"After the awakening, the only options as suicide or rebellion" -Albert Camus At the end of the movie, everyone thinks that Andy committed suicide, but he didn't he rebelled. He dug a hole and escaped. Meanwhile, Brooks chose suicide. This movie was clearly heavily influenced by existentialism. Andy's character arc was redeption through rebellion.

There isn’t a bird like me in every cage in Lebanon, I guess; I’m the feathered friend who can get it for you. This is the first line of my novel, The Birdshack Redemption, which is a retelling of The Shawshank Redemption with bird characters.

Criminally undersubscribed channel, man. Best video on Shawshank I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen tons).

I could never explain why this was my all time favorite movie until I watched this. Thank you.

Such an underrated video!

this saved my life omg i'm doing the hsc and the module is entirely on human experience and this is my related text i think i love you

This is amazing thank you so much for making this video.

Thanks! Such a great effort!

When u mentioned the monomyth i did a backflip! My english lit final is wednesday and its about this story and the monomyth

Very nice analysis!

Instant subscribe. Instantly clicked on that bell too. I hope to see more from you.

Great video! I will definitely share.

I love this analysis and thank you and congratulations for making it. I agree with the overall thesis but I need to say I think a connection between hope and stoicism has been overlooked. It is correct stoicism looks to living with nature and Seneca especially criticised hope specifically due to the pain that can come from unrealised hopes. Where I see an overlooked issue is the stoic concern for what we can control versus what we cannot. What we can control is a central ideal in stoicism. In Shawshank Andy not only has hope but he secretly has control. His hope may have come before or after he discovered he could control his future by clawing through the rock wall and planning an escape along the way. Regardless of when his hope began, Andy was, at least somewhat, motivated to continue due to knowing what was under his control and what was not. He knew he could control his rock digging, he knew he could control his meticulous escape plan. Conversely this is not a contradiction of stoic philosophy but an alignment with it. Throughout the movie Andy displays a certain calm, a wisdom, a rock like disposition almost always - this is an example of ataraxia the ancient Greek and stoic concept of tranquility, a feeling created from - the stoics argue - living in accordance with nature. Andy therefore could be said to be an archetype of a Stoic. He thinks about what he can control, he does not give up in spite of difficulty, he does not give up despite being wronged for nearly 20 years. He speaks in this video of being able to take music with him into the hole - and too the man could take philosophy in his mind into the hole with him. Like I said at the start I love this video and thank you for making it, but I think Andy is a Stoic or both a Stoic and a Christian. Both philosophies share commonalities that can be seen in him, notably the Four Cardinal Virtues - prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance - Andy was always prudent having almost 2 decades of keeping his escape secret. His justice his own freedom as an innocent man wronged. His fortitude to attempt to escape, to take the all or nothing chance at the end of the story. His temperance to control his behaviour for 20 years so he didn't step out of line and jeopardise his plans. I had fun writing this on my fone and thinking about this and could go on but that should be enough. Cheers and all the best

Great job!! best analysis on youtube for shawshank

Amazing analysis of the movie. Never thought of Red as the stoic. Always got that mixed up with Andi

Wonderful analysis

Great movie, I gave a like just because you're talking about it. Peace.

Thank you to: Owen Pitcairn and Robert Moore For sponsoring this video on Patreon with pledges of $10+ It's a huge help and is the only way I can make these videos, so thank you! I also have magnets to giveaway to $5+ Patreons and ALL supporters get early access to scripts, audio and upcoming research.

Glad I got to give this the 1000th like, favorite movie and novella.

Easily the most beautiful and meaningful movies made in last 30 years.

If everyone watching this video gave it a 'like', I hope the algorithms bounce, pulling more subscribers just as I imagined. I hope.

thank you. someday i hope to come out to the other side and give people hope

Very Good Interpretation, Thank you so much! New Subscriber :-)

well spoken

Awesome

Thanks for the video. One minor point, I'm not sure if hope has anything to do with physical well being - according to Barbara Ehrenreich in her book on positive thinking (a critique of it) says that the studies around positive attitude and cancer recovery (for example) show no correlation.

