Watch the Movie "The Life of David Gale"
What did you think? How true to reality do you think it is? What issues related to psychology does it bring up regarding the efficacy of the death penalty? What other aspects of the movie relate to psychology? Be specific.
Defense and prosecution attorneys and the judge are EXEMPT from this assignment (TAs, give full credit)
I really enjoyed the film The Life of David Gale. The story line was original and I was very engaged throughout the whole film. I think that there are many ways in which psychology plays a role in the storyline and these themes definitely tie in with what we have discussed in class. I really liked how you didn’t know the whole story until the film was over. I had a sense that there was a twist in the plot I never imagined it was this deep. The whole thing didn’t unravel until the very last minute of the film. This made the film very emotional and depressing. It’s interesting to see just how far somebody would go to fight for a cause they believe in. However, you must also wonder what existing factors in their life have made them so willing to lose everything for this cause.
In the film David Gale went from being a well-respected professor to an accused rapist who had a severe drinking problem. He lost his wife and his son, which devastated him to no end. Losing everything you value in life has a heavy impact on you psychological stability. David Gale turned to alcohol at first, which is a well known method used by many to escape their problems. IT doesn’t stop there. Something else pushed David Gale to perform the actions he did. I think the last straw for David was finding out that his best friend and supporter had been diagnosed with a life threatening illness. All of these factors in his life had a psychological influence on him. His whole mindset had changed and other things seemed more important. One of the biggest regrets David Gale had was losing his son and having him see his father as a rapist. The most important thing for David was to clear his name with his son. I think David accomplishes this in the end but not without taking some heavy risks.
I think that a big theme to this film, which we covered in class, is the topic of eyewitness testimony. Eyewitness misidentification is the leading cause of wrongful convictions and often times these misidentifications cause an innocent person to be sentenced to death. In the film the activists are trying to prove the point that innocent people are sent to jail and potentially are put on death row. Because of this, they argue that the death penalty is wrong. The idea of wrongful conviction can also be tied to the fact that David was accused as a rapist. Although the charges were dropped the accusation still caused a lot of psychological stress for him. Even being accused of a crime can have life altering consequences. By proving that innocent people do go to jail David Gale could potentially show his son that he was a good person and wrongfully accused of something he didn’t do. For David completing this task that resulted in his death relieved him of the psychological burdens he had been suffering from.
Although this film was a very dramatic example of proving a point, it does make you question the reliability of eyewitness testimony and other factors that send innocent people to jail. Most event and post-event information acquired by the eyewitness before trial can influence their memory. Although this part of the process is not shown in the film, you can assume that they play a large role in causing the problem.
I found the Life of David Gale to be very interesting. I was shocked by the crazy turns that the movie took; it was not what I had expected at all. I think that while the method that was used to prove that innocent people get sentenced to the death penalty was dramatic, it was very effective. I could also see it being a realistic method. The evidence that was against David Gale led to the assumption that he was the murderer. As he said in the film, there was no reason for them to look for his innocence.
David Gale’s body fluids were inside the woman’s body, his hand print was on the bag covering her head, and he had a previous accusation of rape against him. Granted, the rape charges were dropped, the accusations still existed, as we saw in his search for employment. As we discussed in class, when there is evidence that points to a particular person, there is ultimately no reason for the police and investigators to search harder for an additional suspect.
This movie relates very well to our discussions about the death penalty. The book discussed how it may not be uncommon for innocent people to face the death penalty for a crime they did not commit. I compared the “Death Watch” organization in the movie to the “Innocence Project.” Both organizations seemed dedicated to searching for innocent people who faced the death penalty. Another aspect that relates to our class material is the concept of pretrial publicity. David Gale received so much negative pretrial publicity for the rape charges that he faced, it seemed as though everyone knew about it. It would not be surprising if the members of the jury who voted him guilty had paid attention to this publicity and it played into their decisions about his guilt.
Along with this is the psychology of stereotyping. The rape charges against David Gale were dropped, however, everyone still looked at him like he was a rapist. Students would avoid him, he lost his job, and he had a very difficult time gaining another position. This also shows what we have discussed in regards to a jury being able to not include information in their deliberations because it is dropped from the record. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to simply forget being told or hearing something.
