Write a short reflection on the film Dancer in the Dark. Do you feel the message in the film is in support or is more against death penalty? Or do you get neither message? Take a look at Abolitionist Arguments (against Capital Punishment) and Retentionist Arguments (for Capital Punishment) in the book (Chapter 7) for our in class discussion next week. You may give your opinion about the issue in your post if you would like to express it, but it is not a requirement for the assignment.
18 comments:
The movie “Dancer in the Dark” clearly is showing an Abolitionists argument (Against Capital Punishment). The movie tries to portrays how an innocent’s life may be taken away. I don’t quite think of Selma Jezkova (main character) as an innocent, despite the way she was emotionally forced into killing. Killing is still killing no mater what the context or situation, but the movie still sets the incident as her being tragically labeled as a killer, and the unjust Judicial system that caters to those will money. Referring to the book the movie fulfills all four of the arguments Against Capital Punishment. 1 Every human life has dignity and worth. Selma Jezkova sacrificed her dignity for her sons well being. 2. Capital punishment is imposed with class and racial bias. She couldn’t pay for a good lawyer. 3. The innocent may die. The movie went to great lengths to make the viewer sympathize with the main character being innocent. 4. Capital punishment compromises the judicial system. The fact that she killed a police officer meant that everyone in the court room, except her friends, wanted her dead, and went the great lengths, like finding a man with her presumed fathers name to come to court. Just to convict her, and sentence her to death. The movie doesn’t show in any way, any argument for capital punishment.
I believe the movie “Dancer in the Dark”, Bjork sacrifices herself for her son, through her work and by refusing to admit that she shot the policeman neighbor because he was stealing her money. She is scared that if she tells the truth about the shooting that the money may not go to save her son's sight. So by keeping quiet and not retaining another lawyer to save her case she is doomed to receive the death penalty.
In my opinion, the movie allows the viewer to decide which view on capital punishment they want to take. This film shows the heartbreaking story of Bjork trying to save her son’s eyesight by saving and saving every few dollars for a much needed operation. She is caught in a unfortunate situation where she needs to make a life and death decision, does she shoot the neighbor and save the money or does she let him take her money, lose her home and start all over again? Was she right in shooting Bill? Was she of sound body and mind? In this situation I am not sure I agree with the taking of Selma’s life. I don’t believe she was of sound body and mind to even take care of herself let alone a son. She seemed delusional most of time at work going in and out of fantasy.
Supporters of capital punishment (Retentionist) believe that it deters crime and prevents people from thinking of committing the crime. The theory of deterrence is based on the idea that the threat of punishment must be severe enough to counter the benefits that the criminal would receive from the crime. In addition, the punishment must be administered swiftly so that potential criminals will see a clear cause and- effect relationship between the crime and the punishment. When you look at countries like China and Saudi Arabia where they have capital punishment, the people are very aware of what is not theirs and do not take what is not theirs. You will find cars abandoned on the road and no one will touch them because of the circumstances. Is capital punishment less expensive than life imprisonment? Does it make sense to keep people in life imprisonment using the tax payer’s money to keep them eating, sleeping and getting an education?
Supporters against capital punishment (Abolitionist) say that capital punishment has led to the execution of wrongly convicted and it does not deter criminals more than life imprisonment. They have said that statistics are not clear on whether it deters criminals if there is or isn’t the death penalty. What if an innocent person is convicted of a crime and then gets the death penalty? We cannot apologize for the taking of one’s life that should not have been taken. But isn’t that what the convict wants? Apologize for the crime committed and be sent for rehabilitation.
An example of the capital punishment debate was in 1997, Timothy McVeigh was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1993 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, which killed 168 people. Does killing 168 qualify Timothy McVeigh to receive the death penalty? Doesn’t this go back to the theory of “eye for an eye”. Passages in the Bible are as badly misunderstood as this one. The "eye for an eye" theory is not about harshness; it's about proportional retribution. In ancient Palestine, offenses against a person’s honor were met with an escalated response. If someone stole one of your sheep, the thing to do was go kill 5 of his cows. This was to “teach a lesson” . The eye for an eye theory was to put a stop on this escalated violence and insisting that punishment or retribution is proportionate to the harm done. This should not be decided by the offended party’s rage or fury. Leviticus 24:18 says, "And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast." The eye-for-an-eye principle placed limits on retribution and punishment and was a true step of moral progress.
It’s been said that Jesus said that, among weak and flawed human beings, justice without mercy isn't really justice at all. With the story of John who brought forth a woman who committed adultery and those standing there ready to stone, Jesus said to look at your own hearts before satisfying your righteous rage. The downcast mob dropped their stones, Jesus could say "go and sin no more" with unparalleled moral authority. Not the authority of swords, nor even authority by the letter of the law. He taught us that sinful human beings can't afford to be too hard on each another or we will destroy ourselves. Forgive my brother seven times? "No, seventy times seven."
