1. After pages 3-4
"This is not a movie about bars and locked doors. It is about being alone when you are not really alone and about being scared all the time." (Pages 3-4)
I’ve never experienced anything like this, but I know that it goes on. I thought it was really interesting how he decided to make a movie about his life in jail. I can see why he thinks/ feels alone and scared. It’s easy at times to feel all alone but yet be surrounded by people. It’s kind of like my chemistry class, there is a lot of people in it but yet I don’t normally talk to any of them so during the class I feel alone because they all have their own little groups.
2. On page 19
"I didn't say it was bad, but wasn't it predictable? You need to predict without predicting. You know what I mean? When you make a film, you leave an impression on the viewers who serve as a kind of jury for your film. If you make your film predictable, they'll make up their minds about it long before it's over."
It’s so true because if your watching a movie and it’s predictable then it ruins the entire movie. For example, Vacancy was one of those movies. There was some parts that you weren't quite sure what was going to happen but in other parts it was so predictable that it wasn't even scary. In other words don’t have your life so predictable because then everyone will know what your going to do next. In my opinion I like the more twisted story lines because it keeps you guessing till the end.
3. On page 21
"Most people in our communities are decent, hardworking citizens who pursue their own interests legally and without infringing on the rights of others. But there are also monsters in our communities--people who are willing to steal and to kill, people who disregard the rights of others."
For the most part she is right but she is also wrong in my opinion. In every community there are decent, hardworking citizens but the other people that screw up shouldn't be considered monsters. Some times the reasons that they do wrong things like stealing and murder is that they might not know any better. For those who do know better, still shouldn't be called monsters. They should be called something less mean or threatening. "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)
4. on page 26
"...the laws also protect the accused, and that is the wonder and beauty of the American system of justice. ...We apply the law equally to both sides. The law that protects society all of society.
I like this idea because, I think its good that the American system of justice can take care of all society, not just the "innocent" or the "accused" but everyone.
5. On page 46
"I hate this place. I hate this place. I can't write it enough times to make it look the way I feel. I hate, hate, hate this place!!
I don't think I'll ever be able to relate to the trouble that Steve is in at the moment. Even though I've never been to jail before I could just imagine what it would be like. In my opinion it would really suck to go to jail because I wouldn't have anything to do. I would just have to sit around all day and all I could basically do is wonder what I could have done different or what I could be doing at that very moment a few miles away.
6.on page 59
"It's funny, but when I'm sitting in the courtroom, I don't feel like I'm involved in the case. It's like the lawyers and the judge and everybody are doing a job that involves me, but I don't have a role. It's only when I go back to the cells that I know I'm involved."
I have felt like that before, where it feels like your friends are talking about you but don't even realize that you are standing right there. Sometimes it's different though. You will be standing in a group of people and then when you have something to say no hears you.
7. On page 78-79
"Half of those jurors, no matter what they said when we questioned them when we picked the jury, believed you were guilty the moment they laid eyes on you. You're young, you're Black, and you're on trial. What else do they need to know?"
I think its sad that people judge other people with a different back ground then they have. Not all black people are bad there are many other ethnic groups where you could find a bad person. So i don't think that they should judge, just because he is black.
8. On page 89
" 'All they can do is put me in jail,' he said. 'They can't touch my soul.' "
Yes I suppose they can't touch this persons soul, but if it were me I would feel very guilty and it would break my spirit, I would certainly feel very sorry for doing whatever I did to be in jail.
9. On page 91
"I think about myself so much, about what's going to happen to me and all, that I don't think about my folks that much. I know Mama loves me, but I wonder what she's thinking."
I would be thinking about how I made it to that very moment to be getting into jail and I would also be thinking about how bad I felt about putting my parents in that situation
10. On pages 115-116
"Seeing my dad cry like that was just so terrible. What was going on between us, me being his son and him being my dad, is pushed down and something else is moving up in its place. It's like a man looking down to see his son and seeing a monster instead."
I think it startled Steve when he saw his dad cry. For some reason guys don't cry, or at least girls never see it happen. The reason that I think it seemed like the father-son bond was somewhat slipping was because Steve was in a jail cell instead of being under his father's roof. They didn't get time to really hang out or talk like they used to because of the guards and the bars.
11. On page 140
"What did I do? I walked into a drugstore to look for some mints, and then I walked out. What was wrong with that? I didn't kill Mr. Nesbitt. . . Sunset said he committed the crime, Isn't that what being guilty is all about? You actually do something?"
I feel bad for Steve, because he just kind of walked into the drugstore and bought some mints and walked back out. I guess I believe him but I know he must have done something.
12. On page 237
" His film footage shows me what he's seeing and, to a large extent, what he's thinking. And what he sees, the humanity of it, speaks of a very deep character...
It is my belief that to make an honest film, one has to be an honest person."
I think this is true because to make a film that is true, you have to actually be true about the situation.
13. on page 261
"They are all equally guilty. The one who grabbed the cigarettes, the one who wrestled for the gun, the one who checked the place to see if the coast was clear."
Even thought they claimed he was guilty, he didn't even complete his job so technically he didn't even complete the crime.