Why didn't Andy Dufresne get sentenced to death for murder, but John Coffey was?
The crimes both happen at around the same decade, as far as I can see, but I figure that it being in two different states meant different sentences for murder. Am I right?
Correct. Also different circumstances. Andy was convicted of a crime of passion. Could be he wouldn't be considered a future danger to others. Coffee was a suspected serial killer.
shareTake into account that the stories take place in different states.
Shawshank takes place in Maine. Maine abolished the death penalty in 1887. Therefore Andy couldn’t have been sentenced to death.
The Green Mile take place in Louisiana. Louisiana had the death penalty during that time the story takes place.
Everything else that has been mentioned and the fact that John Coffey killed two children, and is strongly implied that one or both were raped.
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It was more than implied. When Paul went to talk to the John's defense attorney, the attorney said outright the girls were raped and murdered.
I'll have to pick up the 4K and rewatch, it's been a few years. For some reason I thought it was like Nightmare on Elm Street where it was implied but not specifically stated. Time to grab some popcorn and revisit this classic.
share"and the fact that John Coffey killed two children"
So it appeared, and racism being what it was back then, the angry mob and the sheriff with the shotgun had no doubts at all that it was the black man, caught holding the bloody bodies of the girls. BUT, it actually turned out to be a white sadist, one of them.
The thing they both have in common is that the people in these prisons are far better, more decent, more likable people than prisoners in maximum security or on death row are in real life. Think of for just a moment. In this movie, Andy is innocent, but all the guys he befriends inside -- Red, Brooks, Heywood, Floyd, Tommy, et al. -- are decent, likable characters. The guards are worse, especially Hadley. Boggs and his crew are the only evil convicts we see, and they're shown as being arguably a minority in the prison. Likewise in The Green Mile, John Coffee is innocent, and the other death row inmates -- Eduard Delacroix and Arlen Bitterbuck -- are shown as decent people who are sorry for the crimes they committed, with only a single exception: Wild Bill. Once again, we have a guard who is worse (Percy Wetmore). How are the majority of convicts on death row decent, likable people?
In real life, the kind of people you find on death row, or locked up in maximum security, are very far from nice, decent people. They have long records and heinous crimes in their histories.
I might be inclined to attribute this to Stephen King's liberal political views, as liberals tend to have a more charitable estimation of violent criminals, but most prison movies do this. Then again, most Hollywood screen writers are also liberal, so there you are.
You answered your own question: it’s a Hollywood movie, of course the characters have to be sympathetic and likeable. Shawshank is meant to be a Stephen king-esque Hell where most of the inmates are innocent. That goes for other prison movies like Escape from Alcatraz (which King and Darabont borrowed most of their influences from) and Cool Hand Luke. The movie needs to follow the innocent characters to make its point.
If you want a more realistic prison escape story then the “ Escape at Dannemora” miniseries might be up your alley.
Also, just a thought, but if you did visit a maximum security prison or death row in real life you’d find the majority of the prisoners are actually fairly personable and decent. They’re there to serve their sentences and not make trouble. Troublemakers or maniacs are pretty much the minority in real life. Violent criminals are just regular human beings, not monsters, who are victims of circumstance.
Both movies have something else in common. They were both directed by Frank Darabont, who I consider to be a genius.
John Coffey was black and poor, Andy Dufresne was white and wealthy.
You’ll notice in the green mile most of the people on death row were either minorities or mentally deficient, which capital punishment disproportionately targets.