A little dose of compassion never hurt anybody but is there a point where it goes too far?
In the movie Dancer In The Dark, Bjork portrays a very dedicated, vigilant mother that will go to any lengths to see that her son is taken care of with his degenerative sight disease. I believe this movie showed a very sympathetic, abolitionist view of capital punishment. I personally was moved by the circumstances involved. Of course, the character committed murder. But the murder was almost a mercy killing. Such an odd circumstance that it still pulls at me to either side. While I personally believe that capital punishment is the best course of action in most situations where a murder is involved, I am torn between Selma’s act and her motive in the movie. Selma needed her money to help save her son and Bill was so despondent that he asked to be killed. She had to kill to get her money; she had to kill to help her friend. But such a savage way to ask for a mercy killing, framing his confidant and friend, the character. I found myself asking, if I were placed in the same situation, what would I do?
Much like in an abortion debate, my personal view is there is more than just black and white. There are many grey areas. Retentionists believe that capital punishment is a deterrent to crime while Abolitionists believe that innocents are sometimes caught in the wheel and are often errantly convicted and killed. The movie is coming from the abolitionist POV, I believe. I am in the middle of the debate, but sway further closer towards the retentionist way of thinking. In my mind, I always go back to the Old Testament passage in Exodus 21, “eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe”. I think we need a bit more of the Old Testament mentality these days. But I digress. Truly my heart ached at the unfortunate circumstances portrayed in the film, however murder is murder and if the state in which you live has the death penalty, then the death penalty is the correct course of action. There is a good underlying message in the eye for eye passage. But unfortunately in cases such as Selma’s, your heart sometimes gets in the way of justice. Sometimes innocents commit heinous crimes as twisted acts of love. Much like this blog entry I am about to post, I feel somewhat incomplete and without a definite answer after watching the film. Much like Selma’s circumstance, I’m stuck in one of those grey areas.
By the fact that the producer chose a lady that is a little mentally challenged, about to be blind, and very poor, shows to me that the producer is against death penalty. In her situation, that were many factors to be analyzed other than just the fact she killed the man in cold blood and the government failed to do so. It is also sad that in the world we live in, there are so many extremely rich people that could even afford their clone like the move The Island and that are people that don’t have money for nothing. In the movie Dancer in the dark, is frustrating to see that she has to choose between her life or her son’s vision while some other people have so much money that they sped with stupid things like eating a tiger's penis in India because it is a symbol of power for guys and it cost about one million dollars. I saw that on the news the other day.
I am totally against death penalty, I think only God has the right to take lives and jail is a much worst punishment than death because the person is suffering alive. And in the movie, if she wasn’t sentence to death, lawyers would have time to analyze her case and she would probably be freed.
I totally agree with the book when it says: “Capital punishment is imposed with class and racial bias” therefore “The innocent may die”.
Capital punishment do not deters crime, it just reinforce the violence and human coldness and lack of emmotion in my opinion.
The movie Dancer in the Dark for me was really emotional, somehow I just felt very connected to the main character. I can truly sympathize with her and her actions. Even though it may sound funny, I could relate myself with the scene where at her job, she started to hear music and rhythms in the repetitive sounds that the machines made. I used to work in a print shop for a magazine, and the machines would also make repetitive sounds. After a while, these sounds would start to seem like melodies or rhythms to me too. She would create these songs and theatrical dances on her mind to distract herself from the crude reality she was living in. I think the movie was a little bit too harsh and cruel. I mean... here we have this poor woman who left her country and slaved all day in a factory, working extra hours so she could help her son not to become blind. On top of all this, her friend and neighbor betrays her and steals the money she's been saving up for her son's operation. Because of this, she had to kill him so she could take her money back. It was either her neighbor, or her son. I believe she made the right decision. With the neighbor, being a cop, she would've never gotten her money back legally. Being a poor woman, nobody would’ve believed that she could have ever possessed such great quantity of money. At the end, she had a big price to pay for her son's salvation, but at least she died knowing that her son was going to be able to see and wasn’t going to become blind like herself.
I believe that the message in the film is against Capital Punishment. It shows people how cruel, unmoral, and unjust Capital Punishment is. In this case, we have a woman who doesn't have the monetary resources to get a good lawyer on her own. This shows how the poor and unprivileged are more likely to receive the death sentence as is stated in the book. Also, she committed murder against a white man, who also happens to be a cop, therefore decreasing her chances on being acquitted. Even though she was guilty on murdering her neighbor, I don't believe that her sentence was just. After all, she was only trying to get her stolen money back, and the cop wouldn't let her have it unless she killed him. In fact, I believe that the cop forced her to commit such crime, he wanted to die, and he cowardly put his death on an innocent woman's hands.
