The Birdman of Alcatraz is a true-life American drama about a man who experiences life in a lonely prison cell and develops a curiosity about birds. The film, released in 1962, lasts over two hours and is directed by John Frankenheimer. Frankenheimer created a fictionalized version of the life of a federal inmate, Robert Stroud, known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Robert Stroud in the film is portrayed as a rebellious male eager to fight against the rigid prison system, this is indicated when Stroud breaks the prison window open to prevent the inmates from suffocating, "even the inmates have the right to breathe " Stroud declares to the prison director who immediately replies "rights, I don't think you know what that means" implying how prisoners are different from ordinary citizens and powerless within the prison system. Stroud is portrayed as a dangerous animal throughout the film as he stabs a prison guard to death and comes into conflict with other inmates leading to him being sentenced to solitary confinement before being hanged to death. The inmate's mother wishes to bring justice to Stroud, "my son is a prisoner worth saving" and so her emotional plea to the White House is what saves him from the death sentence. The prisoner's life then changes when he finds a sick bird and nurses it back to health. The Birdman of Alcatraz illustrates an element of space, where space is a tool used to produce order and facilitate control. This is represented through physical exclusion where prisoners are segregated and confined to a limited space, physically removed from society and excluded from social constraints. The inmates in the prison are controlled by the strict rules and surveillance put in place, Stroud states "sit and listen to your heartbeat, feel the ticking of your life... you know what comes next" which connotes how the inmates have a highly regulated regime and suffer from its repetition. At the beginning of the film Stroud receives a rule book from the warden, "and what will you do for every minute of the 24 hours of the day" which illustrates how the prisoners are always being watched and lack autonomy. The space in prison is therefore never neutral and is characterized by power relations and in a certain way to carry out specific functions that include social exclusion. A temporal element is also present in the film where time is given great importance, "one thing I have learned is not to abuse time". The prisoner's schedule is a central feature of prison life and is what gives life in prison a semblance of structure. It is highly organized and controlled by the prison system in order to deprive prisoners of choice and instill discipline. use” ​​as a way of explaining how the organization of time relates to the element of control and order established by the prison system. Furthermore, a lack of freedom of prisoners is recognized when Stroud stated how he was a 'caged animal'. , indicating how he is deprived of freedom. Stroud also talks to his bird during the film and mentions how, "out there... the air is good to breathe, the nights go by faster and you can tell the time thanks to the clock" referring to the outside of the prison, emphasizing how the bird can fly away and be free while Stroud is still stuck in his prison cell, watched by the authorities. Stroud mentions the clock and how it manages totelling the time outside of prison connects to the element of time and highlights the idea of ​​how time is controlled in prison. The film also illustrates an element of prison adaptation that is shown throughout the film. At the beginning of the film, Stroud is depicted as a rebellious and aggressive prisoner, who was adapting to prison in a way by rebelling and challenging authority, however, as the film progresses, Stroud began to take an interest in birds, he started to cooperate and showed patience. During the end of the film, there was a sign of retirement on Stroud's part when he stopped committing himself in prison and committed suicide when all hope was gone. Sykes's novel Prisoners' Society (1958) indicates that all prisoners are subject to some fundamental deprivations inherent in imprisonment, including freedom, autonomy, security, and the loss of certain rights. This ties into the time element as prison guards have control over time in prison, which leaves prisoners weak and helpless. The novel also illustrates how "the tainted man is a constant threat to the prisoner's self-conception" and how the prisoner is reminded that he must be kept away from "good men." This ties into the time element as prison guards have the authority of time in prison. The book, a critical introduction to prisons and confinement, mentions the deprivation of liberty of prisoners, stating how their loss of liberty is "double", «first, through confinement in an institution and, secondly, through confinement inside of the institution". This is shown in Birdman of Alcatraz where Stroud is held behind bars, away from other prisoners and individuals outside the prison, supporting the idea of ​​the element of control in prison. During the 18th and 19th centuries, punishment and the distribution of space were more about minimizing contagion, encouraging self-reflection, and maximizing safety rather than rehabilitating the prisoner and reintroducing him to society. The Birdman of Alcatraz represents this when Stroud was sentenced to solitary confinement, isolated from other inmates, without any form of socialization and reflective separation. Foucault argued that "modern systems of discipline require forms of regulation that are also positive and that involve incentives and incentives". Prisoners need support to reintegrate into society so that they can reform themselves, this can happen by inserting them into training and work programs in so that they don't end up returning. He also stated how punishment has now moved over time 'from the discipline of the body to the discipleship of the "soul"' as a way of suggesting how punishment is now seen as punishing the mind. of the individual and help them reflect instead of punishing their bodies and causing pain. In the Birdman of Alcatraz, although inmates were not allowed to keep birds as pets and after the warden saw how well it worked for Stroud, he allowed it. The Oakwood Forensic Center, a maximum security prison in Lima, Ohio, found that it helped calm violent inmates and helped them become "much more sociable and cooperative than usual," improving prison life for both inmates and guards . In the film, Stroud apologized to one of the guards for his bad manners even though he hadn't apologized to anyone in twenty years. Furthermore, Stroud was only allowed to keep his birds once they had attracted public attention, this suggests how the "government faces public pressure, conveyed through the media"... media coverage has seen a great impact on... An example of this... Please note: this is just an example. Get it now.40