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October 1995, Week 2

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Subject:
From:
David Smith <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 13 Oct 1995 13:15:39 -0300
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>I agree with the inclusion of "No Escape" in this thread.  One could do a
>wonderful Foucauldlian analysis with this flick.  The notion that the prison
>and criminals are ultimately "hidden" on an island is particularly relevant to
>Foucault's _Discipline and Punish_.  It is almost ironic that the "prison" in
>this case is somewhat of a utopia/dystopia.  The "criminals" can interact with
>nature and their fellow humans on a thoreauvian basis in idyllic rapture among
>the trees and farms.  Thus, the "prison" is bounded only by the imagination of
>the people living in the utopia; that is, the "criminals" are able to do what
>many writers for generations have been desirous of - the freedom to "live off
>the land" and all that pastoral crapola.  Anyway, a different perspective on
>the prison.
 
I feel this misrepresents, perhaps even wildly, the circumstances of the
prisoners on the supposed "utopia". First of all, they are under constant
seige by the rival, anarchic gang. Hence the 20-foot high stockade. Second,
their overriding object is to escape their precarious exile over
shark-infested waters, by evading the elaborate electronic surveillance of
the authorities. This ain't no utopia, and any writers desirous of such a
wonderful life should all have decamped to the Duvaliers' Haiti while they
still had the chance (that's the nearest real-life analogy I can think of
off the top of my head).
 
David Smith
(902)454-3087
[log in to unmask]
 
"Multimedia Design Studio"--
http://www.isisnet.com/dsmith/index.html
 
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