-Josué Franco
I found the movie "Dancer in the Dark" to be very depressing but it was a good film. I don't feel that the movie was geared toward nor agaisnt capital punishment. Selma was a very passionate, loving, but also very nieve woman and mother. She was determined to save her sons sight but ended up going to far. In some ways I can understand her own reasonings for her actions but there comes a point when things just go to far. It was tradgic how a coward man could be so selfish to ruin the life of a good woman. In the same respect she made her choice to kill him.
I feel this movie shows the difference in the justice system for someone who has money and someone who is poor. Selma did not recieve a fair trial. In some ways it was her fault but the laywer didn't even try to defend her. If she would have had money and a good laywer I believe ahe might not have recieved such a harsh punishment. I do believe she deserved to spend time in prison but I don't think she desrved the death penalty.
In the beginning from a film students stand point I didn’t like the movie, but as I stop looking for floes and started paying attrition to the movie. I became interested in the movie then I started to cry. I personally don’t agree with capital punishment because I think it primitive but at the same time we our spending a lot of money on prisons. I thought that’s the reason for prisons to reeducate criminals, but that doesn’t seem to be working when all you need to do is pay a bail and leave. The fact that the mother sacrificed her life for her son site was toughing and that’s what made me cry. The only thing that kind of annoyed me was the singing but is tried in to that movie well.
I’m really not sure if the movie portray one or the other. To me it seems like the film is showing both Abolitionist and Retenionist Arguments. In the courtroom they found her guilty and sentenced her to the death penalty all the people see was Selma killed a man cold blooded (Retentionist) and then there was hope for her to get off of the death penalty if she had the money for the lawyer (Abolitionist). I think it is sad how a man that is healthy, with no condition, no kids and a cop to be in a bind where he had to steal from a woman that have a family trait of blindness of age and nowhere to go with a child to provide. I don’t blame her for what she had to do to get what was hers from the beginning to help her son not to turn out like her. I believe that she could of find other ways to pry open his hands to get the money. How would a person act in her shoes? All she could think about his getting her son the best care for his eyes and any woman would do the same for their child.
In my opinion it should be an “eye for an eye”, because if a person killed another person no matter what the situation is (if the person did the crime) he/she should be sent to the death penalty. Its more of a if you take a precious life from me I’m going to take your life from you and rest in piece. Now if the person was accused for a murder and sentence for to death then he/she should get another trial until proven guilty.mys
The Dancer in the Dark left a deep impression in my heart. I went through a lot of emotions while watching this film. I was frustrated at times when I saw Selma supporting the very man who caused so much pain and anguish in her life. I also sympathized with Selma when she was about to be hanged. The movie showed a wide array of emotions through the characters. I could see the emotions of a friend, a emotion of a lover, and emotions of an uninformed wife. I found Selma a bit mentally challenged and I found her relationship with Kathy very comforting. I believe relationship between Kathy and Selma is how a great friendship needs to be. I found Selma relationship with Jeff very unique and special. I really liked Jeff’s character in the film, he always supported Selma and his simple love for strengthen as situations got worse. Dancer in the Darker depict pure sacrifice in true love. In today’s society were we see parents selling their children in exchange for drug and pornography, it comforting to see a mother’s love for her child and her true sacrifice for her child’s welfare.
I felt that the message in the film was against death penalty. The director made the protagonist’s role very empathetic. I could almost feel what Selma was feeling. I wanted to support Selma all through the movie. Not once did I felt that she deserved a punishment as cruel as the death penalty. I think that the trail was one sided and very little emphasis was given to Selma’s circumstances and conditions. To some extent, Selma was also responsible for her sentence because she refrained from telling the truth about Bill. However, little or no emphasis was given to Selma’s character, her loving nature, and her positive attitude towards people. The jury only paid emphasis on what she did rather than why she committed the murder. Even the prison guard supported Selma and thought that the death penalty was cruel and unjust towards a loving mother like Selma.
I thought Dancer in the Dark was a fantastic movie. I haven ever seen such a sad and merciless musical. I almost felt giddy, other than the fact it was so sad. The cinematography was great. The way the director set up the shots in the beginning made me a little dizzy at first, but when it would explode into a music scene, it was phenomenal. The characters all seemed basic, other than the main character. It seemed everything was going wrong for her. We where made to feel bad for her. I loath her. I hate the character so much i love her. I feel the movie was strictly against capital punishment. She was setup by the cop who obviously was in dirty dealing from the beginning. When the movie started and they left the factory for the first time and the cop showed up with her son, he was telling the kid something along the lines to "just do what they rehearsed" or "what he said to do". This little line completely ruined the movie for me because I knew what was going to happen from there. He was going to steal something precious away from her forcing or blackmailing her to do something she was totally against.