One of my favorite movie!

I hope there was more views for this video

After getting copyrighted, YT now recommended this video.......... Can we learn anything from this? Probably not, but the video is good.

I'm coming from the vid where u described that this Shawshank vid was hit with a copyright claim. I was wondering why are you referencing the movie at all and not base your philosophy directly in Stephen Kings book.

"Shoeshank"? Haven't seen it.

I guess I just miss my friend.

Everyone admires the strength will of Andy. Most couldn’t do it. That’s why it’s a movie.

Its been a while since I wrote a long(ish) piece on affordance. That was the last time I wrote a piece about art, which isn't necessarily a bad thing since by doing so convinced me that I should move on from the arts. Mainly this was because I was drawn into the sciences where this notion is more rigorously addressable. This not to say that art cannot address this notion, it was don just here, but pushing it further without breaking it seems more possible. In a sense I had hope that my world view could be better accommodated in science. Though this sounds modernist, it isn't, as it is relational. I think here is how I understood the main affect of affordance, not just a projection, but a fundamental relationship to the environment. The materiality we draw and it draws us back.

Don't forget Ernst Bloch.

Hope was a shi** y pipe dream. That’s how Andy got out. ❤️

Andy realizes in his heart he was a murder, drunk with a weapon in his car. He had no idea really if he had committed the crime he was convicted of. Still he was a man of the world of money and had ignored his wife. Not saying her actions were right. Andy had to be stripped of everything to know who he was and had been. The journey was hard toward redemption, to become a good man an awakened man. Most never take that journey perhaps that is a product of a decadent culture. That deprives boys of there own heros journey

What about believe, rather than hope ?

One of many vhs tapes I grew up watching. I can't believe this was a flop originally lol but then again, looking at a lot of movies from the early 90s.... Lol although some classics came out of that era, there were a lot of shitty movies for sure

i love the film, and i'm on andy's side, but we can't have a discussion of hope v. cynicism without bringing in the concept of empiricism, that is without weighing hope against evidence. not all hope is created equal. and, what red doesn't know is that andy's hope is not empty, but based on the reality that he's just about tunneled his way out with a spoon. if red knew the truth, would he be so dismissive?

dont go by imdb ratings go by AFI and rotten tomatoes

I have loved Shawshank for decades now. It has never once occurred to me to think of Andy as a Christ figure. It's not that kind of redemption.

I have to disagree with your idea that "Stoicism" teaches the of idea of unconditionally accepting a hopeless idea. It teaches more the idea of controlling what you can control and accepting what you can't. In this situation... Red has accepted his position as unchangeable. To an extent, he's right. As a man of his limited education and skill disables his ability to change his situation. But Andy: being a man of heightened experience and education has hope because he sees and has the ability to execute a resolution. I see a lot of similarities between "The Shawshank Redemption" and the "The Count of Monte Cristo."

Why are there barely any African Americans in this film? Is this an accurate depiction of the setting for the period it's set?

I like waffles

I dislike this notion that he was a Christ like figure, who gives but doesn't take. He argubly only gave the financial advice to win friends and influence people. He avenged Tommy's death by escaping prison and whistleblowing whilst stealing a fortune of dirty money. He's more like Caesar lol.

I wonder if the attitude towards Red, was based on racial stereotypes? Andy being the civilizer and the savior.

Shitty pipe dream. Ha

It's ironic freedom lies in a beautiful beach in Mexico. And Red hopes he will make it across the border. So is the hope for a Trump wall to keep people out or.... in?

It's really hard for me to like anything about shawshank. I was one of those young people who were thrown away from society by right-wing fascist for what is now completely legal now. That fascist ray-gun kept to his political platform and made new prison then put the youngest in the old failing prisons. What a great man.....NOT.