Cool Hand Luke
Now Playing: Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
Topic: Mysteries of Life
Was watching Cool Hand Luke today, a movie about rebellion and I guess about how cool rebellion is. I watched carefully the act that got the character put on a Florida chain gang and you know, the dude deserved to go to jail for that. Social order is a high priority, it's what keeps the majority of us safe from those who have no problem going against that order and whose actions make us all less safe. I don't know that two years is the best sentence for that, I would think a bit more creative sentencing would serve the purpose of justice and help steer the rebel in a right direction. Of course, the character, played by Paul Newman, was self destructive to begin with, directionless and one to question authority and might not have been put off his slow ride to suicide by cop but who knows. I saw through the first part of the movie the character was sort of getting along pretty well and not causing a lot of trouble. When his mother died and he wasn't allowed to go to her funeral is when he went over the edge and escaped a number of times. Well, you know, the character had nobody to blame but himself for his situation and when the one guard character was putting Cool Hand Luke in the box and said he was only doing his job Luke said 'Well that still doesn't make it right' and that pretty much is the character removing blame from himself and putting it on 'society' Sorry, Cool dude, it might not have been right but it was the rules. I remember reading on occasion when someone is released from prison 'doing the right thing' so they could go to a funeral or see their dying mother and then lighting on out escaping. It's those folks who make the rules harden up not the evil prison wardens or guards. If someone who is released from prison to go to a funeral or other humanitarian reason and that person goes out, commits more crimes, hurts others, then it necessarily falls on whoever let him or her out before their time was up. So the character of Cool Hand Luke, who fights against impossible odds with a whole lot of nothing as the signature of his character's behavior, never does get his 'head right'

Other than that, the whole sweaty prison ambiance was a little hollow. No bugs crawling everywhere as they would be, the prisoners were a lot less vicious and evil than you'd find in reality. In all, a lot less real than when I remember seeing it lo these many years ago. But still a good movie which I won't be watching again for another 20 years.