Thanks for that. Read your other post, which was great, and did some quick research.
For other readers who are interested, here is a link to some helpful info from 2003 about how this operates, including a list of companies involved at that time. They also explain why this qualifies as slave labor. https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Federal_Prison_Industries
It's also unethical, immoral, and inhumane in my view, and the slippery slope that has taken humanity to the place we've reached now with human trafficking and other extreme forms of exploitation. This kind of thing would outrage anyone who values fairness and justice.
This is a more experimental, more abstract version of the concept, there's a lot of flash and style. It's really something to see, particularly with that music.
Just this morning (you know, before the war) I was listening to an interview with the English documentarian Adam Curtis and he, referencing using music in his work, said that the music you (the filmmaker) use has to be the music you like because the audience will know if it isn't and they won't like you for it. I haven't thought too much about this, but I think he's probably right.
There are so many films already in my waiting and wanting to see queue (especially now that I am signed up to Kanopy, thanks to your suggestion), but I will add this to the list.
So glad, this one has a great groove. I write this being totally susceptible to a good jam in even a mediocre movie. I love me some movie music with a good groove.
I thought the Cory Doctorow novel _The Bezzle_ was a powerful description of the awfulness of for-profit prisons. I'd be curious how much it overlaps with your experience.
"In this well-made novel, there’s a third, devastating pyramid scheme which the first two have set us up to read. This time, the criminals at the top are the private equity firms that have rolled up California’s and other US states’ prisons into ownership by a single firm. They’ve loaded it with hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, taken a massive pay-off equivalent to that debt, and begun to squeeze states, employees, prisoners and prisoners’ families dry, just to pay the interest on the debt. The Bezzle tells how the PE-backed privatisers monetise and drain everything that makes a prisoner’s life bearable; sufficient calories, reading material, time outside the cell, phone calls, and family visits. Late in the book Marty says the cruelty isn’t the point; it’s the money. It was always the money."
This sounds good! I've read a Doctorow book before, but I can't recall which one it is.
What this book describes isn't TERRIBLY different from prison, really (and he's right about the money). As far as control:
-Sufficient calories -- The meals seem designed to weigh you down with starch, and not much else. As far as commissary items, in my last place there was a very flimsy selection, and the maximum on each item was extremely strict (one coffee per week, that sort of thing). They were trying to limit people buying 100 of something, so they could resell it on the compound for twice the price. You're a slave to commissary.
-Reading material-- Prison libraries were monitored, many books were rejected (the books always came from inmates). The rules for what books could be sent in were always changing -- you can get five at a time, no you can get three at a time, etc. No hardcovers. Nothing about "revolutionary" content. They rejected my order of a David Byrne book because apparently there was nudity in there somewhere, which seems odd. A lot of times they would beat up and kick around books.
-Time outside the cell -- this one's obvious, I guess. Days always ended at 8 PM, when we'd have to go back inside every day until 6 AM the next day. Obviously, they shut us down for months on end during the pandemic.
-Phone calls -- a limited amount of calls every month, fifteen minutes a call, one call every hour, a fifteen minutes call costing $3.15.
-Family visits -- Vending machines to provide food, $1 for a photo, a limited amount of visits per month, often weekends only depending on the institution.
I could probably go on, feel free to ask whatever you'd like! But it already sounds bad enough, I'd guess.
Prisons used to make license plates and then they were call centers. I wonder if using prisoners as unpaid or low-paid labor is still going on?
It's absolutely still going on.
https://fromtheyardtothearthouse.substack.com/p/atlantics
Thanks for that. Read your other post, which was great, and did some quick research.