Additionally, this film demonstrates how damaging eyewitness testimony can be to someone’s case. The young woman who said she was raped by David Gale was an eyewitness who pointed Gale out and said he did it. Because of this testimony, there was never a question as to if Gale really did it or not. His dental marks were on her, and that plus the eyewitness testimony was enough to raise charges against him.
I really enjoyed this film and I was impressed by my own ability to observe concepts and discussions we have had in class while watching it. I think that this really demonstrates a lot of the concepts we have previously discussed.
I thought this was a very good movie that provoked many thoughts about the morality of the death penalty. I enjoyed that the movie’s ending was not something that could be guessed right away, and even near the end of the movie I could not be 100% sure about what was going to happen next.
I thought that as a whole, the movie was pretty unrealistic. I don’t think it is all that common for reporters to have the opportunity to interview inmates. The way the interview came about and the purpose of it was unrealistic as well. I think that if an inmate had the opportunity to tell his/her story, they would probably make a book out of it or something along those lines. The way Bitsy was brought in to figure out what really happened is not something that reporters have chances to do. It is true that some reporters probably get themselves in bad situations sometimes for digging too deeply into something, but the majority of the set up for the unraveling of this mystery was highly unlikely.
Psychology played a big role in the events that happened during the movie along with the actions of the characters. At the beginning of the movie it becomes clear that David is struggling with turmoil at home because his wife is having an affair. One could say that the stress from this and how he responded to it with drinking and having sex with a student is an example of behavioral psychology. David chose to respond in a way that eventually led him down the path that got him killed. Behavioral psychology definitely also makes me question what would lead David and Constance to go the extremes that they did to prove a point. It is clear that both would do anything to try to save lives, but what they did is truly something that only few people would do. Gale’s snarky remarks when debating with the governor and other individuals is an example of social psychology. The way they interact with each other was fun to watch because each of them responded differently to pressure and insults. The way the death watch members and supporters of the death penalty interacted with each other was also interesting to watch because they were all so passionate about their cause that they would go to any means to defend it. Each side blatantly tries to bias others and manipulate them towards their supporting their cause through psychological means and the use of evidence.
The places psychology was brought up as a subject within the death penalty mainly involved what happens when someone is innocent. The goal of what Constance did was to prove that sometimes innocent people are sentenced to death and killed. This movie pointed out that eyewitness evidence can be faulty and a prior criminal record shouldn’t be an assumption of automatic guilt. Gale was accused of raping Berlin, but the charges were later dropped. Though the charges were dropped, the stigma associated with them followed Gale everywhere he went. This stigma affected the way the entire community viewed Gale; they automatically assumed he was guilty which the movie made clear was probably a factor in him being convicted for the murder. All of the negative pretrial publicity Gale experienced with both sets of charges probably played a role in his conviction. Death watch in the movie and the Innocence Project in real life sort of paralleled each other because they are both trying to achieve the same goals. Luckily, I think the Innocence Project is more successful and well managed.
I thought that this was a very interesting movie that made me question my own personal views on the death penalty. It is definitely a sticky subject, but one thing that will always remain true is that innocent people have been executed for crimes they did not commit. While this movie went about showing this by using very dramatic extremes, they still effectively showed that it happens.
I really enjoyed watching the movie The Life of David Gale. It was very interesting and informative but also had an interesting storyline. The movie had a lot of good and bad things in it. There were parts in the movie that I wasn't expecting and others part that were kind of predictable. I thought the message in the movie was to prove that innocent people do get sentenced to death. However, it was Hollywood so it was very dramatic and not very realistic.
The evidence proved that David Gale was guilty because his fluids were in the body and his handprints were on the rest of the evidence. David Gale also had a previous rape charge against him. It was dropped but it was still there so they still believed that he could have done it again. They also believed that Gale was psychologically unstable because he was accused of rape and accused of having a severe drinking problem after being a professor. He also lost his wife and child which was very hard on him and everyone believed that he was capable of making bad decisions because he wasn't thinking straight. It was also hard on Gale because after he was accused of being a rapist his son wanted nothing to do with him so he struggles throughout the movie to clear his name for his son.
There were many psychological aspects in this movie. I believe that cognitive psychology played a big role in this movie because everything that Gale did he had to think about and there were consequences that went with each action. Gale also had to go through most of his struggles on his own which caused him to drink more and more. Drinking is never a good way to solve a problem but to Gale he felt like he had drink in order to forget his problems. He was a professor that was looked up to and then let people down. It was hard for him to deal with it. Social psychology also was a big role in this movie because Gale had to be interviewed by many people in order to clear his name. Even though many people didn't believe what Gale had to say.
