Scared Straight!

Trailer—Scared Straight!

source: Scared Straight!

Arnold Shapiro's Oscar- and Emmy-winning "Scared Straight!" depicts some young delinquents getting taken to a New Jersey prison, where some inmates harangue them in the hope of stopping them from a life of crime. The documentary is like a brick in the face. Part of the purpose is for the inmates to remind the youths what it feels like to be victims (i.e., by taking away their shoes), but also to remind them of the horror of living in a prison. The documentary marked the first time that profanity had appeared on many networks. If you ask me, this is the sort of documentary that should get shown at least once a year, especially now that the US has over two million people in jail, most of them black and Latino. The edition that I saw featured interviews with the youths and inmates years after the documentary got made to see what became of them; despite some problems with the law, most of them managed to become family people. All in all, definitely see this.

The word that comes to the forefront of my mind when I watch this documentary is INTENSE. What's happening in the documentary is maybe the penultimate intense situation. There's no overt violence (unless you can construe verbal assault as a form of violence), there's no blood shed or particularly frightening scenes. Just lots of intensity. Which makes this extremely enjoyable. When I watched Scarred Straight on a little known channel called Moviepix back in the mid nineties or so, I was probably more than a little scared myself. Watching it again recently, I immediately felt that there was something so stirring and powerfully convincing about those convict orators, the strange and brutal world of prison life shooting through their lips like a shank delivered in an underhanded thrust to the face. It is fascinating the venom they let pour from their mouths to the teenage criminals before them, seemingly showing nothing but contempt for the kids, yet all along doing it with the aim of actually deterring these kids from the jagged path they have begun to tread on. I'm reminded of the horrors of prison life, especially the gang rapes–a form of cruel and unusual punishment that should not be tolerated in an evolved, modern society. But yet, what will there be to prevent these kids from harming others if not for that powerful deterrent. It's a disgusting and disturbing thought, but it does make you think, and it's the kind of necessarily upsetting thoughts that surface when watching this movie. The convicts duty is too make these kids think twice, and their vitriolic, yet elegant and almost poetic, threats of rape, beatings, and murder is unfortunately more effective than what a high school guidance counselor can provide. A central flaw to Scarred Straight though is that it didn't have female convicts relating the experience of female prisons to the three girls in the mostly male company. Yet it doesn't seem to really matter to the girls; they look more terrified than most of the boys (even though some of the boys have tears welling up in their eyes during the session)–and one of the male convicts did mention a particularly horrific account of physical and sexual assault in a female prison. But it still would have been interesting to have an actual female convict to talk just as aggressive and as crude to the girls (I wonder if they did this for the 1999 Scarred Straight?). It is such a delight to see the kids reactions after it was over. They all seem to have been breathing sighs of relief that they were out of there. Most of them actually did become straight–whether the program was actually the chief inspiration for that is unknown. But it does have a powerful effect on the viewer (especically when in the right frame of mind), a strange and rare kind of entertaining film that really doesn't do much to entertain. And there are some funny things the cons say. I don't think it's unacceptable to have an occasional laugh at these criminal wordsmiths as we sit in the comfort of our living spaces, knowing that we aren't locked in that room with them yelling in our faces about vengeful vendettas, eye gouging, nose biting, and d—s sliding into you.

I hope that every punk there is on this world gets a chance to see this film. This was my third time watching it, and I still find myself imagining being locked up for just one day, and how that would feel. This movie serves as an excellent eye openner for a lot of kids who are having troubles with the law at a young age.

There is no denying that this documentary is really engaging, if only in a perverse sort of way. The grating, in-your-face approach was certainly ahead of its time and the ultimate message--however closely orchestrated and exaggerated--cannot be mistaken. It's interesting to note how we are assaulted with "good" here, rather than being assaulted with "evil", how we , as passive viewers, are pushed and pulled by the film without our own volition. We are "turned out" by the convicts and walk away broken but wiser. That said, the film reminds me somewhat of "Reefer Madness" and other such pieces of propaganda that force the audience into an ostensibly "real" hell-hole in an effort to scare us straight. Here we have a more street-wise but equally paranoid attempt to pummel at-risk kids with sordid tales that will lead them away from a life of crime. The kids in the film, although shown to be the focus of the warnings--the very center of attention, are really nothing more than supporting actors-- players, not recipients, of the message which borders on outright propaganda. The real audience is comprised of slightly rowdy and/or delinquent middle class kids who both are both fearful of and fascinated by deviant actions. For them, watching this film is equivalent to "slumming". It's "real" only in a very mediated way. With that in mind, it's arguable that this film's shock tactics do more to entertain than to instruct. Thus, on a fictional level the film is wonderful, but if we're looking for gritty cinema verite that just happens to coincide with governmental policies we will be disappointed.

