Historical context
In the Shawshank Redemption, the environment in the prison really isolates the characters from the world and world events so the history context to the film is very subtle. The time the film was made was in 1994, whereas the time that the film was set was in the 1940’s so immediately this tells you that the film is made to the standards of newer age filmmaking but in an age when this type of production quality wasn’t yet possible. In the period of Andy being in Shawshank Prison, many major events happened outside the prison walls but they didn’t necessarily ever find out until they are set free. Certain things though are mentioned in the film or at least linked to. The main historical event that took place during the time the movie was set over was the Second World War. This wasn’t really linked to at all in the film but because of the prison environment being confined from the rest of the world that is expected and is actually historically correct as they wouldn’t have actually been kept up to date with much going on at the time because of how strict the system was. Social Context The social context in the film is very accurate. At the time Racism was a big issue and this was definitely shown in the film. In scenes where the characters are in the courtyard the different races would hang out in different areas of the yard, for example the African-American inmates has the seating area which was theirs, we were showed this when Red walks through the stands after his probation examination multiple times throughout the film, the Black men were always sat in the same area segregated from the rest of the inmates. Also another social issue that was happening which was represented well was Women’s rights. In the film there were no Women in the prison at all. Also, when women are mentioned they are talked about as sexual objects like when Andy has the posters in his cell because Rita Heyworth is very attractive and also when the inmates are watching the movie on the projector they are all waiting for the woman to flick her hair and Red says that that is his favourite part. Another part in the film, which represents the women’s rights issue is when the warden is driving companies out of business with his cheap labour from the inmates outside of the prison so a businessman offers him a bribe along with a cake but the warden gives the cake to Andy because “the woman cant cook for shit”. This shows you that women were expected to be able to cook well because of the ‘Men work, Women stay at home and clean and cook’ type attitude that was a big thing in the time. Cultural Context Culture changes a lot during Andy’s stay in Shawshank prison. The main ways in which they represent this in the film are through changes in the inmate’s lifestyle. For example Andy starts getting posters from Red and over time the poster changes from Rita Heyworth to Raquel welch due to changes in how society accepts women and how they dress. Another cultural element that was represented in the film was changes in self-appearance. This was shown when the young man comes into the film about half way through. He seems cocky and has a very wavy slicked back black hair. The hairstyle is clearly influenced by the time itself; it was a popular haircut style for men as it was also done by Elvis Presley. The way that he dresses as well with his top buttons undone and his sleeves rolled up shows changes in fashion and how society thinks you should dress to look “cool”.
1 Comment
Lynley Brennan
4/7/2020 07:32:58 pm
Thanks for your insights .
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AuthorOliver Lowe Archives
March 2016
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