supposedly, this type of treatment is against the law ( apparently abusive marriages are not, though ). Enter the third world nation.
Oppressive regimes and banana republics have been fodder ( and well deserved ) for the plots of many WIP flicks. This has a multifold reason: 1) tropical, if not hot and sweaty, locales are ideal for working women in the nude; 2) as the republics often represented are small, not on any map, nations, the filmmakers can take complete liberty with the story, even having a dictatorship overthrown; 3) being that it is an oppressive regime, the heroine of the film could very well be in prison on false charges, which would, supposedly, make her fight more sympathetic; 4) as it is a third world country, being participants of a relatively cushy lifestyle in comparison, who gives a damn about them? ( that part is sad )
Despite the popularity of plots involving third world countries in WIP flicks, they have not completely cornered the market, as many WIP flicks have been based in the United States, or other prominent countries as well. Regardless of the setting for the WIP flick, there are elements which most, if not all have in common among their diversity of plots ( okay, I damn near laughed myself to death too when I said diversity ).
If we look at the plots of several different WIP flicks, though we may well see different paddings to the plots, we can discover almost generic plot elements shared among many of them.
The Heroine: The main character in the WIP flick is the primary focus of the story. Though she may or may not be imprisoned under false pretenses, regarless of the reason for her incarceration, her’s is a righteous cause. We are brought to sympathize with her character for one of several possible reasons:
1) She is an innocent (whether she is guilty of a crime or not) being initiated into a cruel system.
2) She is a veteran of the system, yet, it has not gotten to her as it has the others and she uses her experience to either fight the system or to protect others in the system.
3) She is a plant either by the government, revolutionaries, or independent contractors looking for corruption in the system or overthrow a government.
The System: The most universal plot element among WIP flicks is that the system is always corrupt. Regardless of any political message or not (and, frankly, try real hard to find one), the system is always worse than any of the inmates which builds sympathy for the characters despite how bad they may be.
The Antagonists: I think that we can safely and universally use the word BITCH here. Although the antagonists in a WIP flick may primarily be a warden or guards, there is almost always a female character who is either out to get the heroine, or is in cahoots with an authority figure. There is a degree of poetic justice which comes in a WIP flick as, regardless how much of a bitch the antagonist is, she will always get what’s coming to her in the end (uh…not literally).
The Mentor: Important to any prison film, whether it is women in prison or not, is the inmate who has been around, often a lifer, yet has not been corrupted by the system. Often they have a desire to see someone give it to the system, or perhaps have a score to settle with a warden. Regardless what drives them, they are willing to makes sacrifices to help the heroine in her cause; and they will have the satisfaction of knowing what they did, or even dying with the knowledge of having given the system the finger.
The Innocent: Despite the characters which are portrayed to inhabit a women’s prison, a universal plot device is to have one prisoner who is almost childlike and needs the protection of someone else. This element serves not only to impact a certain degree of sympathy for the cause of the uh…good side, but it also further defines just how bad the baddies can be as they will almost assuredly violate the innocent.
The Sympathizer: Regardless of how bad everybody else in an authority position is, there has to be one who understands the plight of the prisoners. The sympathizer is a character who either works at the prison or has a reason to be at the prison and is in a position to help the heroine. Frequently, the sympathizer is a doctor. For some reason, the scriptwriters for WIP flicks think that doctors are good people; they obviously have not spent much time around a hospital.
The Cause: Central to all movies, and WIP flicks are no exception, is a reason as to why the plot has to be. Perhaps WIP flicks make blatant use of this element more unashamedly than other genres of film. In a WIP flick, there is an underlying cause as to why the heroine, and her supporters, must do what they have to do; whether it be punishing an unjust warden and guards or overthrowing a corrupt third world dictator.
