Scared Straight
Written and directed by Arnold Shapiro
1978/USA
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/YouTube
Convict: When one of your so-called friends says to you, “Come on, let’s go steal something! Let’s go mug someone! Let’s go rip somebody off!” All they’re saying to you is, “Let’s go to prison!
1978’s Best Feature Documentary Oscar winner presents a program developed to put teens on the straight and narrow by showing prison life in all its horror.
A group of budding juvenile delinquents is given a dose of reality by inmates that are serving 30 years to life in a maximum security prison. The prisoners do not mince words and give graphic descriptions of sexual violence.
This photo is B&W but the film is in color
The film won the Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary as well as two Emmys for informational T V programing. It was presented uncensored on TV, and represents the first time the “f”-word was allowed by many stations. The film was the granddaddy of many reality TV shows here in the US with this theme. The version I watched on YouTube had a segment showing what had happened to the participants 20 years later. Most of the prisoners and the young people seem to have benefited from the program.