The movie goes through many different parts of psychology and the legal system. The ending was a little unexpected but overall I really enjoyed the movie.
I had seen this movie before when I was way younger, but I didn’t realize it until about 10 minutes into it. Because I was younger, I couldn’t fully understand what was happening. All I remember is that it was very sad and extremely graphic. This time around, I found myself so caught up in the story and details of the movie that I completely forgot I was supposed to be paying attention to the psychological aspects of it. The whole idea of the movie is obviously to publicize opposition to the death penalty. I thought it was so interesting that those three people believed in something so much that they were willing to risk their lives just to make a statement. Gale said in the film that he only wanted Bitsy to clear his name for his son, but it was really much more than that.
First of all, a very evident piece of psychology that was brought up in the film was that of the five stages of death; denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Constance went through these because she knew she was going to die. She had time to go through all five stages and prepare, even plan her own suicide. I personally think David went through these as well, maybe even twice; once for Constance and once for himself. He had to grieve over his friend’s death and prepare for his own. I believe he was in the stage of acceptance when he was giving the interview. The psychology behind actively making the decision to end your own life is very interesting.
Another psychological aspect that was introduced right at the beginning of the movie was social psychology. David had many outside factors that contributed to the mess that he later found himself in; is wife always being gone in Spain, his son being taken away from him, his drinking problem, and the rape issue with Berlin. All of these played a role in how the public saw him during his trial. They saw and alcoholic rapist who was capable of murder. I thought it was very interesting the way the movie incorporated little segments on the public opinion of Gale’s case. Most of them were being interviewed by news reporters and often sided with the death penalty. The only time we saw opposition to the death penalty, besides the Death Watchers, was at Gale’s conviction when there were protesters. I also thought that the statistics for executions per year in Texas were surprising. I couldn’t believe that they had the largest number of executions per capita than China!
This movie makes a very powerful statement about the death penalty and how innocent people can get thrown into the mix. Another fact that I fact that I found interesting was that some lawyers have actually fallen asleep during their clients cross examination. I don’t know if that is true or was just used for dramatic effect, but it just goes to show how corrupt our justice system can be. I find it remarkable that Gale knew the whole time that the key to his freedom was in a drawer at Dusty’s house. He could have told Bitsy at any time during their interview, but he chose not to.
This movie was very intriguing. I am not an avid movie watcher; however, I was pretty entranced in this movie. I didn’t really know what I was getting into when I started this movie, but I didn’t expect it to turn out like it did. Having a double major in Criminology as well as psychology, the death penalty has been a very reparative discussion. I have always been on the fence in my beliefs. After watching this movie, I really reconsider if the arguments for it can outweigh this critical downfall of the death penalty.
I am constantly amazed at the clues people overlook. I would be one to miss them too; however, when it comes to someone’s life, I feel like investigation should be the most important aspect. Repetitively, the small things in this case were missed by investigators that were so essential to leading them on the right path. For instance, they reenacted the crime scene. Bitsy noticed that Constance moved her leg after being still, which led to prove that she had done it herself and wasn’t murdered. This was not the only instance where this happened. There were many other small quirks that normal people passing through wouldn’t think twice about. The gloves on the counter were turned inside out and placed down which is something a housewife would do. These things are so critical but never even thought about. This makes me wonder how many other cases hold clues those investigators over look because they look like everyday objects.
I also wonder how much influence the media has on investigators. In various psychology classes, I have learned that you look for the clues that defend your position. If an investigator goes in with a bias believing that David had murder the women, they will find the evidence that leads to that finding. In David’s case, he suffered from massive amounts of negative media. Strangers approached him on the street with disapproving comments and looks. All the evidence in David’s case was accurate, but it was skewed to prove that he was guilty. For instance, the seamen found in Constance were used to say he raped her when in reality he didn’t rape her at all.
This movie had a great depiction of how innocent people are sentenced to death, and we don’t even realize it. If this passionate reporter hadn’t sat down with David, we still would have never known that another innocent man was wrongly executed. Because of past convictions, the police failed to look any father than the basic facts. He had already been convicted of rape, so they assumed he had done it again. They never took the time to break down the clues and really investigate.
