2008 MM Present US-Cinema and the Death Penalty

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  • Fr 14 - 16
  • A10 1-121a
  • Olaf Simons
  • Klausurvorbereitend: American Studies


The implementation of the death penalty is one of the major cultural differences between the US and Europe today. A number of movies have over the past two decades dealt with, if not effectively fuelled, the public controversy about capital punishment. The seminar will analyse and discuss some of these films against the background of the present debate and in a comparison with movies in which vigilante or self-administered justice and poetic justice create a form of capital punishment - more or less provocatively - beyond the reach of the public debate.


• 11.04.2008: Introduction

Discussion of the seminar plan and modes of participation.

• 18.04.2008: Emotional imballances: Dead Man Walking (1995)

  • Dead Man Walking (1995)

Plot line, emotional balance, sympathies and how they are created, political messages.

• 25.04.2008: The reception of Dead Man Walking (1995)

Dead Man Walking (1995) as an influential film - debates it managed to raise, debates which just joined the ongoing debate. We need a presentation on the reception history of the film (worth an ensuing seminar paper).

• 02.05.2008: Truth and fiction

  • Dead Man Walking (1995)
  • Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004)

Both films dealt with actual cases. Was this link to reality important? How was it used in the film and in the ensuing debate?

• 09.05.2008: The dark side

  • Monster’s Ball (2001)
  • Identity (2003)
  • The Green Mile (1999)

The capital punishment seems to have a dark side - how is this dark side connected with the general appeal of the death penalty?

• 16.05.2008: The legal system on trial

  • A Time to Kill (1996)
  • Last Dance (1996)
  • Identity (2003)

A whole genre focuses on loop holes of the American legal system - a potentially problematic issue we should connect with the Dirty Harry (with their potentially straight solutions) later on

• 23.05.2008: The educated public on trial

  • True Crime (1999)
  • Execution (2007)

These movies focus on journalists dealing with the controversial issue.

• 30.05.2008: Human rights activists on trial

  • The Life of David Gale (2003)

The Life of David Gale (2003) is probably the worst movie on the list - worth examining as a questionable item.

• 06.06.2008: Hollywood on trial

  • The Player (1992)

Invites a reevaluation of the films we have seen so far.

• 13.06.2008: The separation of powers suspended: Or the cop as judge and executioner

  • Dirty Harry (1971-1888)

We should take a look at the development and compare Eastwood's role here with his role in True Crime (1999)

• 20.06.2008: The separation of powers suspended: Or the citizen as judge and executioner

  • A Time to Kill (1996)
  • The Brave One (2007)
  • Death Sentence (2007)

A Time to Kill (1996) was already on the agenda in session 6 (May 16). The two new movies are recent productions able to reflect the public opinion on a much broader field of issues from gun control to the question of state authority. (A special question: does it matter that Jodie Foster acted in Taxi Driver before?)

• 27.06.2008: Poetic justice

I leave this session open. There are numerous movies in which dangerous criminals challenge the police or the public - and have to die eventually. We have seen that the state can do the bloody job in the end, we have seen that individuals can take things into their own hands - a third option should be touched with all those films in which the criminal eventually kills himself, in an act of suicide or accidentally - punished by his own perverse drive or a higher justice (if we want to risk that interpretation).

• 04.07.2008: Teaching the topic

The session might take some of its inspiration from http://www.deathpenalty.org/pdf_files/CurriculumFeb.2006.pdf - a proposal of how the topic could be taught at school.

• 11.07.2008: Final session

Look back on the seminar and my feedback on the seminar evaluation.

Topics

Background information

  • The history of the death penalty and Foucault's work.
  • The legal status in the US
  • Pro and contra: interest groups
  • The question of method - from electrocution to the lethal injection - what is the function of the debate?
  • Religion and the death penalty

Seminar papers

Be creative! And open a special section on the Discussion page to give outlines of topics you are interested in.

Films in which the death penalty plays a major role

  • The Player (1992) directed by Robert Altman using a screenplay by Michael Tolkin based on his own novel. IMDb
  • True Crime (1999) directed by Clint Eastwood, based on Andrew Klavan's novel, who also wrote the screenplay. Frank Beachum was sentenced to death but claims to be innocent. Steve Everett played by Eastwood is a journalist who attempts to find the truth about the murder. www.truecrimethemovie.com IMDb
  • The Green Mile (1999) directed by Frank Darabont, starring Tom Hanks and Micheal Clarke Duncan. The lives of prison guards leading the condemned prisoners to their executions, one of them went to prison on false accusation. http://thegreenmile.warnerbros.com/ IMDb
  • Monster’s Ball (2001) directed by Marc Foster, starring Oscar-Winner Halle Barry and Billy Bob Thornton. Thornton plays a racist prison guard who falls in love with the wife of the last prisoner he executed and reexamines his own attitudes. IMDb
  • The Life of David Gale (2003) directed by Alan Parker, starring Kate Winslet and Kevin Spacey. An acitivist against the death penalty is accused of murdering a fellow activist and is sentenced to death. While he is in prison, he tells his story to a reporter in flashbacks. http://www.thelifeofdavidgale.com/ IMDb
  • Identity (2003) directed by James Mangold. Is it possible/legal to sentence someone to death who's got "multiple personality"? Which of these "personalities" is sentenced to death? www.sonypictures.com IMDb
  • Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004) (TV) Film directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall and starring Jamie Foxx. The film is based on the true story of Stan "Tookie" Williams, founder of the "Crips", a street gang in L.A. He was accused of murder, prisoned and executed. While in Death Row, he started writing children's novels, which earned him Nobel Peace Prize nominations. IMDb
  • Execution (2007) directed by Steven Scaffidi. In the year 1995 two filmmakers gained access to death row and filmed the final seven days of a man before he got executed. The Warden confiscated the film footage, but ten years later the filmmakers get the film footage back.

