Sister Helen was originally a kind woman who did good in the black community. Until one day, she received a letter from Matthew Ponsler, one of the perpetrators of the above-mentioned crimes, and decided to visit her who was waiting for the death sentence that might come at any time. The prisoner. We saw that from the beginning of Helen's visit, she faced tremendous pressure. As a criminal who committed a vicious case, although Matthew is still respected and protected to a certain extent in legal procedures, in fact, he has been abandoned by the mainstream of society. In people's eyes, he has been equated with "beasts". He was guilty of his crimes, and he was guilty of death. Therefore, even a priest could not understand why Helen visited this wicked person and reminded her to be "be careful of being used." In his opinion, such a person is vicious and hard to change and is not worthy of being saved.
Matthew’s presentation of his “grief” to Helen made the film seem to have a twist at first. It seems that this will be another story of an unjust case. After that, there will be a righteous lawyer who will speak out, there will be wonderful debates in the court, and finally justice. The lawyer's generous remarks and the vindication of the injustice ended. However, the connotation and difference of this film is that it is not focused on sensational stories, and even the court trial scenes are very few. It is more of Helen as a "guide". From her eyes, we explore the difference. The human mind. As Matthew who committed crimes, his grievances at first made people feel pity for him, but as the plot deepens, we know that it is more of his sophistry, or the last fight of his survival instinct when the time of death is approaching. . He didn't kill the couple personally, but he participated in the gang rape. He watched his companions brutally kill others. He was an accomplice, he was not "innocent", he was guilty. We can see that Matthew himself is a person with extreme thoughts, a racist, violent, and a fragile and sensitive heart, although he tries to be strong on the outside, he wants to be relaxed and calm. However, it is worth thinking about why Matthew was sentenced to death while the other criminal was exempted from death? From this perspective, Matthew has "grief". As his defense attorney said, "the rich kid has never been sentenced to death." Perhaps he had a little more money and could save him from death by hiring a better lawyer at the time. Unfortunately, he had only a tax lawyer appointed by the government to defend, and even the lawyer was almost ineffective in the trial at that time. This is what is worth thinking about, a kind of irrationality under the appearance of rationalization of procedures, a kind of invisible discrimination and difference, and an individual tragedy under the loopholes of the system. As a film adapted from a real story, this film also realistically shows that in the face of a sense of powerlessness in personal efforts under a system and social environment flaws, Matthew was finally executed.
Helen’s greater dilemma is that she is also trying to pacify the victim’s family in this case, trying to find a middle ground in the spiritual comfort of the perpetrator and the victim. This is an idealistic effort, but it is destined to be an idealistic effort. Extraordinarily difficult. When Helen faced the victim’s family, she was questioned, “Sister, I’m a Catholic, why can you sit next to Ponsler but not come to talk to us and understand our feelings?”, “ Why do you (as a nun) worry about criminals without thinking that maybe we need you?". Facing such doubts, Helen was painful and puzzled, especially after she discovered Matthew's racism and other characteristics, she was even more confused whether she was right or wrong to "help such a person". But she still bravely walked into the victim's family and listened to their feelings, but was misunderstood that she changed her attitude and turned to support the victim. When the victim's family found out that this was not the case, Helen was even more condemned. This is a very realistic problem, that is, for many problems, we always look at opposites resolutely, always with a "dichotomous" gaze, either black or white, good or evil, either you are punished or I Suffer. Because of a serious crime, Matthew has actually been deprived of all rights by most people. He is not worthy to live, he is not worthy to communicate with others, and he is not worthy of being defended by a lawyer. Anyone who helps him is either "helping the poor" or "Used" or short-circuited their brains, they were drawn to a line with Matthew, so they were also questioned and despised by the angry public. If we find that it is an obvious unjust case, we will call for procedural justice and call for someone to help him, but once the other party is found to be extremely guilty, we will shout hysterically and kill, even if the other party makes a reasonable defense according to the procedures, we have lost patience. At this time , The public’s psychology is often, what the fuck is the legal process, the bastard is sentenced to death earlier, so the common people are angry. Therefore, I hate the behavior in a crime. I understand the anger of the victim's family. I also admire the people like Sister Helen who insist on some bottom lines and do their best in the anger of the public and in the emotional social environment. Helen also condemned Matthew's crimes and refuted Matthew's sophistry. At the same time, she also calmed Matthew's mind, allowing him to reflect on his crimes and walk as calmly as possible on the road of Huangquan.
The film also involves the discussion of the death penalty. Personally, I am not too convinced that the death penalty can serve the purpose of preventing and alerting crimes. If this is the case, the era of many felonism in China should be peaceful and prosperous. In my opinion, the death penalty is mainly an act of "revenge" under the coercive force of the state and under the legal constraints, which comforts the family members of the deceased and allows the public's emotions to vent, that is, the effect of civilian anger. Therefore, the method of the death penalty and the public's attitude towards the death penalty will change with social changes. The film has already reflected the debate about the abolition of the death penalty. Of course, the abolitionist of the death penalty is at a disadvantage, especially in the context of a vicious case. However, I think that due to the irreversible nature of the death penalty, the procedure is as reasonable as possible. Prudence should be the bottom line, just like Matthew in the film, despite being rejected by everyone, but there are still people who insist on letting him defend under the most reasonable procedure. , And Matthew's death by injection also reflects the change in the method of death penalty.
If someone asks me, if you have been violated by illegal and criminal behavior, would you take the perpetrator calmly? Will he be punished in a hurry? I would say, yes, let alone serious crimes, even if a person beats me up, I will curse him to death in resentment, and I may find someone to retaliate; if someone cheats me hundreds of dollars, I too I would be angrily hope that the person would be "ransacked" and be impoverished. However, it is precisely because individuals’ responses to illegal and criminal behaviors are easily extreme, emotional, uncontrollable, and arbitrary. Therefore, we need legal restraint and the establishment of order. Otherwise, a society full of lynchings, I think. Will be even more terrifying. And here is the preciousness of Helen and others. They explored the neglected corners in the anger of the public, lonely but firmly calling for forgiveness and reconciliation. Therefore, at the end of the film, we see that a victim who was initially dissatisfied with her was victimized. The family members also had a touch. Although it was only a slight touch, it was enough to relieve Helen. What they did was to make everyone feel a little touched and think a little when their emotions reached the extreme of one direction. This is a difficult and small effort. But it deserves my deep respect.
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