David went through a lot of psychological series in the movie. His home life was falling apart and he was losing his family, which led him to sleep with a student and be convicted of rape. His drinking also increased landing him in AA classes. Slowly, he kept spiraling downward in a self destructing path. Psychology of the jury was a big part in this case. They provided an expert witness that stated inaccurate information swayed the jury. Due to the prestigious job of an expert witness and the title they hold, individuals trust their statements.
I loved the movie The Life of David Gale and watched it more than once. The whole thing keeps you guessing and intrigued the whole time. I knew that there was a twist coming, but every time I was wrong. At the end, everything fell together. There are so many aspects of psychology and law in this movie. The main theme is that people are wrongfully convicted and innocent people are sentenced to death. David Gale was very much against the death penalty, as was his very close friend Constance.
Everything really started when Gale had sex with his student Berlin. It was consensual, but it looked exactly like a rape. After the accusations, things for Gale started falling apart. His reputation was ruined because everyone saw him as a rapist, he lost his job at the university, his wife was divorcing him, he was losing his son, and he started drinking heavily. In the middle of the movie, Gale learns that Constance had leukemia and not doing very well. This really upsets him because they were very close. When she was rushed to the hospital, Gale had been drinking and was trying to get into the room with his friend. The doctor wouldn't let him and Gale asked how he knew him. His answer was that he watches the news. This false accusation of rape really ruined his Gale's life. This put a lot of psychological stress on him and his family.
Gale and Constance believed so much that the death penalty was wrong and that they sentence innocent people to death that she was willing to die for the cause. Constance was really sick and knew that she was going to die anyway, so why not for the sake of something she really believes in. They wanted to prove that the system doesn't work, so they made it look like a murder with Gale as the murderer. During Gale's original trial, although we did not get to see it, Dusty had testified against Gale. He was in on what was happening, but he still gave a false testimony. This happens in a number of cases, but not quite to this extent. The reporter who was working on the case, Bitsey, was given hints about the case. Gale didn't want her to know exactly what happened right away, because he wanted to die for the cause. She does finally figure out that Constance had committed suicide right after Gale was executed.
I think that Gale really loved Constance. Maybe not a romantic love, although they did have sex which helped with the murder case, but as friends who love each other. Once he knows that she is really sick, I don't think that he wants to be without her. So, they set up the suicide/murder not only to die together, but mainly to get their point across: the death penalty kills innocent people. At the last meeting between Gale and Bitsey, Gale tells her that her job is to preserve his image for his son. He doesn't want his son to be seen as a rapist. Even though those charges were dropped, his image was still ruined. He wanted his son to remember him as someone who died for something they believed very strongly in.
One other aspect of psychology that I caught the second time watching the movie was the mention to Kubler-Ross' 5 stages of death: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Gale and Constance were talking about this and Constance says that she is still in denial. I can't imagine personally going through something like that. Knowing that you are going to die in a short amount of time can really get to you psychologically. This is what happened to her. She knew she was going to die, so she decided to take it into her own hands.
The Life of David Gale was unlike any other movie I have ever seen before. It definitely had it's major twists and turns with a shocking conclusion. The message behind the movie was what really shocked me in the first place. Before viewing this movie, I figured it would be about proving a man who is on death row is innocent according to DNA evidence of some sort, but I was wrong. I loved how the point of this movie was to show there are innocent people wrongfully convicted but still have to suffer the death penalty. This movie proved this point to me and it had a very good storyline to go along with it. I honestly don't believe it is 100% realistic because I believe that if someone were to have a plan like they did, I feel their goal would be to get someone to prove it wrong and be able to get the person out of death row to make a point to the public, not just a reporter a couple of days before he or she died. I think this situation could very well happen but the circumstances of the reporter trying to figure everything out is what seemed unrealistic to me.
