Shawshank Redemption (my new favorite movie), Art, and Morality

Does the film have a moral vision? Should art be moral?

"I believe in two things: discipline and the Bible. Here you'll receive both. Put your trust in the Lord; your ass belongs to me. Welcome to Shawshank."

            Prisons, laws, and courts -- Religion, God and the divine right; The Shawshank Redemption layers two seemingly opposite poles. The fusion of both laws as social contracts and laws as the power of God demonstrate that both points of view follow a strict set of rules in a punishment/reward system. However, it is not possible to answer the question of the film’s morality if morality is not understood. In order to explore this question, it is necessary to define the concept of morality, and if ethics is taken into consideration (a ToK AoK), then morality can be defined as the principles concerning ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.

            The Shawshank Redemption follows a strict view that the right way to act is through a strict belief system imposed by authority. The prison can serve as a symbolic representation of the constraints of a society, a statement that the prisoners are those following the set of rules imposed by the ‘law’. Whether or not they committed the crime (that is, acted in a ‘wrong’ or ‘right’ manner), is submissive to the laws, both of God and of the government.  In this regard, most prisoners demonstrated in the movie are primarily at the preconventional stage of moral development, according to Kohlberg. Routine, in the eyes of the prison guards is the only way to achieve ‘rightful’ actions. It is explicit that those who are allowed by authority to escape these sets of rules to be followed cannot survive, as “outside of the walls you are nothing. If you stay here [in prison] long enough you get used to the walls and start depending on them”. Furthermore, characters in the movie call themselves “institutional”, as if they had been shaped to follow a strict system. It is hypocritical, however, that the authority, who is the one imposing the set of laws to be followed, are allowed to deviate from their own rules, and this is perhaps a reflection of the system lived in reality today.

            Andy’s character allows the audience to understand the moral system in place further as he is the only character that is beyond Kohlberg’s Preconventional Stage. Throughout the entire movie, Andy suffers the consequences of being in such a system. His actions are based more on emotion and on his personal state. Andy is not just a mere chess piece on a chessboard being played by the system of laws; instead, Andy makes his own chess pieces, and in that regard, sculpts his own future. Placing Andy in Kohlberg’s stages of development allows us to see that he transitions to a Post-Conventional moral system, where he is able to mold his beliefs to that of the social contract, and go beyond the system of rules, into a peaceful state of mind in the Pacific (…it may also be symbolic that he goes to the Pacific, as it means peaceful).  The final tangible aspect the prisoner guard, a figure of authority, has of Andy is a Bible that has been fit to include Andy’s tool of escape, a representation of Andy’s flight from this authoritative crime and punishment society: “Forget that there are places in the world that aren’t made of stone. There are places inside that they can’t touch. It’s yours.”

            The movie, therefore, through the use a prison, is able to create a microcosm of a system where the law is the ultimate authority, acting as a critique to those who blindly follow guidelines. Andy’s character demonstrates that those who break off may be able to live a better, more virtuous life. The contrast between Ethical Realism and Ethical Absolutism is made explicit throughout.

            As a dancer who sees dance with pure artistic value, I believe that it is impossible for art not be moral, or follow a set of ethical values. The artist, be it the director of a movie, the choreographer, the composer or the painter, conveys messages through their art forms as critiques. Each individual artist carries within them a set of ‘codes’ that they follow, even if their code is to follow no code. Through this, the artist themselves is reflected on their work, just as Frank Darabont, the director of Shawshank Redemption Morality, let his critique of an enclosed society spill in his symbolic representation of society as a prison. Ethics, in my perspective, shape an identity, and actions cannot be performed without the manifestation of those. This summer I met a dancer and choreographer called Sydnie Mosley, who was working on a project called “Window Sex Project”. In this work, Mosley makes a critique to the men who “window-shop” women, sexually harassing them verbally or physically. The view that such an action is wrong is based on Mosley’s moral system, and her art directly conveys this. If another artist believed that if sexual harassment is pleasurable for the individual performing, it is morally correct, then the outcome of the artistic form would be completely altered. It must be taken into consideration, though, that seeing myself as an artist makes it difficult for me to consider the points of views of others who may not necessarily follow the same rationale. It all goes back to the definition of art. Some may say that everything is art, while others may have a completely narrow view of a tangible form of artistic expression. In my regard, even those not labeled as  “artists” interact daily with their environment and in relationships, all which are grounded on ethical decisions and the personal distinction of a “virtual” action. A man who touches a woman sexually in the streets is acting with his set of beliefs, and his actions may be seen as art, and may thus, be appreciated. It is difficult to define such a large concept, as art may simply mean an expression of the appreciation of the human form. I do not wish to “go to the swamp” with this concept at the moment (although in my head I’m already all muddy from this swamp!), but it is valuable to consider the concept of art in different manners. Regardless,  due to my experience with art, I believe that human actions are grounded in morality, even if that may be distinctive for each individual.

To watch an excerpt from “The Window Sex Project” follow this link: http://vimeo.com/38299383