Films in which self-administered justice becomes a major topic

  • Dirty Harry (1971) with its sequels which handle the topic of vigilante justice in variations till The Dead Pool (1988).
  • A Time to Kill (1996) based on the novel written by John Grisham. A father takes revenge on the rapists of his daughter. IMDb
  • Double Jeopardy (1999) directed by Bruce Beresford, starring Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones. An innocent woman is sentenced to death for the murder of her husband. While in prison, she discovers that her husband is still alive and that he and her best friend betrayed her. After her release on probation, she wants to take revenge; based on the American law that a person cannot be re-accused of the same crime. IMDb
  • The Punisher (2004) directed by Jonathan Hensleigh. After his wife and family are killed, Frank Castle takes it upon himself to distribute punishment to those responsible for the vendetta. www.punishermovie.com IMDb
  • Death Sentence (2007) A drama directed by James Wan. With Kevin Bacon, John Goodman and Kelly Preston. An executive witnesses a crime that changes his life. He wants to protect his family and seeks revenge. www.deathsentencemovie.com IMDb

Films in which the accidental death of the criminal reestablishes a higher justice

Documentary films (German/additional/available at the university library)

  • Dubois, Jean-Paul. Henker erzählen: Todesstrafe in den USA. Frankreich, 2004. Fernsehmitschnitt Sw: USA. Fernsehmitschnitt: WDR, 22.10.2004. (VHS, farb., 50 Min.) (Dokumentation über Henker in den USA, die sich kritisch mit ihrer Arbeit und der Todesstrafe auseinandersetzen)
  • Hoewijk, Jaap van. Procedure 769: a hanging. Niederlande, 1995. Fernsehmitschnitt: West 3, 15.4.1996, 23,00 Uhr. (VHS, farb., 80 Min) (Der Film geht der Frage nach, warum Angehörige des Täters und der Opfer von Robert A. Harris dessen Hinrichtung beiwohnten.)
  • Kessel, Julie von. The Innocence Project. Deutschland, 2002. Fernsehmitschnitt: Arte, 03.12.2002. (VHS, farb., 20 Min.) (Bericht über ein DNA-Projekt der New Yorker Columbia University, das sich mit Schuld oder Unschuld zum Tode Verurteilter beschäftigt.)
  • Leacock, Richard; Pennebaker, Don Alan. The chair = Der Stuhl. Monospur dt., Stereospur engl. USA, 1963. Fernsehmitschnitt: Arte, 18.10.1996. (VHS, s/w, 75 Min.) (Documentary about the death sentence.)
  • Reinhold, Frank. Take care = Gib auf dich acht! Deutschland, 1997. Fernsehmitschnitt: ARTE, 10.6.1997. (VHS, Zweikanalton, Monospur dt., Stereospur franz., farb., 60 Min.) (Die Liebesgeschichte zwischen dem in den USA zum Tode verurteilten Schwarzen Arthur Lee Williams und einer Deutschen von Amnesty International.)
  • Steinberg, Klaus; Bock, Astrid. Leben mit der Hinrichtung: Begegnungen im Todestrakt. Deutschland, 1997. Fernsehmitschnitt: ZDF (37 Grad), 12.08.1997. (VHS, farb., 30 Min.') (Bericht über zum Tode verurteilte Häftlinge in den USA.)
  • Walwin, Kent; Trombley, Stephen [Reg.]. L 'état meurtrier = Der Staat als Mörder. Deutschland/Frankreich, 1996. Fernsehmitschnitt: ARTE, 21.3.1996, 20,45 Uhr. (VHS, Zweikanalton, Monospur dt., farb., 75 Min.) (Auseinandersetzung um die Todesstrafe vom Ursprung bis zur heutigen Praxis in den USA)

Further reading (available at the library)

  • Amnesty International. Todesstrafe in den USA. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, 1989.
  • Bedau, Hugo A. [Hrsg.] Capital punishment in the United States. New York, N.Y.: AMS Press, 1976. ISBN 0-404-10325-1
  • Martschukat, Jürgen. Geschichte der Todesstrafe in Nordamerika: von der Kolonialzeit bis zur Gegenwart. 1. Ed. München: Beck, 2002. ISBN 3-406-47611-2 (Pb.)
  • Sarat, Austin. When the State Kills: Capital Punishment and the American Condition. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2001. (not available at the library)
  • Sarat, Austin. Crime and punishment: perspectives from the humanities. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2005. ISBN 0-7623-1245-9 (hbk.)
  • Sarat, Austin. Punishment politics and culture. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2004. ISBN 0-7623-1072-3
  • Schwed, Roger E. Abolition and capital punishment: the United States' judicial, political, and moral barometer. New York, N.Y.: AMS Press, 1983. ISBN 0-404-61623-2

Fiction (additional)

  • John Grisham, The Chamber. New York: Doubleday, 1994.
  • Victor Hugo, The Last Day of a Condemned Man [1829]. London: Hesperus Press Ltd., 2002.

Links

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