Psychology was present at many areas in this movie. David Gale went through many issues throughout his life to lead him to have psychological issues. His wife was gone for a majority of the time in Spain while he was taking care of his son at home. These issues led him to turn to alcohol to deal with his problems. Turning to alcohol as a solution is an example of behavioral psychology because his behavior switched when he was experiencing problems by trying to drink his sorrows away. This behavior led him to behave in an act which would change his life. He was lured in by a former student who initiated to have sex with him in order to accuse him of raping her for reasons he was not entirely sure of but to get back at him. His judgment was faded by the immense amount of alcohol he consumed that night as well as being aroused by Berlin. She accused him of rape which was large news in their area due to him being a professor and she a student of his. Although the charges were dropped, he was still seen as a rapist throughout the community which made it difficult for him to cope and led him to fall deeper into the alcoholism. This alcoholism relates to biopsychology because the alcohol started to disrupt his chemical processes in his brain and led him to act differently and go into a downward spiral mentally which led him to rely on Candace a lot more. His relationship with Candace relates to social psychology because he needed that social support of Candace in order to still feel a part of something since his wife left him and took his child with her. Once he found out Candace had Leukemia, he took a more psychological pounding and felt as though he were going to be alone in the world which can almost feel like death in itself to a person. He took this very hard and I felt as though he felt he had nothing left to live for which led to the fake crime he would die for.
His previous charges of rape made other people feel he was more deserving of the death penalty for the charge of murder as well. Although the charges of rape were dropped, people still had that bias in their minds of his past which they cannot erase. It is almost like when the jury is told to not take a certain statement into deliberation, it is impossible for that juror to forget that piece of information to use. This is the same case because people do not forget something as serious as rape charges. People were more willing to have him arrested like when the nurse stopped Gale from going into the ER with Candace and asked Gale if he wanted to get arrested again when Gale had never seen the nurse before but because of the media, the nurse knew of Gale. I believe his past charges of rape made it easier for the jury to convict Gale of murder because he was fully capable of it. The pretrial publicity also did not help his case in the movie. The publicity brought up his past rape charges of his former student as well as the murder charges. There was not a change of venue so the jury members were exposed to this publicity which was unavoidable. The publicity also covered other people expressing their opinions which stated how he deserved to die. I feel like this would make someone feel less sympathy towards someone because other people felt it was the right thing to do. People were not aware of all of the facts but from the publicity and what they were told in the media, they believed he was guilty. This movie also proved an eyewitness testimony to be faulty because the eyewitness was the main thing to get him convicted of something he did not do. This also goes to show evidence can lead a person to look like he or she committed a crime he or she did not truthfully commit. The evidence of semen being inside of Candace as well as his fingerprints being on the bag around her head showed him as the killer when in reality she killed herself. Evidence can show someone as the perpetrator but he or she may not have actually committed the crime. This is also shown when he "raped" the student because his skin was under her fingernails as well as his dental markings in her flesh on her shoulder. This all looks like a perfect rape scene when in reality, Berlin created it.
I also noticed memory psychology being used in this movie. He specifically stated the only reason he wanted his case to be cleared up was for his son to have the right memory of his father and not the only memory of Gale to be a rapist. He knew the only thing his son would remember of his father would be of his conviction, but if he was proven not guilty then his memory would be of how great his father was. Gale said no matter what he has done in his life, he knew he would go out being known only as being a rapist and nothing else. This is a term known as the Recency Effect which is where someone remembers the last thing in their mind that had to do with the person.
All in all, I feel as though this was a great movie. I was excited I was able to point out these aspects in the movie which is something I would not have been able to do before this class. My eyes are now opened to many things which can go wrong with the justice system. This movie made me think a lot more about my views on capital punishment and the death sentences.
I really enjoyed the movie The Life of David Gale. I found it very interesting and wasn’t upset that I paid three dollars to rent it. (Yes, I’m a total cheap ass.) Before watching this movie, I was a bit unsure what my thoughts and feelings were about the death penalty. I was definitely not in favor of it, but at the same time didn’t have too strong of feelings either way. Now I have stronger feelings about it. I am definitely against the death penalty. Even for those horrible, horrible people out there who do horrendous crimes - some things are worse than death.
Though I liked the movie a lot, I do not find it a very real depiction of how things work. Everything was just too coincidental and did, or maybe the better word is “didn’t”, work out just right. Though I think bits and pieces could have actually happen, to have this catastrophe of events happen to this one man in his whole life, I just don’t buy it. One thing I do buy though is her car breaking down all the time. I myself had a maroon Ford taurus and it was a complete pain, dying all the time. After I finished the movie, I went back and read some reviews on it. Many of the reviews (at least on Netflix) talked about how her car breaking down was just too perfect (or not) for the storyline. I disagree. I’ve drove that car and I one hundred percent believe it could have died on her.
