In this piece of English course Essay Example

In this piece of English course Essay In this piece of English course I am going to be analysing a documentary called 14 Days in May. This documentary is produced by a TV Director who diverges with Capital Punishment. I will be focusing on the presentational devices used by this director in order to get his point across and how he tries to persuade the audience into believing that Capital Punishment is erroneous. Therefore this documentary 14 Days in May has been set in the state of Mississippi in 1979. It is about the story of Edward Earl Johnson (EEJ) who is an uneducated black male and has been charged with the shooting dead of a (white) police Marshall and the attempted rape of a 60 year old (white) woman. Now EEJ had spent the last 8 years on death row appealing the case and is to be executed in Fourteen (14) days time from now onwards. To fight EEJs lawyer Clive Stafford Smith has stood up for him. Stafford Smith has also won stays of executions in over 200 cases and has lost only 4 of those cases. This documentary exhibits the last two weeks of EEJs life, and its focal point is on the affects this has on the staff of the penitentiary and deathrow inmates, who are also on death row. We will write a custom essay sample on In this piece of English course specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on In this piece of English course specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on In this piece of English course specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer On the other hand the death penalty is widely used in the Southern States of America like: Texas, Alabama and Mississippi because of the issue of racial disparity; which is that recent findings indicate that there is unfair application of Capital Punishment in the United States, when examined in terms of race. These racial disparities include the two mentioned below: The race of those Sentenced: in September 2000, the Justice Department reported that African Americans, Hispanics and other minorities were considered for the federal death penalty more often than whites. The incidents of minority federal capital defendant account for 74 percent of such cases since 1995. So the statistics already back up from the very start the Directors argument that there is a flaw in the Justice system. By Race of the Victim: According to the ALUC, a study of Georgias executions found that, Over 60 % of murder victims since 1972 have been African American, but 20 out 0f 22 people executed during that period had murdered white victims. Georgia prosecutors seek the death penalty in 70 % of cases involving crime committed by blacks against other racial combinations. A Stanford Law Review study found similar disparities based on the race of the victim in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Virginia. Again this all links back to the background history of Black people in the USA. It all started during the 18th and 19th Centuries slaves were taken from the continent of Africa to the USA. Then during the civil rights movement the northern American states wanted to abolish slavery, where as the southern American states like: Texas, Alabama and Mississippi wanted to keep their slaves because southern states had huge farm lands for the slaves to work on. So giving up slaves meant giving up money. But very soon slavery had to be abolished in the southern states as well, because too many riots and demonstrations started happening. It is still believed that black people are still treated different (usually badly) because of their race superiority. This connects with 14 Days in May because the racial background of black people in the USA is used by the director to suggest that black defendants are still treated unjustly in death penalty cases in the USA, mainly Southern States. Therefore there are just as many arguments against Capital Punishment as there are millions of different people. There are many arguments that the director of 14 Days in May puts forward, to persuade the audience into believing that Capital Punishment is wrong. He gives the audience the idea that Capital Punishment is used discriminatorily along racial lines in the USA, and he uses this ideas and expresses it through EEJ. So due to the history of how black people were treated in the USA, the audience from the very start fell sympathetic towards EEJ, because he is black man in a Mississippi Penitentiary and is believed to have an unfair case. The director very cleverly draws the audiences emotions and feelings even more by showing that the conditions after they have been put on death row, doesnt make their lives any easier on them as it mentally tortures the criminal put on death row and their families as well. And an Inmate of EEJ tells us that: Starting to realise tat it is going to happen fear as you wait in line for it to happen. Plus there is always the possibility that the defendant in innocent, so how would the people who execute this person live their lives knowing the fact the wrongly took someones life. This also links with the moral argument that every one should be allowed to live their lives and that only God should have the right to take life away. For the same reason the director specifically focuses on the bad effects of class and race has on the defendants case. So if you are poor you are not going to get a good case because you couldnt possibly afford a good lawyer, so your case would not be fought very well. On the other hand if you are black and poor in the state of Mississippi, like EEJ is. Then you can forget about getting a fair trial and the officer in charge of death row, LT Bobby Butler (black) backs this up by saying that: 67% of the death row inmates are poor, uneducated black males. The director specifically has included this statistics in the documentary, so he can get the audience to look on one side of the wall, because he wants the audience to feel sympathy towards EEJ and doesnt really tell about the crimes EEJ had been accused of and to build on his argument he also included this statistics: