The movie Shawshank Redemption is a redemption tale. I think this is movie lives up to its name because most everybody in there makes up for their mistakes. For example Reds mistake was murder and he made up for it by serving 40 years in prison. Red ended up leaving prison thoughtful and very wise.

 This movie has two main characters that are redeemed. The main character that I will talk about first is Andy.  Andy got put into prison for killing his wife and her lover. Andy made the best out of prison by helping a lot of people out. He helped Tommy a lot by tutoring him to finally get him to get his GED. When Andy first got to prison he didn’t talk to anyone for a while until one day he need something from his Red. Andy asks Red for a rock hammer because he always loved rocks. When Tommy came into the picture he was telling Andy how his old cell mate said he kill a girl and her lover but make it look like it was Andy. After that Andy tried to go back to court to try and get out of prison. The warden didn’t want Tommy to testify for Andy so he took him out back and had Tommy killed. Andy didn’t loss hope when his plan got killed he stayed positive and change his plan. Andy’s plan then was to dig a hole to get out of prison. His best friend red never even knew about his plan. His plan was to dig a hole through the wall using a rock hammer. After the hole he made it to the sewer pipe that he crawled through till he was finally out free. Andy stuck to his plan for 19 years which took some passion and hope.

   The next main character was Red he was in prison for 40 years because of murder.  Red said that he did something really stupid as a child and now he has to regret it and pay for it every day. He was always a kind helpful man. If you meant him you would never understand why he was in there or why he would kill someone.  When Red finely gets out of prison he does the one thing that Andy ask him to do. Andy gave Red all the money he will need to come find him in Mexico. The story ended with Red meeting Andy on the beach and them hugging it out. The story ended showing that bad men can come out to be good people.

This movie was like a very touching story showing that just because you make one little mistake when you where young doesn’t make you a horrible person.

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The film I watched and am going to discuss is Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, which came out in 1939.  Smith was a very gullible man that was asked to fill a spot in the US senate. In the movie, Mr. Smith was manipulated so they could get the bill to pass. When he first goes to Washington, most of the people like him there and he meets a girl. When this movie came out, the United States congress did not like it and talked bad about it. They did not like it because it made the senators look really bad and gave them a bad name. The film made the American government seem pro-communist and anti-American. The movie represented the corruption of the United States government. Alben W. Barkley was a democrat and the Senate Majority Leader in 1939. He called the film “silly and stupid”. He felt as if it made the Senate look like crooks. This movie was such an outrage that a journalist attempted and suggested that senate should pass a bill basically giving movie theaters the option to not show the film at the theater because it does not represent the government in a positive light. This film was banned in Spain, Germany, Italy, and the USSR. This movie is called a “whistleblower” because they were telling on the government. By definition, a whistleblower is a person who exposes misconduct, alleged dishonest or illegal activity occurring in an organization. Obviously, the storyline fits the definition perfectly.

The governor has to choose someone to take Sam Foley’s spot and after flipping a coin and it landing on the edge, he chooses Smith because he thinks it will make the people happy and Smith is easy to manipulate. Because Smith is so naïve, the press easily took advantage of him and made him look like a fool through headlines. Smith comes up with a bill aimed to allow a loan by the federal government to buy some land for a camp. However, Paine already has the same land as part of a graft scheme framed by the Taylor “political machine’. Paine is in support of this scheme. Then, Paine makes Smith look bad by trying to say that he already owns the land in question. Smith was shocked and ran away from the situation. Just before the vote to remove Smith, he talks for twenty-four hours straight. He was trying to convince the Senate of the true motives of the whole scheme. However, none of the Senators were convinced. Smith is determined to convince them of his innocence, and he then faints. Pain then feels very guilty and tries to kill himself. The other senators stopped him, and then Paine finally burst in and admitted everything he did wrong, said he should be expelled, and told everyone that Smith was innocent. The main themes of the film are high ideals, patriotism, having the courage to fight for what's right and the little guy making good against impossible odds.

 

Forest Gump

In the film Forest Gump there are a lot of different meanings and hidden messages. The theme I got out of this movie is that it doesn’t matter if you’re slower than most you can still do way more than others. The key is having the motivation to try new things. For example Forest got into a number of different things like fishing, ping pong, the army, and running across the USA. He would never have known that he could have done any of these things if he didn’t try. The movie Forest Gump lingers with you because it’s a feel good movie that gives people hope. It made me feel good to see a person with challenges be successful in life. To some older people it’s like a memory of their childhood and how they grew up.

Jennie played a very important character in this film. She was his first and only childhood friend. Forest didn’t have a lot of people he was close to even though there were a lot of people in and out of his house. It all started when she gave him a seat on the bus. He was pretty upset when she went away. It was hard for him to let her go and he followed her around for a while. She comes back in his life when they are in their mid adult hood. Forest was so thrilled to see her but their relationship was complicated. Jennie left him only to return a couple years later. Shortly after she came back the last time she decided to tell him that she was very sick and dying. Forest stayed by her and raised “their child.” Jennie plays a huge role throughout his whole life.

The quote "Life is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you're gonna get" is very perceptive. It explains Forest’s approach to life in many ways. Forest wasn’t afraid of trying new things and had a life full of variety.