I came to this film from a somewhat unique perspective. A close friend is a lifelong devoted social worker, a champion for the poor and the less fortunate. She is now in her twilight years, no retirement in sight. Too many babies to look after and few competent parents. Her job is special, because she sees newborns in compromised circumstances daily. Dealing with the chaos is just a part of life for these soldiers on the front line.
Watching this film, I realized that this isn't just a debate about capital punishment. It's a film about the vicious mechanism we face - with poor, unfit adults aggressively bearing offspring, damned as their ancestors, and destined to bring only misery into the world. We see a father of one of the convicted men, in a truly heartbreaking dialogue, discuss what it was like to celebrate Thanksgiving in shackles with his two sons, also incarcerated. His third son of four, Jason Burkett, faces a life sentence. With his stubborn, resolute jaw and his plight, Jason has attracted a messenger from the outside world, an advocate. She is a childlike romantic, given to unrequited love and notions of noble prisoners unjustly held captive. Deep down, we see flitters of mischief as though she is willing to do anything for Burkett and his cause, even if it means smuggling his seed outside of prison walls and proliferating his genetic instruction. When asked how many children he would like to have, Burkett's eyes widen into fevered starshells, full of biological desire. It only takes a moment to realize this isn't entirely love, but rogue impulses. Desire and passion and a primordial charter from his adrenals to keep replicating.
There is a strange, lethal innocence to Michael Perry, like a child in a more sadistic garden of eden. You can tell that only some small part of him grasps the actual consequence of his actions. That he would likely go to his early grave still in denial, a cultural fetus. Even without the confines of prison, his developmental process has long ago stopped.
To me, this film makes a stronger case for controlling the population prior to conception than it does against capital punishment.
Watching this film, I realized that this isn't just a debate about capital punishment. It's a film about the vicious mechanism we face - with poor, unfit adults aggressively bearing offspring, damned as their ancestors, and destined to bring only misery into the world. We see a father of one of the convicted men, in a truly heartbreaking dialogue, discuss what it was like to celebrate Thanksgiving in shackles with his two sons, also incarcerated. His third son of four, Jason Burkett, faces a life sentence. With his stubborn, resolute jaw and his plight, Jason has attracted a messenger from the outside world, an advocate. She is a childlike romantic, given to unrequited love and notions of noble prisoners unjustly held captive. Deep down, we see flitters of mischief as though she is willing to do anything for Burkett and his cause, even if it means smuggling his seed outside of prison walls and proliferating his genetic instruction. When asked how many children he would like to have, Burkett's eyes widen into fevered starshells, full of biological desire. It only takes a moment to realize this isn't entirely love, but rogue impulses. Desire and passion and a primordial charter from his adrenals to keep replicating.
There is a strange, lethal innocence to Michael Perry, like a child in a more sadistic garden of eden. You can tell that only some small part of him grasps the actual consequence of his actions. That he would likely go to his early grave still in denial, a cultural fetus. Even without the confines of prison, his developmental process has long ago stopped.
To me, this film makes a stronger case for controlling the population prior to conception than it does against capital punishment.