Capital Punishment is not only inhumane it is barbaric and unjust. Compare the execution scenes in "Dead Man Walking" and "Let Him Have It"

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Capital Punishment is not only inhumane it is barbaric and unjust.  Compare the execution scenes in “Dead Man Walking” and “Let Him Have It”

Capital punishment is a very controversial subject.  For years people have fought to get it abolished and fought to keep it.  Many people think that the death sentence should be reinstated in England to scare people away from committing crimes such as murder and rape.  Then there are the people who think prison is enough and if a mistake is made somebody could be put to death for a crime they did not commit.  Personally I feel that the death sentence should not be reinstated because of all the wrongly convicted people that would die.  The two films “Dead Man Walking” and “Let Him Have It” both show how strongly different people believed in capital punishment.

“Let Him Have It” portrays a different image of capital punishment than “Dead Man Walking”, “Let Him Have It” is a story about nineteen year old Derek Benteley who was wrongly sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit and without a fair trial.  Because the trial was so soon after the murder, Derek’s family didn’t have time to get a letter from Derek’s doctor explaining his medical condition.  If this information  had been brought up then Derek would have received a lighter sentence.  This is one very strong argument for why capital punishment should be abolished, a lot of wrongly convicted people would die.  This makes you feel sorry for Derek from the start of the film because you see him being misled by others whereas Matthew Ponclet in “Dead Man Walking” the way he dresses and looks gives you the impression that he is bad and evil.  Matthew has arms covered in tattoos, an earring and a jet-black goatee style beard reminding you of the devil.  In the 1980’s tattoos and earrings were only worn by thugs and criminals so this gives you a bad impression about him before he even speaks.  Throughout the film Derek is always well presented and clean, you see his family and you can tell that he has had a good childhood in contrast to Matthew who was brought up in a rough area with an alcoholic father that took him to a bar when he was twelve and said “choose your whiskey”.  Even though you find these things out about his childhood it does not make you feel sorry for him.  Not only does capital punishment effect the person who has supposedly committed the crime but it has a knock on effect on their family and friends, so it can ruin more than one life.  You do not feel for him because he is a stereotypical murderer in the way he dresses and because he was brought up in a rough neighbourhood.  As   you get to know Derek, you begin to feel more for him, you can see that his supposed friends are making him do things that are wrong to look popular whereas Matthew has chosen to do the things that he did, because of where he grew up.  Unlike “Dead Man Walking”, “Let Him Have It” has a chronological structure.  You see Derek in his childhood then you grow up with him and you see the incident that he has been sentenced for death for.  With Matthew you first see him on death row so you don’t know whether he has committed the murder or not.  As the film progresses you see flashbacks of the night.  At first you can only make out the outline of people and you can’t see their faces.  Every flashback you see more of what happened that night and you can begin to make out who the people are.  I think that this is very effective because it keeps you guessing to whether he’s innocent or not.  Matthew has killed a young boy and girl and also raped the girl,  a lot of people believe that death is a suitable punishment for a crime this serious.  Some people believe in the saying from the bible “an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth” meaning for example if you kill someone you must be killed.

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On the morning of Derek’s execution you are shown a shot of the street where he lives.  Morning is just breaking and the dull street lamps are the only source of light.  A single milk float slowly drives up the desolate street and out of sight, dull, dark clouds hang over on this sad mournful day.  This is very symbolic because even though there has always been people there for support nobody can help them when they most need it. The camera then shoots Derek looking isolated in his cell, contemplating never seeing his family ...

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