Shawshank Redemption

(blog for "topic of the student’s choosing")
Last night I watched a movie called Shawshank Redemption. Warden Norton, the head of the prison, called himself a Christian and tried to make that one of his most defining characteristics, but when he wasn't quoting scripture at people, he was robbing them or shooting them with big guns. However, the characters who did show many traits of true christianity were the prisoners, who were thieves, rapist and murderers! It reminded me in a way of the elders in Babett's Feast. They too seemed very strict, and “preachy.” But Shawshank Redemption is a much more extreme case than the people in Babett's Feast. They both illustrated how empty (and sometimes ugly) religion can become when taken too legalistically. In Babett's feast they just believed that you could embrace Christ more fully by denying bodily pleasures, but in Shawshank Redemption, I think the warden merely was using christianity as a mask for his complete lack of virtue. Good movie though... and great ending!