A recent study in the United States found that a black man convicted of killing a white is over four times as likely to receive the death penalty as a white man convicted of killing a white. So the director uses these statistics and links it back to the idea of slavery and how shoddily black people were treated. So even if EEJ did have the money he still wouldnt get a fair trial because of the colour of his skin. In order to illustrate his points of view the director distinctively chooses EEJs case because first of all he is an uneducated black man who has been condemned to death row in the state of Mississippi. So even without seeing EEJ you know there is something apprehensive there because according to statistics and the racial history of Mississippi State you would believe that EEJ didnt get a fair trial. This I think will cause the audience to fell compassionate towards EEJ because they have been presented with the information which clearly tells us that there is a flaw in the Mississippi Justice System. Where as there is also the fact that despite being charged with the murder of a white police Marshall and also an attempted rape of a 60 year old white woman, EEJ still pleads innocence. This gives you a very strong impression that EEJ is innocent! Even when we meet EEJ the audience has been setted up to add to this compassionate felling created by the director towards EEJ, because he doesnt come across to be like the stereotypical criminal you would expect to see. Instead he comes as being very clean and groomed; he isnt un-orderly like you would expect him to be. He significantly comes across as being very quite and calm, which makes him looks like a victim. The director explicitly chooses to show EEJ behind bars most of time. Giving the audience a feeling that he is trapped and needs people support to help him. So EEJs personality and conduct makes him stand out from all the other prisoners because he is shown to be thoughtful and we get this idea when we see him playing chess, this just adds on to the directors argument; that there are still racial disparities in death penalty in the USA. EEJs appearance causes a great amount of disturbance in the audience because he doesnt look like the person who would commit a crime, so I think it makes the audience want to take action about this situation. Behind every documentary there is an objective and a message that each director tries to get across to the audience. In order for the director to build his argument and get the audience to strongly agree on his point of view, he needs to film the documentary in a place where the events are realistic and you would expect such events to occur. Again that I what I think is the reason why the director chose to make the film in a Mississippi Penitentiary, because as the statistics already mentioned show that black people have been treated unfairly because of the colour of their skin. This gives a crystal clear message to the audience that there are racial disparities in death penalty cases. So therefore from the very start the director starts to persuade the audience into thinking that capital punishment is wrong because it is treacherously used in some places lie Mississippi. By making the documentary in Mississippi penitentiary the director tries to give a message that coloured people are treated badly I the southern states of America, all linking back to the time of slavery. In order to get his aim across and convince the audience into believing that Capital Punishment is wrong, the director uses the repeated imagery (presentational device) to remind the viewers of the history of slavery and racism that was is in Mississippi. From the very start of the documentary you see white guards on horses and the prisoners (mainly black chained together) working on plantations. Linking back to the slavery days when black slaves (chain gangs) worked on farmland and plantations and their white owners use to treat them badly. The director consistently shows repeated imagery of black men working on plantations, like black slaves use to do for their master before slavery was abolished. The white guards on horses symbolise the power white people use to have in the time of slavery over black people. This idea of slavery is backed up by these two statistics shown in the documentary: 67 % of death row inmates are poor, uneducated black males A recent study in the United States found that a black man convicted of killing a whit is over 4 times as likely to receive the death penalty as a white man convicted of killing a white. Both of these statistics add on to the audiences persuaded belief that black people are treated unfairly and they also back up the directors argument that Capital punishment is wrongly used along racial disparities. Most importantly you only see the death row part of the penitentiary, the audience never get to see the normal part of the prison or the death row inmates socialising with other prisoners. Also the repeated aerial shots of the Mississippi Penitentiary which cut in between scenes tell the audience how lonely and isolated these prisoners are, because there they are in this big prison and there is no one they could talk to or interact with, they also dont have any personal possessions in their cabins. This linking back to the idea that even thought Capital Punishment it self is wrong, waiting on death row mentally tortures the prisoners a lot, this being one of the most coherent arguments that the director of 14 Days in May is trying to put forward. Again the director chooses to show you repeated images of bars, keys, gates, barbed wire, doors and windows closing of the penitentiary building it self because the director uses them to be symbolic to freedom and justice. That specific kind of use of these repeated images makes you think that the system is flawed and Donald Cabbanna (Superintendent of Parchman Penitentiary) establishes this when he says: The system is flawed, but it is not a fatal flaw So the director creates a great amount of hatred and revenge in the audience by not editing this information given by