Dead Man Walking
Dead Man WalkingDead Man Walking
The film �Dead Man Walking� is a film about redemption. The film is
directed by Tim Robbins. Susan Sarandon plays a Nun called Sister Helen
Prejean. She is asked by a convicted murderer to get him a lawyer, and then
later is asked to be his spiritual advisor. The convicted killer is named
Matthew Poncelet, and he is played by Sean Penn. The film is set in the
Angola state penitentiary, in Louisiana. Matthew Poncelet first asks her to
get him a lawyer so he can repeal his Death sentence. Sister Helen gets him a
lawyer, but they fail after several good attempts to get him off death row.
Sister Helen begins to come to him almost every day after Poncelet asks her
to be his spiritual advisor on the day of his death. During this phase of the
film Sister Helen tries to get Poncelet to tell her about his own life. Poncelet
tells her about his life and why he was put on death row. Poncelet was
convicted along with another man in the murder of the youth and a girl after
raping the girl. Sister Helen is very sympathetic and is also looked down
upon for this reason. Though she is repressed she still goes on helping
Poncelet and she digs around in his feelings and soul. Sister Helen eventually
finds a good soul in Matthew Poncelet, a person no one else knows.
Matthew constantly denies to Sister Helen, himself, and to God that he had
committed his horrible crime. Poncelet continues to blame his problems on
other things such as his father dying early in his life, his drug use, his
immaturity, and that he was unable to stand up to his partner in the brutal
crime. Sister Helen urges Poncelet to come clean and face the part that he
took in the crime. And at nearly the last minutes of the film he tells the
truth. Though he tells the truth of his sin, he is still put to death by lethal
injection.
The purpose of this film, I believe, was to show that capital punishment
is not right in all circumstances, but the redemption and preservation of the
human soul being better. Tim Robbins tried to show how most people and
even more accurate, Christian people tend to always want vengeance for a
crime. Most of them have a line from the old testament committed to
memory, �An eye for an eye,� is what they always want to say. But it really
confuses me. To me that saying is not clear, if you think about it, if you took
that saying literally it would cause an endless loop of death. Robbins also
showed and emphasized that no matter the sin a person deserves to be
respected and forgiven. Which I agree with this, I believe a person can be
forgiven, and learn to leave their hate for others behind. The film did a
wonderful job of explaining both sides of capital punishment.
This film fulfills its purpose greatly. It goes in depth with Matthew
Poncelet�s life and how he acts. It portrays him as a bottom of the line,
cockroach eating, pond scum sucking freak. Poncelets disposition is that of a
sixth-grade student. He is pushy, arrogant, curses a lot, and is always lonely.
Although the film also shows how a man like him can become soft, and then
actually seem like a normal human being. Poncelet is also inspired by great
leaders of their time, like Hitler and Martin Luther King Jr. He was a killer
and blamed most of his actions on the happenings of his life. Though he was
redempted he was killed by lethal injection. Lethal injection is a method of
capital punishment, by which a convicted criminal is injected with a deadly
dose of barbiturates through an intravenous tube inserted into someone�s arm.
This procedure is similar tot he method that professionals following when
administering anesthetics. The poison in the injection first will calm all the
muscles in the body, then the second shot will take out the lungs, while the
third shot then takes out the heart. Lethal injection was adopted by several
American states in 1980. The first use was debated over and over. People
though medical procedures should be administered by professionals to save a
persons life not to help destroy one. This is shown by the lawyer Sister Helen
Prejean hires. The lawyer compares this procedure to the killing of a horse,
or cow. Sister Helen is the Face of Love for Poncelet during his execution.
She stands by him for support and love that he can not get anywhere else.
She believes that capital punishment is not the only thing that can be done.
By this portrayal of her, I believe Tim Robin is trying to show that capital
punishment is not necessary, but the redemption of the human soul is much
more important. He did achieve his purpose with this film.
I myself happen to love this film. I agree with Robbin�s purpose
one-hundred percent. I myself go to a Christian church. I read the Bible,
though not as much as I should, but the �Eye for an Eye part has always
confused me. If the Bible states, �Thou shall not kill,� then why does it justify
the killing of a person who has killed before. I believe that God loves all his
children. If people are really followers of Christ, they will learn from him
how to forgive people for their faults and mistakes during life. If the people
in the film would have stopped and though what it would be like to be in
Poncelet�s shoes, maybe they would feel different about the death penalty.
He was in jail facing lethal injection. I�m sure if they thought about it they
would not want to be killed, but then the people who Poncelet had killed did
not have a choice, they had death forced on them. This film does a great job
of showing both sides of the capitol punishment controversy. I can see how
people think killing someone who has killed is a good thing. It keeps the
person off the streets and from killing again. Though is it really justice?
I still believe that people can be evil, but people can also be cleansed. I
believe this film has a dramatic point, and the purpose is pretty clear to
anyone who may watch it.