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Lessons Learned from The Shawshank Redemption

May 1st, 2023 by Kenneth Abrahams

The Shawshank Redemption is viewed by many as a great film. One of those movies that if you are channel surfing, regardless of where the movie is at, you will stop and watch it, either for a few minutes or until the final credits begin to roll. If you have never seen it, put it on your must-watch list. There is not enough time to give you a recap of the entire film, but during the movie two convicts are released from the prison and struggle to reacclimate to a society that has dramatically changed. Imagine going to sleep in 1999 and waking up again in 2023. Things are moving at a pace that the recently released inmates simply can’t keep up with. It is a somewhat minor plot line but important, nonetheless.

Just to be clear, I haven’t been in a coma or recently incarcerated, but I do understand how Brooks and Red (the characters from Shawshank) felt. There are days when I struggle to keep up with the lightning speed that things are changing and what people find both important and right. While at a job recently, I used the term “young lady” or something similar in a comment to one of the student volunteers I was working with. No sooner were the words out of my mouth did I realize my potential error. Immediately, I apologized for making an assumption without knowing what pronouns they used. She laughed, and not one of those uncomfortable pity laughs, a genuine heartfelt laugh and assured me she used female pronouns. She looked at me and said, “I know it is a lot these days.” You’re not kidding. Politically correct I am not, but neither would I intentionally hurt anyone or make somebody uncomfortable. There is so much to think about now before engaging in conversation with people.

For more than a month now, I have been following the saga of the hiring of the Easthampton School Superintendent. For those unfamiliar with Easthampton, it is a city out in the western part of Massachusetts located near the town of Amherst and several colleges and universities as well. Originally, they offered the position to a man, but then rescinded the offer after he sent several members of the search committee an email letting them know he was interested but asking for some changes in the compensation and time off policy. His email was addressed “ladies.” According to statements made by the search committee, using the term “ladies” was a “microaggression” and “the fact that he didn’t know that, was a problem.” He is a bit of an older gentleman (if I can use that term) and in his defense, he said that, growing up, referring to people as “ladies and gentlemen” was a term of respect. Perhaps, it was more about the salary increase and additional vacation time he was asking for that was the real problem; but it was the committee chair and others that put the focus on the email’s salutation. Nonetheless, he was out, and they moved on to another candidate. Unfortunately, they fared no better with their second choice as after offering her the position students raised red flags about potential “conservative and transphobic” Facebook posts she had made. Her posts discussed some of the changes regarding allowing transgender women to compete as women in athletics. Her posts did not seem, to me, to be overtly or even slightly transphobic but addressed a topic that many people, including high school and collegiate athletes, have voiced concerns over. After the concerns surfaced, she withdrew her candidacy.

Gender issues are not the only things that I struggle with. In the Memorial Union at the University of Rhode Island there are several murals painted in the 1950’s that depict life on campus. As one might imagine, the murals feature almost exclusively, if not exclusively, white males. In 2020, there was a lot of discussion about removing them because they didn’t depict URI today. Not surprisingly, the artist’s families, as well as other people, reacted negatively to the news that this artwork was about to be removed or painted over. A compromise was reached, and it was decided that the murals would stay, and others would be added reflecting what URI looks like today. Growing up there was an often-repeated phrase “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” For more than a decade, discussions have raged from coast to coast about renaming buildings, changing street names, taking down statues and other moves to sanitize our history. We simply cannot and should not try and rewrite our history. As painful as it is, we need to have those discussions and to learn from our history. As a country, and as individuals, we need to take responsibility for the mistakes we have made and actively discuss how changes can be made to make our society more just and welcoming to all. Before we take that bulldozer and turn a statue into rubble or rip down a sign on a building, perhaps we should learn about the individuals who had those honors bestowed upon them. Were they as good or as bad as we make them out to be? Few, if anyone, has suggested that anything named after John F. Kennedy or FDR should be renamed or their likenesses removed and yet there is credible evidence that they had a few character flaws. Abraham Lincoln, The Great Emancipator, at one time was thinking of building a giant boat so that the freed slaves could be transported back to Africa because he had no idea how they could be incorporated into society. Hardly a particularly inclusive move.

There isn’t time to get into all the things that, as a 63-year-old, I struggle with, but many people are now warning that we are moving too quickly regarding AI (artificial intelligence) and all it can do both good and bad. Newsletters, term papers, artwork all being created by machines is unnerving at best, terrifying at worst. Commercials with people clapping while their car drives itself is less than comforting to me. Like so many of you, I have used and will continue to use AI, at least in its most basic forms. Siri and Alexa have enriched the lives of so many, but I do fear what the end result of all of these “advances” will be. We can discuss that later.

URI, to me, is a great example of how this all can work. A valid concern was raised. Discussion ensued. Many voices were heard, points of view examined, and a compromise was reached. It is highly doubtful that everyone was overjoyed, but equally doubtful is people being made to feel invisible or unimportant. Things are moving quickly, at times too quickly, but we can slow them down and make them less painful. We can communicate openly and honestly. We can proceed with some grace and give others the benefit of the doubt. We can engage in true discourse and agree to disagree. We can accept that many want to do what they believe is right but know that we all see things from a different point of view/perspective. There are days when I feel like I just don’t belong and I’m sure that I am not the only one.

About the author

Ken Abrahams is a 1982 graduate of Connecticut College where he majored in Sociology. He has never spent time in a correctional facility as an inmate but as a senior in college did a two-week independent study on prisons in this country and why the rate of recidivism is so high. If you are interested in this blog or any of the others that he has written, please reach out to him at [email protected].

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