The Final Conflict: WIP flicks, like any movie, must have a climax (now kindly remove your mind from the gutter). There must be some kind of showdown, prison escape, or overthrowing of an authority figure. This satifies the viewer’s desire that there was a purpose to the cause at hand. The more antagonists that are killed, or imprisoned themselves, the more gratifying the conclusion.
Yes, WIP flicks do share several elements among themselves, but they are really no different in basic plot than any other movie. In any film, we have protagonists, antagonists, ancillary support characters, a cause, and a climax. Where WIP flicks up the ante is in the addition of wanton nudity and lesbianism which, even without the afforementioned ingredients, is more than enough to satisfy many viewers alone.
Bob
This article is copyrighted 2006 by Robert Meeks. All rights reserved. Webmasters are allowed to use this article on their site so long as the content and copyright information stays intact and a link is provided, on the same page as the article, to Zhorkow’s CargoShip.
By: Robert Meeks
by Robert Meeks
Firehoses, handcuffs, chains; the ingredients needed by an emergency response team?
No; just a few of the ingredients possible in any good Women In Prison ( WIP ) Flick. To that, we can add shower scenes, lashings, baton beatings, sweat, nudity…oh, and let’s not forget the all important lesbian scenes.
WIP flicks have a certain charm to them; they are frankly our fantasies of the taboo molestation and imprisonment of women brought to the screen for our enjoyment. Let’s face it, we enjoy the fantasy of being able to imprison a woman ( too many men practice this today in what we call bad marriages ), tie her up, strip her nude, wash her down, watch her squirm in mud, and see her and another woman fulfill each other’s sexual desires.
In many parts of the world, supposedly, this type of treatment is against the law ( apparently abusive marriages are not, though ). Enter the third world nation.
Oppressive regimes and banana republics have been fodder ( and well deserved ) for the plots of many WIP flicks. This has a multifold reason: 1) tropical, if not hot and sweaty, locales are ideal for working women in the nude; 2) as the republics often represented are small, not on any map, nations, the filmmakers can take complete liberty with the story, even having a dictatorship overthrown; 3) being that it is an oppressive regime, the heroine of the film could very well be in prison on false charges, which would, supposedly, make her fight more sympathetic; 4) as it is a third world country, being participants of a relatively cushy lifestyle in comparison, who gives a damn about them? ( that part is sad )
Despite the popularity of plots involving third world countries in WIP flicks, they have not completely cornered the market, as many WIP flicks have been based in the United States, or other prominent countries as well. Regardless of the setting for the WIP flick, there are elements which most, if not all have in common among their diversity of plots ( okay, I damn near laughed myself to death too when I said diversity ).
If we look at the plots of several different WIP flicks, though we may well see different paddings to the plots, we can discover almost generic plot elements shared among many of them.
The Heroine: The main character in the WIP flick is the primary focus of the story. Though she may or may not be imprisoned under false pretenses, regarless of the reason for her incarceration, her’s is a righteous cause. We are brought to sympathize with her character for one of several possible reasons:
1) She is an innocent (whether she is guilty of a crime or not) being initiated into a cruel system.
2) She is a veteran of the system, yet, it has not gotten to her as it has the others and she uses her experience to either fight the system or to protect others in the system.
3) She is a plant either by the government, revolutionaries, or independent contractors looking for corruption in the system or overthrow a government.
The System: The most universal plot element among WIP flicks is that the system is always corrupt. Regardless of any political message or not (and, frankly, try real hard to find one), the system is always worse than any of the inmates which builds sympathy for the characters despite how bad they may be.
The Antagonists: I think that we can safely and universally use the word BITCH here. Although the antagonists in a WIP flick may primarily be a warden or guards, there is almost always a female character who is either out to get the heroine, or is in cahoots with an authority figure. There is a degree of poetic justice which comes in a WIP flick as, regardless how much of a bitch the antagonist is, she will always get what’s coming to her in the end (uh…not literally).
