Run Sheet
00/01/16
I just got back from seeing the movie “The Green Mile” It was a very good movie to say the least.
It was another thing to me, other than a good cinematic work; it was a work of memory, and, in some ways a work of healing.
I was a Federal Corrections Officer for awhile. I worked in a maximum security institution with the worst of the worst. I worked with some of the lowest scum this society has to offer.
Think about all the prison movies you’ve ever seen. A common thread runs through them. The convict is always the hero, he’s some misunderstood or wrongly convicted good guy who is trapped inside the walls with a collection of bad guys, and is always befriended by a con who ends up doing something noble so that goodness and light can triumph. The other common thread that runs through them all is the guards. They’re without exception brutal thugs, drunk with power, heartless and cruel.
I’m here to tell you it isn’t like that.
The men and women I worked with daily and trusted my life to were professionals. In the time I worked inside those fences I never once, not one single time saw an act of brutality on the part of the guards. I was involved in many violent acts. Cell extractions, riots, subduing violent inmates, you name it. I saw many people get hurt, and hurt a few myself. That’s part of life inside. However, I never saw any violence that wasn’t needed or appropriate. Minimum force is the rule, that doesn’t mean NO force, but the minimum required. Once the inmate ceases resisting, then no more force is applied.
Being in that environment is like being inside a cage with a few hundred vicious dogs. If they decided as a group to kill you, they could with ease, all it takes is one show of vulnerability to have them come down on you in a pack.
Every day, if I was on an armed post, I used to be surprised how much heavier those bullets made that rifle. I never shot a man, but I looked at a couple through my rifle’s sights with the safety off and my finger on the trigger. I didn’t want to kill them, but I would have if required to. No question.
I don’t miss working in the prison, not one single bit. I never look back on it with fondness. I don’t regret the time I spent there, however. It was an experience few ever have, I wish more people could know how things really are in there. I wish more people could know the inmates by working with them day in and day out. There would be a lot less bleeding hearts.
But I digress.
There was healing for me there. For once Hollywood showed guards as regular people with lives. It showed caring men who did a job. That’s what corrections officers are, for the most part. It was healing for me to finally not be insulted by a movie on that subject. It featured well-cast guards. These guys were human, and for once not villains, except one. If anything they were a bit too nice. I’d rather that than the usual. The inmates, except for one, were a whole lot more decent and kind than any I ever experienced, however. I guess Hollywood still needs to work on some things.
But then, I guess we don’t go to movies to see reality, but to escape it for awhile.
Enough said, it’s late here
Go see this movie, It’s worth the price of admission.