Why was Papillon in isolation for 16 years?
Not because he had tried to escape or because he was violent with his guards. But for petty offenses. Sixteen years later, he is still in confinement, made mentally ill by the isolation, and yet still without the proper medical attention the Constitution requires him to receive.
Is the cruelty of Papillon a reality in the US?
It happens today in California and in Mississippi and in Louisiana and in Pennsylvania and in Florida and in Texas and in Alabama and in North Carolina and in South Carolina and in Missouri. It happens today in our federal prisons, as unaccountable a fiefdom as any that existed in French Guiana during the real Papillon’s time.
When did the movie Papillon first come out?
Two generations after the famous film about solitary confinement first appeared, it’s still relevant to the deplorable treatment of inmates in America’s prisons today. Forty years ago today, the movie Papillon first appeared on American screens.
Who was sent to solitary confinement in Papillon?
Immediately, Papillon and Dega make plans to escape. They fail (over and over again, which is the point of the movie) but somehow only McQueen’s character is ever sent to solitary confinement.
Where does the cruelty of Papillon take place?
To murderers and those convicted of lesser crimes. It happens today in New York and in Wisconsin. It happens today in California and in Mississippi and in Louisiana and in Pennsylvania and in Florida and in Texas and in Alabama and in North Carolina and in South Carolina and in Missouri.
Where are the cleanup days in Papillion NE?
The event will again be a joint effort with the City of La Vista. The Cleanup Days site is located at 99th Circle and Portal Road on the south side of Portal Road, just east of the Papillion Public Works Facility. The event is open to Papillion residents and water customers and La Vista residents.
How is Papillon’s story similar to our own?
But not today. Today if you watch Papillon —for the first or the 100th time—you are immediately struck by the similarities between the way French colonial authorities mistreated prisoners a century ago and the way U.S. authorities, on both the state and federal level, mistreat inmates in our own time.