As nyrunner states this makes good television,dramatic with a "feel good" ending when you see some of the youths moving in the opposite direction to build up a better life,sadly the technique isn't very helpful.It seems a bit stupid to me that they would think that this alone would help all of them.There are no cures for psychopaths,we haven't figured out how to make their amygdala respond to fear like people without the disorder.Nobody seems to ask many questions about what caused these kids to start going in the wrong direction,what motivates their behavior? It can't all be down to bing "cool/popular" & fitting in.Do they have very low self-esteem ,because they were hurt so feel the need to prove themselves for example.Do they lack the skills to regulate their emotions & act impulsively to reduce their emotional pain? What are the parents doing to help? What role models can be there to support them? I think a show that explores these root causes & is EVIDENCE BASED (actually helps more than a "placebo" treatment)would be less dramatic & entertaining but at least it would actually help those that really need help instead of appearing on TV & maybe regretting being humiliated publicly in the future.Sadly they're just making money out of these kids & parents who believe this will be beneficial because they're supposed to be "experts".Just because it makes sense doesn't mean it is true!

A documentary that you will never forget once you see it, Scared Straight ought to be required viewing in every high school. As narrator Peter Falk points outs at the being of the film, it at first seems too good to be true that three hours in prison will make young trouble makers change their ways, but the subsequent prison visit shows that it is possible to change young lives in such a short time. The confrontation between the inmates and kids is riveting; you hang on to every word, and feel the tension in the room even while watching it on video. The change in the kids sent on the prison visit is astonishing, as shown in the interviews taped before and after the trip to Rahway. Before the trip, the kids all brag about their crimes and think they will never get caught; the interviews taken after the prison visit shows how effective the program was for each of them. Scared Straight is a powerful film; the setting and language will be offensive to some, but it is exactly those elements which make it such a forceful production. Though made back in the 1970s, it is still important and timely viewing.

Being in fact that I was in a Private institution for emotional disturbed children at the time that I watched Scared Straight it had a profound effect on my life. I had friends who were arrested in juvenile hall because of stupid crimes stealing cars, stealing purses, nothing like the teens of today... murders, armed robbery, drug dealings. Our crimes were deemed normal for the youth of that generation. Watching the convict tell one of the teens he would be his bitch scared the hell out of me.. I used to refer to that very comment when one of my friends wanted me to do something stupid... So Scared Straight worked for me... So if it deterred me from committing crime the movie was a successful if it scared one kid from committing crime it has done what the movie was intended to do.. deter kids from crime. I never been in jail and it was this movie that set my mind to not be a criminal

I was born in Tottenham, North London in 1970, by the time I was fifteen I had witnessed the worst riots in Britain where a police constable was murdered. By the time I was sixteen I had decided that it did'nt matter if I ever became overweight because I was never going to run from anyone as I would have a gun and it was they who would need to do the running. I distinctively remember not caring how many times I got arrested as I was never going to get a job. I carried a knife, smoked weed and coke. I was bad, for my age, even the older crooks used to say to my elder brother, "Alan he's gonna make you look like a * when he's our age". One night I stayed up late at home, well actually I snuck downstairs because in my parents house, when they went to bed, "you go to bed". Flicking through the channels I bumped into a documentary called the "Lifers Group". The second I clapped eyes on it I was in a trance, I saw, first hand, where my life was taking me. By the time the documentary finished I was soaking wet. The next morning at 0900 hours I was standing outside Surbiton Army Careers Office. Within 3 weeks I was conducting Basic Training for the Royal Green Jackets. Thanks to Scared Straight I've been decorated by HM the Queen Twice, I have a helicopter pilots licence, two dashing boys, a home of my own, direction the lot. Thankyou!