For other readers who are interested, here is a link to some helpful info from 2003 about how this operates, including a list of companies involved at that time. They also explain why this qualifies as slave labor. https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Federal_Prison_Industries
In 2014 Muckrock Foundation filed a FOIA to get a list of the companies involved and were turned down even after an appeal. Looks like companies don't want customers to know that they're buying US products made with slave labor. https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/list-of-private-companies-employing-prison-labor-with-unicor-10371/
Tecnocap openly admits to hiring prisoners as slave labor as a way of "bringing jobs home" and "investing in America." Pretty unbelievable. https://www.tecnocapclosures.com/corporate-social-responsibility/unicor-program-tecnocap/
Appreciate you posting this. This is patently illegal, but it's happening in broad daylight.
It's also unethical, immoral, and inhumane in my view, and the slippery slope that has taken humanity to the place we've reached now with human trafficking and other extreme forms of exploitation. This kind of thing would outrage anyone who values fairness and justice.
Slasher movies, particularly "seedy slasher" movies, generally aren't my cup of tea, but that trailer is great!
This is a more experimental, more abstract version of the concept, there's a lot of flash and style. It's really something to see, particularly with that music.
Just this morning (you know, before the war) I was listening to an interview with the English documentarian Adam Curtis and he, referencing using music in his work, said that the music you (the filmmaker) use has to be the music you like because the audience will know if it isn't and they won't like you for it. I haven't thought too much about this, but I think he's probably right.
There are so many films already in my waiting and wanting to see queue (especially now that I am signed up to Kanopy, thanks to your suggestion), but I will add this to the list.
So glad, this one has a great groove. I write this being totally susceptible to a good jam in even a mediocre movie. I love me some movie music with a good groove.
I agree.
Scorsese and Kubrick are my north star(s) for integrating music into a film.
I'm sure there are newer film makers doing it well, but I can't think of any off the top of my head (besides Spike Lee-but he's hardly newer).
I thought the Cory Doctorow novel _The Bezzle_ was a powerful description of the awfulness of for-profit prisons. I'd be curious how much it overlaps with your experience.
"In this well-made novel, there’s a third, devastating pyramid scheme which the first two have set us up to read. This time, the criminals at the top are the private equity firms that have rolled up California’s and other US states’ prisons into ownership by a single firm. They’ve loaded it with hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, taken a massive pay-off equivalent to that debt, and begun to squeeze states, employees, prisoners and prisoners’ families dry, just to pay the interest on the debt. The Bezzle tells how the PE-backed privatisers monetise and drain everything that makes a prisoner’s life bearable; sufficient calories, reading material, time outside the cell, phone calls, and family visits. Late in the book Marty says the cruelty isn’t the point; it’s the money. It was always the money."
https://crookedtimber.org/2024/03/06/the-bezzle/
This sounds good! I've read a Doctorow book before, but I can't recall which one it is.
What this book describes isn't TERRIBLY different from prison, really (and he's right about the money). As far as control:
-Sufficient calories -- The meals seem designed to weigh you down with starch, and not much else. As far as commissary items, in my last place there was a very flimsy selection, and the maximum on each item was extremely strict (one coffee per week, that sort of thing). They were trying to limit people buying 100 of something, so they could resell it on the compound for twice the price. You're a slave to commissary.
-Reading material-- Prison libraries were monitored, many books were rejected (the books always came from inmates). The rules for what books could be sent in were always changing -- you can get five at a time, no you can get three at a time, etc. No hardcovers. Nothing about "revolutionary" content. They rejected my order of a David Byrne book because apparently there was nudity in there somewhere, which seems odd. A lot of times they would beat up and kick around books.
-Time outside the cell -- this one's obvious, I guess. Days always ended at 8 PM, when we'd have to go back inside every day until 6 AM the next day. Obviously, they shut us down for months on end during the pandemic.
-Phone calls -- a limited amount of calls every month, fifteen minutes a call, one call every hour, a fifteen minutes call costing $3.15.
-Family visits -- Vending machines to provide food, $1 for a photo, a limited amount of visits per month, often weekends only depending on the institution.
I could probably go on, feel free to ask whatever you'd like! But it already sounds bad enough, I'd guess.