Yesterday night I watched the second episode in a BBC 1 series called ‘The Prisoners’. Last night, as indeed the week before, the programme prompted an interesting flow of thoughts and emotions that in turn inspired this post.
By way of a synopsis, the film makers followed a series of inmates around the London prisons of Pentonville and Holloway during their sentences and then when released back into their communities. The characters featured so far are serial petty offenders that actually need to be in prison in order to cope with their lives – drug abusers, alcoholics, homeless souls etc. Prison gives these people a bed, a TV, food, structure, sometimes a prison job, companionship, often a much needed detox and it costs them nothing to live.
It’s fair to say that those followed are the detritus of society with low intelligence, limited education, no employment prospects and often from malfunctioning families. Their drink and/or drug habits go on to fuel the antisocial behaviour (shoplifting, violence) that gets them banged up again and again and again. In one chap’s case, a gregarious 43 year old Londoner, that has meant 14 years in prison for simple and stupid offences. One twenty-something had been imprisoned on 42 separate occasions! These people are institutionalised because they go to prison, serve their time, get let out and re-offend in no time at all so that they end up detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure once again.
Now this post isn’t intended to be a review of the series but rather a reflection on the conflicting emotions that it has generated by watching it.
Here is the list; bewilderment, sympathy, frustration, anger, guilt and a sense of satisfaction.
Starting with bewilderment – personally this comes from having no mental reference points for anything I am watching. For the characters, I can’t think from their perspectives at all and I can’t rationalise their behaviour. To me their self-destructive spirals of decline are shocking and confusing.
I do end up feeling some sympathy for the characters though because they are in a state of purgatory all the time – these people will achieve little, will go nowhere and will have nothing. Most of these prisoners live pointless lives and even struggle to string a coherent sentence together.
They aren’t murderers, rapists, child abusers or terrorists (the kind of inmates one would only have negative thoughts towards) but instead lost souls with little hope of finding the ‘light’.
I certainly sympathise with the wardens and probation officers that have to work with these people. I also sympathise with the parents of one or two of the inmates.
Frustration comes from listening to these characters, free from the effects of addiction, talking about turning over a new leaf this time and staying clean and getting a job when you know full well they are deceiving themselves. You want to shout at the telly (and the people) when you watch the addictions take hold once more or the effects of homelessness taking their inevitable toll. I found myself thinking ‘are you stupid’ about a particular individual only for it to dawn that the answer was simply ‘yes’.
On to anger – I have found myself feeling anger about the system, about the way that it completely fails to help these people cope with life. Then from a conflicting perspective, I get angry that these morons are living their hopeless lives at the tax payers’ expense and adding no value to society at all.
For me guilt then takes hold because some of the thoughts above aren’t exactly charitable! I watched a teenager last night self-harming and tying ligatures around her neck and honestly, a small part of me thought – if she killed herself, so what!
The final emotion that I have experienced is a sense of relief and satisfaction with all that I have. It is easy to fall into the trap of forgetting just how lucky you are. Last night I sat back and reflected that I am fortunate to have come from a good family, to have a good family of my own, to have had an education, to have had some opportunities, to be healthy and to have had some great experiences.
So to end this ramble, the producers have done an excellent job of playing with viewers’ minds. If you haven’t seen an episode of this series, give it some thought, you may also experience a roller coaster of emotion. If you want compelling television or thought provoking viewing then I’d have to recommend this series. It’s reality TV but it’s gritty and uncomfortable and has a much more important set of messages to convey than ‘The Voice’, ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ or some of the other guff that fills the schedules. I have to say the BBC has done a good job with this one.
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By way of a synopsis, the film makers followed a series of inmates around the London prisons of Pentonville and Holloway during their sentences and then when released back into their communities. The characters featured so far are serial petty offenders that actually need to be in prison in order to cope with their lives – drug abusers, alcoholics, homeless souls etc. Prison gives these people a bed, a TV, food, structure, sometimes a prison job, companionship, often a much needed detox and it costs them nothing to live.
It’s fair to say that those followed are the detritus of society with low intelligence, limited education, no employment prospects and often from malfunctioning families. Their drink and/or drug habits go on to fuel the antisocial behaviour (shoplifting, violence) that gets them banged up again and again and again. In one chap’s case, a gregarious 43 year old Londoner, that has meant 14 years in prison for simple and stupid offences. One twenty-something had been imprisoned on 42 separate occasions! These people are institutionalised because they go to prison, serve their time, get let out and re-offend in no time at all so that they end up detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure once again.
Now this post isn’t intended to be a review of the series but rather a reflection on the conflicting emotions that it has generated by watching it.
Here is the list; bewilderment, sympathy, frustration, anger, guilt and a sense of satisfaction.
Starting with bewilderment – personally this comes from having no mental reference points for anything I am watching. For the characters, I can’t think from their perspectives at all and I can’t rationalise their behaviour. To me their self-destructive spirals of decline are shocking and confusing.
I do end up feeling some sympathy for the characters though because they are in a state of purgatory all the time – these people will achieve little, will go nowhere and will have nothing. Most of these prisoners live pointless lives and even struggle to string a coherent sentence together.
They aren’t murderers, rapists, child abusers or terrorists (the kind of inmates one would only have negative thoughts towards) but instead lost souls with little hope of finding the ‘light’.
I certainly sympathise with the wardens and probation officers that have to work with these people. I also sympathise with the parents of one or two of the inmates.
Frustration comes from listening to these characters, free from the effects of addiction, talking about turning over a new leaf this time and staying clean and getting a job when you know full well they are deceiving themselves. You want to shout at the telly (and the people) when you watch the addictions take hold once more or the effects of homelessness taking their inevitable toll. I found myself thinking ‘are you stupid’ about a particular individual only for it to dawn that the answer was simply ‘yes’.
On to anger – I have found myself feeling anger about the system, about the way that it completely fails to help these people cope with life. Then from a conflicting perspective, I get angry that these morons are living their hopeless lives at the tax payers’ expense and adding no value to society at all.
For me guilt then takes hold because some of the thoughts above aren’t exactly charitable! I watched a teenager last night self-harming and tying ligatures around her neck and honestly, a small part of me thought – if she killed herself, so what!
The final emotion that I have experienced is a sense of relief and satisfaction with all that I have. It is easy to fall into the trap of forgetting just how lucky you are. Last night I sat back and reflected that I am fortunate to have come from a good family, to have a good family of my own, to have had an education, to have had some opportunities, to be healthy and to have had some great experiences.
So to end this ramble, the producers have done an excellent job of playing with viewers’ minds. If you haven’t seen an episode of this series, give it some thought, you may also experience a roller coaster of emotion. If you want compelling television or thought provoking viewing then I’d have to recommend this series. It’s reality TV but it’s gritty and uncomfortable and has a much more important set of messages to convey than ‘The Voice’, ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ or some of the other guff that fills the schedules. I have to say the BBC has done a good job with this one.
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