The Mentor: Important to any prison film, whether it is women in prison or not, is the inmate who has been around, often a lifer, yet has not been corrupted by the system. Often they have a desire to see someone give it to the system, or perhaps have a score to settle with a warden. Regardless what drives them, they are willing to makes sacrifices to help the heroine in her cause; and they will have the satisfaction of knowing what they did, or even dying with the knowledge of having given the system the finger.
The Innocent: Despite the characters which are portrayed to inhabit a women’s prison, a universal plot device is to have one prisoner who is almost childlike and needs the protection of someone else. This element serves not only to impact a certain degree of sympathy for the cause of the uh…good side, but it also further defines just how bad the baddies can be as they will almost assuredly violate the innocent.
The Sympathizer: Regardless of how bad everybody else in an authority position is, there has to be one who understands the plight of the prisoners. The sympathizer is a character who either works at the prison or has a reason to be at the prison and is in a position to help the heroine. Frequently, the sympathizer is a doctor. For some reason, the scriptwriters for WIP flicks think that doctors are good people; they obviously have not spent much time around a hospital.
The Cause: Central to all movies, and WIP flicks are no exception, is a reason as to why the plot has to be. Perhaps WIP flicks make blatant use of this element more unashamedly than other genres of film. In a WIP flick, there is an underlying cause as to why the heroine, and her supporters, must do what they have to do; whether it be punishing an unjust warden and guards or overthrowing a corrupt third world dictator.
The Final Conflict: WIP flicks, like any movie, must have a climax (now kindly remove your mind from the gutter). There must be some kind of showdown, prison escape, or overthrowing of an authority figure. This satifies the viewer’s desire that there was a purpose to the cause at hand. The more antagonists that are killed, or imprisoned themselves, the more gratifying the conclusion.
Yes, WIP flicks do share several elements among themselves, but they are really no different in basic plot than any other movie. In any film, we have protagonists, antagonists, ancillary support characters, a cause, and a climax. Where WIP flicks up the ante is in the addition of wanton nudity and lesbianism which, even without the afforementioned ingredients, is more than enough to satisfy many viewers alone.
Bob
This article is copyrighted 2006 by Robert Meeks. All rights reserved. Webmasters are allowed to use this article on their site so long as the content and copyright information stays intact and a link is provided, on the same page as the article, to Zhorkow’s CargoShip.
By: Robert Meeks
Sep
8
Sales Lessons From the Auto Industry
Filed Under Business | Leave a Comment
Back in 2005, my little red Celica gave up the ghost. I loved that car, but after 178,000 miles in four years, it was time to get a new vehicle. Since it had been such a great car, I decided to simply get a new one. I walked into the Toyota dealership ready to buy. It was then that my nightmare began. Here’s what I learned:
1) Poor greetings anger the customer. I walked straight into the dealership, dressed nicely, with checkbook in hand. No one greeted me. Several salesmen avoided eye contact. I finally went to the sales manager’s desk (positioned to overlook the whole showroom like a prison guard) and he told me to wait, that someone would be with me in a minute and returned to his phone call. Hello! Show some enthusiasm, salespeople! I’m about to make a major purchase and you don’t seem to give a damn! Was it because I was a woman with no man to help poor little ‘ol me buy a car? Or was it because they didn’t know how to greet anyone? We’ll never know.
2) A lack of product knowledge can kill you. I knew exactly what I wanted – a brand new, red Celica. I was ready to pay cash. I just wanted to see the car. They said they didn’t have any on the lot. I said the 2005 had some features that were different from the 2000 and I wanted to see them. (I had done my homework). They didn’t even have a photograph of the 2005 Celica! When I asked about the wheels (some come with special alloy wheels) the salesman replied, “Well, they’re round.” Now I was really angry.