As we see, the professor is part of an organization (at least he was) called Death Match. They were set out to prove that the death penalty is unjust and that it sometimes can even murder innoncents. Obviously they prove this point to the extreme later on in the movie. I find it veyr interesting that they believe something so strongly about, when they don’t have any examples. Lets look back at when David was on television with the interview with the Govenor. At the beginning of the interview, David looks like a stud while the govenor looks extremely ignorant. However at the very end, he asks David to give him one example of where the system has murdered someone who was innocent, and David couldn’t do it. The psychology in this is very interesting. David ends his life for something he is so passionate about, when until him, he didn’t have much evidence to back it up. Now I’m sure that he and Death Match were right - I’m sure there was at least one case in Texas that murdered someone who wasn’t guilty. It is sad to think, but for hte movie’s purpose, probably true. And yet they never knew this to be fact.
Another interesting part in the movie that demonstrates psychology is the woman’s suicide. I know this is an obvious choice to talk about, but I love it so much that I just couldn’t help myself. This was one part of the movie that stumped be. I did not expect for her to kill herself. When I look back at it now, I can’t believe I didn’t think of it right away. But it shocked me if I were being honest. After that I knew Gale was in on it, but not her. So psychology is seen here because it brings up how something traumatizing can change your needs. We look at Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs. The very basic of needs is survival. So it is interesting to ask ourselves “Does this need change when there becomes a huge road block?” When we know that our survival has a deadline that is almost tangible, does the pyramid shift? It did for Constance. She sacrificed herself for something she so strongly believed in. Her need of survival came in second to her need and drive to show the world that the death penalty does have faults.
Another important aspect of psychology is stereotyping and how some things you just don’t forget. David Gale’s path of destruction began when he had sex with the college girl and she accused him of rape. Right now I’m watching the show “Lie to Me” on netflix (I’m a huge netflix junkie) and I just finished watching an episode where a girl falsely accused a man of raping her. After she said that, one of the characters told her “You just said something that can never be undone.” I believe that is very true. Even though the charges were dropped, Gale still had a complete negative connotation. It also played a role in his murder trial. It shows us how impactful stereotyping can be as well as how damaging false accusations are.
This movie was definitely one of my top favorites for this class. I was planning to spilt the movie up, since it was two hours long, and I had a few other things to do, but I got too wrapped up in the film as it progressed and ended up watching it straight through to the end. The plot and outline of the movie was really good, and kept my interest throughout the movie to try and figure out with Kate Winslet’s character who really framed David Gale, if he was really framed. I really enjoyed how she has three days to talk with him, so the story of his life is spilt up in those three days, and then it’s up to her to figure out what really happened. The ending was crazy, but still it had a good twist to it and point as well. But it still had me balling at the end, knowing an innocent man was being executed for something he did not commit. This movie may of changed my own opinion on the death penalty, just slightly. Phycology plays well throughout this movie.
One thing that really upset me, but does happen in reality is the way people change the way they look at you and think about you, after finding out you “did” something terrible, without having any solid proof. Here people were stereotyping him as a rapist who shouldn’t be trusted and should be looked as a bad guy because he rapes this innocent college girl. In the movie David Gale was accused of raping this college student, who later on dropped the charges and left town. This made her appear even more of a victim that couldn’t handle going through a trail, when really she was all for hooking up with him at the party, so she could pass his class, since she was failing. This just proves how girls can sometimes be so conniving in getting their ways. While she gets away scot free, David has to deal with the pain losing his family, his job, respect from others, and difficulties of finding other job openings, over a hookup that should have never happened.
There were a few eye witnesses that appeared in this case. The first one was the college girl, Berlin who pointed her fingers at David for “raping” her. Here no one really knows if it happened or not, but they didn’t care to ask because they trust that the eyewitnesses testimony is true. Plus there were crucial evidence that was seen on her body, his teeth marks on her shoulder, the way her panties were ripped made it appear like it was a rape, and just her testimony alone was enough for the charges to really take place, but like I said before they had been dropped right before she left town. The other eyewitness that happened was when the expert witness testified in court about how David Gale did have a drinking problem and also stated other information that was inaccurate, just so the jury was persuaded enough to convict him of this murder crime.