Donald Cabbanna because he is one of the main officers working in the Penitentiary and he himself says that the system if flawed! For the same reason the director cuts from Donald Cabbannas interview straight to the part where the gas chamber is being tested, to build on this mood and atmosphere of hatred towards Capital Punishment and the USAs Justice system. The director does this when we for the first time the audience sees the gas chamber is when it is being tested on (black) rabbits. So it is almost as if the director uses (black) rabbits as being symbolic to what is happening to the black people. At this point in the documentary the audience would feel totally sympathetic towards EEJ. The director shows the workers laughing and joking: Say what you gotta say boy, this is your last chance. As they tested and prepared the gas chamber to make you feel as if EEJ had been setted up, like many other black people, who are victims of this fatal Justice system. It makes the audience want to take revenge for what is happening and becoming proactive against the Justice system. To add to the audiences sympathetic feelings created by the director he deliberately chooses to interview Donald Cabbanna (Superintendent of Parchman Penitentiary) in addition to EEJ, to get Donald Cabbannas opinions and views on the case, so the audience dose not think that the documentary is biased. Also Warden Cabbanna believes in the Death Penalty as being the ultimate punishment but does not believe it works as a deterrent. This also adds to one of my directors most central reasons for being against Capital Punishment. Which is that capital punishment does not discourage people because if it did then crimes shouldnt happen, adding to the audiences created beliefs against Capital Punishment. Just to make sure that the people dont fell that EEJ was chosen on purpose because he looks innocent the director chooses to interview an Inmate of EEJs. He also comes across to be very introspective like most prisoners are and also very quite, and even the Inmate adds on to the directors argument that the prisoners get mentally tortured by saying: Starting to realise that it is going to happen fear as you wait in line for it to happen So his opinion makes it extraordinarily clear that the prisoners are indeed mentally tortured while on death row and even the Guards and Wardens get affected by it. That being the reason why Donald Cabbanna understands why Wardens in the past have ended up being against the death row, which just adds even more to the arguments explored by the director against the death penalty in this documentary. On the other hand for the audience to be completely stratified by the directors view, they have to be fully satisfied with EEJs. Meaning that the audience must felling really passionate, and The family at length supporting Johnson in his last days and hours to get you emotionally ardent about his life involved in the case, so you are more in favour of EEJ. The director uses the shot when EEJ is singing with his family to stir up the emotional feelings created for EEJ, the director is trying to persuade you into felling sympathetic towards EEJ. The Chaplin is not at all in favour of Capital Punishment as he believes in the moral argument that god gave life and only god can take life away, which makes him believe that Death row is wrong as well. Including the Chaplins view is important as well to get the religious people involved into this case as well and the audience dont go away thinking that EEJ was really a criminal. To provoke positive reactions from the audience the director uses the Countdown style of the film because it gives you the feeling that time is running out and by using the Countdown approach in EEJs case it makes you think that innocent people are being persecuted as Capital punishment is being wrongly used along racial disparities in death penalty cases. Most importantly to make the audience believe in hidden reality, real reality needs to be shown. So I think that Johnson wanted the camera present in his last hours and minutes, for the people to see what the truth really was, this adds passionate felling towards the film. It made me personally feel sorry for EEJ but also made me against capital punishment. It makes the audience want to take action against the Justice System in the USA. Just to make sure that the audience goes away thinking or taking action against the reality, the director needed the conclusion of the case. And who could do that well than the lawyer himself, who ends the film by saying: Its a sick world This statement makes the audience think really in depth if capital punishment and if it is right? The information which proves Johnsons freedom is given as a ticker tape: Since EEJ was executed his lawyers have located a black woman who was with EEJ in a pool hall throughout the time of the crime. At that time, she went to the courthouse to volunteer her testimony but was told by a white law enforcement officer to go home and mind her own business. The ticker tape is used to conclude the case and it is specifically used by the director to provoke reactions in the audience so they get insight of the story. Therefore I personally believe that Capital Punishment is acceptable because I am Muslim and in Islam it says that we should punish the bad even with death. However watching the documentary 14 Days in May has made me think if Capital Punishment should be or shouldnt be allowed. That is because of the arguments put forward, such as: there is always a possibility that the defendant is innocent, also people dont always get a fair trial either because their race or economic status. Also the family of the defendant goes through mental torture. These arguments have indeed persuaded my belief in Capital Punishment, and I have been persuaded to go against capital punishment. I think that television documentary can be objective and neutral in some cases. Usually it takes one side of the story. Like in EEJs case they say he is innocent but they dont really look into the fact he shot the police Marshall dead 5 times.