My Project’s Connection To
Are Prisons Obsolete by Angela Davis
I was immensely inspired by Angela Davis’s deep dive into the prison industrial complex.
How she described the system that handles “punishment” (the prison industrial complex) created an image in my mind of a massive mechanical monstrosity. A machine that labels people as criminals in order to justify chaining them and forcing them to work for the companies the machine carries on its back.
On the other hand, the way Angela describes the steps that need to be taken to shift the current system gave me a vision of men and women working hand in hand to correct the mistakes that come from being human. She outlined that shifting the system involves protecting community and abolishing systems that destroy community, opportunity, and happiness. Immediately that message made me think of freedom fighters like MLK, Malcolm X, and Angela Davis herself, people that lead the way to better pastures for those that come next allowing for peoples’ potential to be realized.
There it was, the image in my mind fully formed: activists facing a mechanical monstrosity which embodied the systems put in place to keep people down.
P.I.C Your Battles
Themes:
Community overcomes a need for the PIC.
The PIC is a toxic machine that only drains.
It takes one person to stand against injustice for others to follow.
Stolen potential.
Plot:
An establishing shot shows a massive monstrous machine crossing the desert with multiple prisoners chained to its disturbing mass. Someone out of focus to the frame watches the machine from a cliff.
A shot of the men and women chained, shows their gaunt expressions and weathered hands gripping tools forced onto them. An old man drained of energy collapses to the floor and is subsequently shocked from the chain around his collar. A younger man is angered by this display, he turns to the machine, grabs his metal collar, and begins to rant.
The man’s rant contains all the pain he and the others imprisoned have been forced to endure as well the potential taken from them and their community. The man with anger and sadness coursing through him looks up at the machine. The machine’s soul crushing appearance and size turn the man’s determination into fear.
The man’s chain begins to retract into the machine’s massive mouth. The man pulls against the chain with all his force but the effort is futile. The other prisoners inspired by his speech join their hands on the chain to tug against the machine’s pull.
The machine reaches towards the center of the rebellion to grab the man who inspired the others. Before the machine’s hand can quell the rebellion, a shot of energy enters the machine’s eye. The explosion from the impact resounds through the air.
The next frame shows who fired the blast of energy. The sniper pulls back her gun as the camera widens to establish two other shadowy figures. The two other figures vanish as the sniper continues firing her onslaught on the machine.
The machine raises its right arm to protect its face from the blasts of energy. A blinding blue light begins to emanate from the machine’s left hand. A blue beam of destructive energy blasts forth from the machine’s hand to first destroy the rebellion then the sniper.
A man bearing a massive shield rushes to protect the imprisoned men and women. He plants his shield into the ground and triggers a mechanism to extend the range of the shield’s defensive coverage.
The machine haphazardly moves its arm towards the sniper, leading the beam across the shield towards the cliff. The sniper narrowly avoids the beam.
The shield bearer yells to the sniper strategic directions. The machine’s focus is then directed back on its prisoners and their new guardian.
The machine raises its arms prepared to unleash an onslaught of metal fists. The shield bearer braces for impact.
A barrage of fists collide with the shield. All blows are reflected by a barrier that the shield seems to emit.
The machine’s fists unclench and both release blue beams onto the guardian’s barrier. The beams’ intensity increase cracking the barrier. The prisoners, filled with fear, determination, and bravery, lend their strength to the barrier.
The scene switches to the sniper’s perspective as she rides around the back of the massive machine. She stops beside a group of solitary confinement cells. She peers into the shadows of one of the cells and sees a barely visible emaciated face.
The scene cuts back, the barrier widens and pushes against the machine’s beams. The struggle between destruction and survival is fierce. The barrier struggles under the beams’ overwhelming strength. At the moment the barrier is about to give way, the scene switches to a shot of one of the shadowy figures. The figure springs into action cutting the tubes giving power to the machine’s arms.
The shield bearer exclaims to the swordsman “you took your sweet.” The swordsman replies, “better late than never.”
The machine begins retracting its chains. The swordsman swiftly cuts the metal collars from the now free men and women. The chains retract into the machine’s mouth without their victims. Tears pour from the newly released.
To maintain some level of control the machine unleashes the chains it gathered from its mouth onto the freedom fighters. The Swordsman jumps onto the shield and uses the barrier’s expansion as propulsion towards the machine’s head.
The swordsman slices away at the chains while flying through the air. He then meets with the tubes giving power to the machine’s head and at break-neck speed he slices them apart.
The swordsman lands on the roof of one of the solitary confinement cells. The machine’s head falls limp. The free celebrate.
The swordsman notices that the sniper has freed those placed in solitary confinement. He assists by slicing their chains. Those that were placed in solitary reunite with the rest of the newly released .
Out of curiosity the man who inspired the revolution inspects the pod that powered the machine. The pod opens to reveal a baby attached to multiple tubes. The man pulls the infant from the pod and lovingly cradles it.
Character Symbolism
Prison Industrial Complex Machine:
The prison industrial complex is a system that sucks its life blood from targeted poor communities, thereby draining them of their potential. These concepts are represented in the machine’s design. The tubes that power the machine meet at a pod that holds within it a baby, a symbol for the future/potential of the communities the machine targets. On the machine’s back lay two main structures. The first structure is a group of solitary confinement cells meant to break its prisoners’ will. The second structure represents the companies that rely on the PIC for profit.
Martin Luther King The Shield Bearer:
MLK is the shield to Malcom X’s sword, this concept informs his whole design. Martin Luther King was a man who focused on defending the rights of all people, a very heavy metaphorical shield to carry. This burden only strengthened his will and in my design’s case his arm.
Malcolm X The Swordsman:
Malcolm X is the sword to MLK’s shield, this concept informs his whole design. WIP
Angela Davis The Sniper:
Angela Davis hits the pinpoint of the issues plaguing our societies WIP
Prisoners:
Men and women labeled, locked away, and fed off.
WIP