This movie is a definite keeper. I really do like the statement it was trying to tell/get across to the viewers of this film. Innocent people are brought in, when they should of never had to be involved in the first place. Sometimes even the ones who are innocent are the ones who are innocent sometimes have to face charges that will sentenced them to the death penalty. Here is where I see a little of the corruption the justice system has begun, especially with the governor still supporting the death penalty for all who deserve it, even though he knows David Gale was an innocent man who didn’t deserve to be put to his death. The ending scene where David is at the house with Constance and her boyfriend was mind boggling for me. Both the boyfriend and he knew they could expose the secret of her death, but choose to remain quiet. For a while I believed the boyfriend to be a creeper and possibly the one who had killed Constance, but as the end of the movie came to the realization that David and him were working together and they were all three, Constance, the boyfriend, and David good people who were just trying to shed light on their opinions of the death penalty by going about it this way. Sometimes you have to go all out in order to get the attention you want for certain matters.
I did this blog from my phone, but apparently it did not post as I have just now noticed. I am retyping what I can remember from my previous blog just incase I am still able to recieve partial extra credit since I did spend the money to rent the movie.
Watch the Movie "The Life of David Gale"
What did you think? How true to reality do you think it is? What issues related to psychology does it bring up regarding the efficacy of the death penalty? What other aspects of the movie relate to psychology?
I was surprised at how good this movie was and by the twist at the end. I do think it is true to reality in that there are many people continuously protesting the death penalty, however, I am unsure as to whether or not anyone would go to the extreme that these three people went to, to prove a point.
I enjoy how the movie leaves you questioning whether or not Gale truly wanted to die, or if Constance's boyfriend, or whatever he was to her, was supposed to turn in the video before he was executed.
Psychologically, this movie points out many things in regards to the efficacy of the death penalty. In my opinion, it points out that any human killing another seems to set us all off balance, and we (as a society) justify this by saying he/she deserved it because of this/that to reduce our cognitive dissonance and remain in equlibrium in our thoughts/attitudes and our actions/behaviors.
The life of David Gale was one of my favorites that we have watched for this class. It was the first time I had watched this movie. I liked how there was such dramatic twists in the story line throughout the movie. During the movie I kept trying to guess how Constance was killed but was wrong everytime. This movie did an effective job of portraying that terrible mistake of innocent people being wrongly imprisoned and executed. I thought it was quite ironic that like David points out a death penalty activist on death row for murder. I think Hollywood exaggerated the storyline more than something that would really happen but it makes the story more compelling.
Berlin reporting David raped her was only the start of Davids troubles. This led his wife to divorce him, take his son, sell the house, lose his job, and gave him a bad reputation. Even though the charges were dropped it was still on tv and changing the way people thought about him and also causing him to become sad and start drinking a lot. When constance passed out, david took her to the hospital the male nurse there wouldn't let him come back there and said how he knew who he was and that he watches the news so he knows about him. This relates directly to social psychology. Another example of this is when he was interviewing for another job at a college the guy said that he had an outstanding resume and he didn't care about his drinking problem but just because he was accused of rape it would reflect badly and he would be scolded from parents and other alumni for hiring a rapist. This shows how its hard for people to disregard something after they hear it.
After Constance's death they found Davids bodily fluids in her and the police didn't look any further for a suspect. Also his fingerprint was on the garbage bag that was over her head. His reputation of raping Berlin was also an aggrivating factor that didn't work in his favor. Because if he could rape Berlin, he could have raped constance. Another aspect of psychology present in this movie is the five stages of dying by Kübler-Ross: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. When David and constance were talking about this she said the she was in denial. When David was speaking to Constance I feel like he was in the acceptance stage. He said that he was ready but he didn't want his son to think that his father was a murder but that he died fighting for a cause that he believed in. I think its crazy how they thought of the plan of her killing herself but framing David, they obviously thought that they had confidence in the way the justice system would treat him and that he would be sentenced to death. They both had to of felt really committed to the cause for them to give their life to the cause. After Constance died I feel like David felt like theres no one else there for him since his wife and son were gone. At the beginning of the interview Bitsy went in not feeling guilty and convinced that he did it but as the interview went on she seemed to change her mind and on the last day she was so caught up in finding out the truth that she broke into the cowboys house and found the video of what really happened but it was to late to save him.
Overall, I really enjoyed this movie and it effectively showed just how our justice system can mess up and sentence an innocent man to death.