Politics and Prisoners

I was drawn to watch a documentary outlining the art of tattooing in Russian prisons and its implications for the prisoners and the prison system in Russia. I found it on an excellent website entitled , Documentary Heaven.com. The documentary was called , "The Mark of Cain".


What struck me profoundly was how the culture of tattooing and its power in the world of Russian prisons is waning and becoming a symbol of shame as opposed to its earlier influence in the prison hierarchy. What also struck me was how some believed that conditions were actually better under the Stalinist regime.

" A film composer is the dictator of reality"

I realise that documentaries are biased in their own personal ways through the selection of their material.


But what also left me pondering was the suggestion of how prison life reflects a microcosm of the broader society.


It seems the brutal realities of survival and change in a prison mirror the game play of the outside world.




Similarly, the realities of American society and its exploitation of its prisoners - usually from the most vulnerable sections - are depicted with a bitter sweet irony in the following clip, to explore the implications of the land of freedom and opportunity .

Now where is all of this leading ?


Just a couple of thoughts to reflect on captured by these quotes........

“Many of us who walk to and fro upon our usual tasks are prisoners drawing mental maps of escape”

  Loren Eiseley quote

and

Two men look out the same prison bars; one sees mud and the   other stars.”

Frederick Langbridge quote