The Shawshank Redemption

Bomb Rating: 

Isn't it always the upper-class white guys who are falsely convicted?

I wonder if director Frank Darabont cheated on his taxes or something and got to spend a few months in the kind of prison where they keep Robert Downey, Jr. - the Hollywood prison where the meals are catered, conjugal visits occur every three days, and when you do something seriously wrong, they don't put you in isolation and beat you with sticks -- they give you a "time out."

I wonder this because Darabont's "The Shawshank Redemption" is some of the most liberal bullpucky ever put on film. Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is convicted for the murder of his wife, and is thrown into a prison where all the prisoners are sweeties and it's the guards, particularly Captain Hadley (Clancy Brown) and Warden Norton (Bob Gunton), who are the real criminals.

The best years of Andy Dufresne's life are spent in Shawshank, yet he still wants out because he was falsely convicted. Isn't it always the upper-class white guys who are falsely convicted? One presumes Andy's best friend, Red (Morgan Freeman), deserves to be right where he is.

Toward the end, just before Andy escapes, he tells Red that when Red gets out, he should go to some field, look near some tree and under some rock and there he'll find something really important. Then, Andy escapes. Eventually Red gets out and goes to the tree, looks under the rock and finds enough money to get him to Mexico where Andy is waiting for him. Just how did Andy get the time to put this box under the rock? Did he do it before or after his escape? While there's no explanation for it, one thing is clear: Never did one man do so much for another man just to be his bitch.

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