3) No one likes the hard sell and other tricky sales techniques. Well, I was pretty unhappy with these guys, but I wanted the Celica. Once I’d get angry with the salesman, they’d switch and send in the sales manager. I’d make them an offer and they’d keep me waiting while they went to see if they could get it approved. They were jerking me around and I knew it. My love of the Celica was the only thing keeping me there. Note to car salesmen – we know you are jerking us around and we don’t like it. You are making your customers your enemies. No one likes dealing with you.
4) The Internet changes everything. I escaped with my life (barely). I had to write up a sales order (noncommittal – no $) for them to agree to get the Celica on the lot so I could see it. In the meantime, I visited my Pop in Hilton Head. He got a quote over the Net for $1,000 less with no negotiation! The Internet took all the pain out of it – no switching people, no putting you in tiny rooms with finance guys. I decided I should use the ‘Net myself and got a quote on another car (I was pretty unhappy with Toyota) – the 350Z – one sweet ride if I say so myself. Vincent Elliott, the Internet Sales Manager at Michael Jordan Nissan, responded immediately to my e-mail with a good price on the Z. And he was enthusiastic about my inquiry! Yes, I felt it through his e-mail! I also should tell you some Nissan dealers didn’t even bother to respond to my request (too bad for them). The first time I walked into the dealership, Vincent was there (on his usual day off) with a big smile. I left driving a gorgeous, FireStar red 350Z.
Enthusiasm and honesty sell, tricks and high pressure cost you customers. When will salespeople (and sales managers) learn?
By: Denise Ryan
1) Poor greetings anger the customer. I walked straight into the dealership, dressed nicely, with checkbook in hand. No one greeted me. Several salesmen avoided eye contact. I finally went to the sales manager’s desk (positioned to overlook the whole showroom like a prison guard) and he told me to wait, that someone would be with me in a minute and returned to his phone call. Hello! Show some enthusiasm, salespeople! I’m about to make a major purchase and you don’t seem to give a damn! Was it because I was a woman with no man to help poor little ‘ol me buy a car? Or was it because they didn’t know how to greet anyone? We’ll never know.
2) A lack of product knowledge can kill you. I knew exactly what I wanted – a brand new, red Celica. I was ready to pay cash. I just wanted to see the car. They said they didn’t have any on the lot. I said the 2005 had some features that were different from the 2000 and I wanted to see them. (I had done my homework). They didn’t even have a photograph of the 2005 Celica! When I asked about the wheels (some come with special alloy wheels) the salesman replied, “Well, they’re round.” Now I was really angry.
3) No one likes the hard sell and other tricky sales techniques. Well, I was pretty unhappy with these guys, but I wanted the Celica. Once I’d get angry with the salesman, they’d switch and send in the sales manager. I’d make them an offer and they’d keep me waiting while they went to see if they could get it approved. They were jerking me around and I knew it. My love of the Celica was the only thing keeping me there. Note to car salesmen – we know you are jerking us around and we don’t like it. You are making your customers your enemies. No one likes dealing with you.
4) The Internet changes everything. I escaped with my life (barely). I had to write up a sales order (noncommittal – no $) for them to agree to get the Celica on the lot so I could see it. In the meantime, I visited my Pop in Hilton Head. He got a quote over the Net for $1,000 less with no negotiation! The Internet took all the pain out of it – no switching people, no putting you in tiny rooms with finance guys. I decided I should use the ‘Net myself and got a quote on another car (I was pretty unhappy with Toyota) – the 350Z – one sweet ride if I say so myself. Vincent Elliott, the Internet Sales Manager at Michael Jordan Nissan, responded immediately to my e-mail with a good price on the Z. And he was enthusiastic about my inquiry! Yes, I felt it through his e-mail! I also should tell you some Nissan dealers didn’t even bother to respond to my request (too bad for them). The first time I walked into the dealership, Vincent was there (on his usual day off) with a big smile. I left driving a gorgeous, FireStar red 350Z.
Enthusiasm and honesty sell, tricks and high pressure cost you customers. When will salespeople (and sales managers) learn?
By: Denise Ryan