Mob Week on AMC - my kind of movie marathon

This week is Mob Week on AMC, hosted by Rudy Guiliani. They are showing classics of the genre of crime/mafia films, including interesting interviews with real-life mobsters and lawmen during the commercial breaks.

As I post this, I'm watching "The Untouchables," the Brian de Palma movie based on the real events of law enforcement trying to bring down Al Capone in Prohibition-era Chicago. If you've never seen it, it's absolutely worth a view. The cast is excellent and the writing is very memorable. I first saw this movie when I was very little (probably way too young for a film like this, but hey, my parents know good movies) and a lot of it has stuck with me. "They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way."

The last two nights featured "The Godfather" and "The Godfather: Part II," which are obvious must-sees for any film lover. Other movies to be aired this week include "Scarface," "Goodfellas," (one of my favorites of all time) and "Donnie Brasco." For a complete schedule, click here.

It's appropriate, then, that I post my 100th entry about such a great topic. Too often we get marathons of shows or movies that are only marginally related to each other or not at all. Here we have a worthy theme with enhancing extras. Oh, and really kickass promos. Have you seen those promos? (I wish I could link to them for you, but they aren't online anywhere I can find. I guess you'll just have to tune into AMC's Mob Week then!)

"Beyond Scared Straight" - the field trip from hell

This week, A&E's "Beyond Scared Straight" premiered. It's an updating of the old "Scared Straight" documentary from 1978 where young people "at risk" encounter actual prisoners and prisons. While the real life effectiveness of the high-profile original series was questionable, the premise is still riveting television and fits right in with A&E's brand of voyeuristic, tough love, self-help style reality shows. Their stable of reality shows ("Intervention," "Hoarders," etc) are the only ones I really watch because they actually are about reality. Also, the goal is to help someone in the end and you get to see some progress occasionally.A cynical viewer could scoff at the program along with the posturing kids on the screen, but the prisoners can try and get something into these flippant kids' heads - that it can happen to you. That there are people just like them that went down the same path. It's so hard to get through to adolescents that they aren't invincible and to break down that belief of "well, it can't happen to me." Even better, the premiere of "Beyond Scared Straight" focused on young girls rather than young men. Girls have the added dimension of thinking they are too pretty or too young to go to jail. Or that they won't be punished as severely solely because they are female. Although for a long time this was a true trend in incarceration rates, this has evened out between the genders in recent years.

While you might think it's harsh to send young kids into prisons, after spending five minutes with these girls you want them to have to spend a week in the prison just to be taught a lesson. You don't even need people screaming in your face, stick them in any prison for a few days and they'll quickly realize it's not fun. These are kids who act tough and love playing the bad girl, but really they're just acting out and rebelling like a lot of kids do at that age. They think they're hot shit and laugh and smirk while everyone around them freaks out about their behavior. While they're still young, I liked that they held the girls accountable for their actions and didn't villainize the parents while bemoaning the girls as unfortunate victims. Too often we place too much blame on the parents even when their children are in adolescence and at the age where they should be held accountable for their choices. Yes, they are minors and mentally not as rational as adults, but some responsibility should still be theirs. Parents can only do so much, as at a certain point, their child becomes a thinking being that can make their own choices and therefore should experience consequences.

In the end, we see the girls a month later and hear if they changed their ways or not. I'm glad they didn't pretend like every girl was changed by it as one particularly ornery chick continued acting out and entered Juvenile Hall. It's interesting to see the ones who do change, though, since they're at an age that is a critical period in offending. Once they get involved with the criminal justice system in some form, like with Juvie, it's tough to get them back on the right path. It's great to see some of them forming better, healthier coping mechanisms and outlets for their anger. I'll probably tune in for a few more sessions, but I imagine it will get repetitive as a series eventually. But for now, I enjoy seeing another A&E reality show that, while low-minded and appealing to the reality show voyeurs in all of us, tries to make a positive difference and have a message of change being possible no matter your affliction or position.