Dead Man Walking: Capital Punishment.

Essay by Hot_Fiah April 2003

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I believe that the movie Dead Man Walking impacted my life greatly. It was a very emotional and moving movie. This was an excellent movie because it portrayed the feelings of both the families of the victims and the murder himself. It shows how much pain and suffering the families had to go through with all the sadness and hatred against Matthew Poncelant. The movie also showed how that the families' hatred did not go away after Matthew was executed. The greatest emotional part of the movie was when Matthew confessed that he did kill the teenagers and that he was truly sorry. From there, he was able to at least die with dignity and also he asked the parents of the teenagers for their forgiveness for him. This movie also showed how the death penalty is biased on those who are poor. Matthew's partner in the crime received life in prison because he had a better lawyer while Matthew received the death penalty.

As stated in appeals session in the movie, Matthew would not have been sitting there if he had the money to buy a better lawyer. Instead he had to have a lawyer given to him by the state who had never preformed a murder trial before. I think that Susan Serandan's character was portrayed as a good Samaritan. I believe this because, like Samaritan's back in the time of Jesus, no-one likes to help a murder. Yet she came to his side and was there for him when he needed her. She carried out all his requests even though the parents of the victims' families castrated her and thought of her as a traitor. I think that she did the right thing since we are all created equal and we should help out someone in need,