Civil Disobedience and Philosophy in Films, Politics, and Government

By Koushik Ghosh

In Henry David Thoreaus 1849 essay Civil Disobedience, Thoreau says that individuals should not think of their government as all ruling and unchangeable. Instead, he proposes that individuals should look critically at the rights and wrongs of their government acting on principle and standing against the government when its actions undermine important values like equality and liberty.

Civil Disobedience and Philosophy in Films, Politics, and Government explores the nature of this form of dissent, where people decide to go against the law and its authorities and make for themselves the goal of achieving change while earning respect and creating a better work environment. Author Koushik Ghosh looks at film, philosophy, literature, politics, and government for examples of civil disobedience, showing a variety of ways to understand how justice worksand how justice breaks down.

Film, philosophy, literature, and politics are all vehicles for learning more about civil disobedience and what it means in our search for truth and justice. It is a way to effect change in our communities, in our societies, and in the world at large. Understanding its purpose and its power can help all of us build a better life for ourselves and others.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Jun 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9781480864283

Koushik Ghosh

Koushik Ghosh holds a Masters degree in Cinema Studies from New York University, a Masters in Ministry from Northwest University and a double Bachelors degree in Jewish Studies and Philosophy. With a strong background in the liberal arts and sciences, Koushik wishes to take complicated subjects and add a personal and scholarly touch, in hopes of engaging readers of all levels and backgroundsincluding readers completely unfamiliar with topics in religion, philosophy, literature, and film.

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Copyright © 2018 Koushik Ghosh.

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ISBN: 978-1-4808-6429-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-6428-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018907067

Archway Publishing rev. date: 06/22/2018

Contents

1. Cool Hand Luke

2. The Longest Yard

3. On the Waterfront

4. Civil Disobedience and Politics

5. Henry David Thoreau and Civil Disobedience

6. Henry David Thoreau’s Walden

7. Solitude

8. Works Cited

Cool Hand Luke

Donn Pearce’s 1965 novel Cool Hand Luke opens with descriptions of the drudgery and bleakness of prison life. Until we are introduced to the miracle(pg. 2) in the eyes of the Bull Gang who are being loaded into the cage truck by prison guards. In the book it is unclear what these men are looking at this moment, is it a sunset or perhaps a shooting star. I see it as an early introduction of how these men look at Luke and what he represents to them. He is handsome, charismatic, young and in great shape. He is the living image of the idealized Hollywood hero or all-star athlete that these men grew up believing in and looking up to.

He is visually perfect but flawed, he is tortured by the world, even though he is also in love it; and hurt to think that he might have failed in it and might have to leave it behind him one day through his own disgrace, misery, or worse. Luke is the burning star being shot through the sky. (pg. 2) He is a spectacle to behold, and his flaws sell men the dream that they can also be one day like him.

But what these men don’t know is that Luke is the counterfeit idealized hero of their dreams. He laughs in the beginning of the film from the thought of going to prison, where he will find a bed, 3 meals a day, friends and a steady job. This is a man who fails at life and looks at prison as his sanctuary away from all his failures. What Luke doesn’t know is that prison is no sanctuary, the outside world is meant to be his sanctuary. The prison authorities want to rehabilitate Luke so he can be back on the outside, and so that he doesn’t spend the rest of his life in prison. Police guards do not want to put people in prison, it is something they choose as a last resort situation. Luke cannot make it in the world and so he wants to quit it, or at least take a long break from it. All the guards hate him, they find him to be a nuisance, an idiot and an annoyance. At the end of the film when Luke is ambushed in the church with Dragline, Luke does not realize the gravity of the situation. He goes on to make a joke about the captain’s earlier comment about the failure to communicate and is shot before he can even finish the line.

Dragline runs after Boss Godfrey to tackle him after he shoots Luke. In this moment we find a major problem in human communication. A very important theme of the film and book. These prisoners do not understand their authorities. They see them as cruel and punishing executers who merely pick someone to bully, and continue to