Selma was setup, but gave up everything for her child. She ended up killing the guy to get the money to pay for his operation. She killed a white male cop, and was caught in a fib that she told her son to make him feel better, which she also told to others, so she could fit in. It's not that she couldn't pay the lawyer, its that she didn't want to. She would rather have her son's operation and a chance at life, than spend an extra few years in jail then die. She knew what she did, she felt she had to do it, so Capital Punishment wins. I feel that even though the movie didn't show it very often, i believe that maybe she was a religious person, and she knew that because of her circumstance she would be rightfully prosecuted by whoever he god was.
Gregory Smith II
The film Dance in the Dark was an interesting film. I did feel the movie showed a favoritism for capital punishment, but it also showed that certain innocent people trying to do a good thing can be convicted. The movie seemd to turn a grusome representation of capital punishment into a music-filled film. I do not feel capital punishment should be shown this way. I do agree with capital punishment in some circumstances, but this movie shows there are some circumstances that it should be fought. Do I feel that she should have been set free? NO WAY !! She killed someone, and she needs to be punished. Capital punishment is not always what you think it might be. Life is not always what it seems.
to me it seemed that the film was totally against capital punishment showing the absolute worst thing that could happen where a young mother trying to help her son has her money stolen from some one she trusted then he forced her to kill him and they made her out to be a horrible person though to me she was almost justified but in my opinion i believe money should never cause someone to die or cause someone to be put to death due to money. and once agan another movie that shows you why its not good to trust a cop.i believe capitol punishment cn be just but in other occations it is not needed if the case could of came back up she might have been ableto get off on a charge of temporary insanity due to the fact that he stole her money and once again money caused another death when a lawyer that could of help save her life wouldnt due to the fact she wouldnt give away her money this movie not only opened my eyes to capitol punishment but also the evil that is money peoples life come down to a piece of paper people die over a piece of paper if you can get passed the weird outburst of song this movie was really good and opened my mind to a whole new way of looking at capitol punishment
I thought the movie "koyaanisqatsi" was about capital punishment...but I guess not. Anyways, I beleive the movie "Dancer in the Dark" portrays the death penalty as an immoral and unecessary act of punishment. The abolitionist argument is simple...two wrongs don't make a right. Therefore, murdering a murderer still leaves us with a murderer. Additonally, the movie displays the gray areas of murder...such as self defense in Selma's case. This is where capital punishment starts to get complicated. Also, there are cases where innocent people have been committed of not just one murder, but a string of murders. So, mistakes are still being made in our justice system. On top of this, there's the discussion of tax dollars, which I won't get into. At the end, I think the movie sets you up to feel terribly sorry for a disabled mother who's done nothing wrong in her life who makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to use the little money she had on her son's surgical procedure. It's a virtuous act and is therefore a serious contradiction to have given her the death penalty. This was the message that the movie wanted to give it's viewer and is why I beleive it's more related to the abolitionist's side capital punishment.
Personally, I am against capitol punishment; although I can see it as a cost-efficient alternative, oppose to housing life-sentenced inmates. The movie Dancer In the Dark upset me, not because of the capitol punishment issue, but Selma's naive nature. There were many alternatives to what she had done and could have done. The fact that she turned down the bond that could save her life upset me the most. I know she wanted to save her child's eyes from her family's disease; however throwing your life away for something like that is inexcusable.
- Greg Allen
I liked the movie even though I am not much of a musical fan. I think the era of the movie really fits the plot or tone of the film. I don't know if you can say the film is strictly against the death penalty, but it rather shows how flawed our judicial system truly is. Especially in the era it takes place. The fear of Communism and change. She was hung more for perhaps being a communist more than killing the officer. I do believe in the death penalty, but the film shows the great risk in that belief. I believe in a more responsible system to perform the death penalty. Even today there are cases over twenty years old being overturned by DNA evidence. We need to do better than just having public defenders who just go through the motions.
I'm for death penalty when it's for a good cause. You take a life, you don't deserve to live.
In high school, reading books was one of my many tasks. I read a book about a little girl that was abused and punished for absolutely nothing. I think she was about 3 or 4 years old. The mother hooked up with this guy who turned out to be a real asshole. The leading cause of the little girls abuse and punishment while the mother stood back and did nothing.
He never fed her, never let her use the bathroom and never let her sleep. The girl died from this abuse and this jerk boyfriend of the mother burried her in the lake near their home. The mother was charged with murder and spent some odd years in prison while the male got the death penalty. I was all for that.
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