MovieChat Forums > Beyond Scared Straight (2011) Discussion > the original was way more intimidating ...

the original was way more intimidating IMO ...

posted 14 years ago by DACHokie
14 replies | jump to latest

this show appears too soft ... granted, we're not shown EVERYTHING. I remember watching "scared straight" as a 13 year old in 1978 and I'll never forget it. First of all, the current series is edited way too much to really scare a viewer of the show ... things are implied, but never actually told ... or threatened. Hard to believe, but way back in 1978, they aired "Scared Straight" with a warning of adult theme and explicit language. Inmates were dropping "f-bombs" the whole time and explicitly telling the delinquents how they would be raped.

Secondly, the current program seems to focus on scaring them a little (not enough from what I've seen) and more time is spent on buddying up with them. It gives me a sense that the deliquents might even think they have a buddy on the inside to guide them if they end up in the prison. The original simply created an image of hell ... I don't recall the nice stuff.

Thirdly, the environment ... the original showed the filthy enviroment of the prison (i even think they showed a disgusting toilet) ... the men were sweaty, dirty thugs that generated a serious case of "I don't EVER want to go to a place like that". Everything on this show is too clean ... yeah, an inmate told someone how filthy the community toilet was, but everything shown on every episode was pristine.

The most intimidating prisoner so far, hands down IMHO, was the "Diablo" inmate in the women's prison ... based on looks alone. Maybe the hardcore inmates are too dangerous for this series, but I swear the convicts in the original were way more hardcore than what I've seen so far (I distinctly remember one guy missing an eye).

Great concept, I just wish they gave us a little more reality instead of the cleaned up family show they're currently presenting. I though the purpose of the show was to educate and scare teens from a life of crime, not just those teens filmed for the program. They need to ramp up the horror of prison a lot more ... considering all the other crap that is allowed on TV these days, I'm perplexed as to why the morality hammer has fallen on this show (no profanity, personal threats or pictures of a nasty environment). Coca Cola learned ... you don't mess with the original formula.

[–] eyerny 14 years ago

We're too soft in this day and age. People are afraid of lawsuits and too many people coddle their kids then cry later when they turn into bratty monsters. Believe me, if the current show was run like the original, all kinds of activist rights groups would be making a fuss.

[–] BigEasy1203 14 years ago

This is correct. My guess is that someone would file a lawsuit if they got up in the faces of the kids too much. They are probably limited because of the politically correct world of today. The original documentaries also didn't have any limits on language.

[–] BrunoPonceJones 12 years ago

Agree with you. Just look at the show where a girl got a pony after her visit. Or the parents that talk about how there kid got everything, and then they wonder why their kid is running the streets, acting like a thug.

Imho, I think they need to let those male inmates talk about the rapes that happen in there. Yes I know not every prisons have these problems. I know that may sound harsh but I think that would be a wake up call for a lot of these teenagers.

I got stuck on youtube watching stories about prison rape, and of course there are always those comments that say I'd never let another man touch me. But the thing is no matter how big and bad you think, or hell may be, if you have 2+ people against you, you can't do sh*t about it.

I only remember one time, on the new BSS, when they still had the boys and girls going to segregated prisons, that a guy talked about being rape and how he had tried to kill himself.

We're in the eye of a sh_tacane ~Mr.Lahey

[–] angieb78 14 years ago

Diablo was definitely the most itimidating person there...very scary. I agree with some of your points. I had never thought about it like that. It's definitely clean. However, the one incident where the inmate was telling Sahn to come here and he'll do some things. That got to me. Like you said, it's been edited for the viewers because there is really no telling what all that inmate said to that little boy.

Official Wifey!

[–] christmp1815 14 years ago

Yeah I agree...original was much more raw and real. This one is obviously staged much of the time, maybe because the prisoners have done it hundreds of times?

Yeah diabla was something else...scared the living *beep* out of me (a grown man)

[–] ImReallyANarc 14 years ago

Agreed 100%. These programs almost seems to be working against themselves - they want kids to realize that they could end up in a cage with a bunch of animals, but at the same time they try to humanize those animals as much as possible. In the original I only remember the inmates threatening, bullying, and swearing at the teens - unless I'm mistaken, there was no one-on-one time where the inmates spoke in soft voices and attempted to bond with the teens.

[–] SubZeroMK 14 years ago

Having watched a youtube clip of the original, I really have to agree..hell, even the 20 years later segment which was in 1999 was pretty *beep* scary. But I agree, they should show how horrible and how much of a failure the prison system is in America. American should learn from Norway.

[–] akinyele_adams 13 years ago

The original the one guy only had one eye

[–] rph3664 13 years ago

Prisons themselves were much worse then too, regarding food, sanitation, medical care, etc.

I watched the original myself as a teen (and you are right, it was uncensored AND it was shown on network TV; few people had cable at that time) and recently re-watched it on DVD, which I got from my local library. They did updates on all the kids from the original show; IIRC a couple were dead but they told what happened to them in the years before their deaths, and only one had what could be described as a middle class life. He was the only one who went to college; most of them didn't graduate from high school.

One of them, after the DVD came out, was discovered through DNA screening to have committed a murder in 1982, and he's now locked up forever for that.

The original also included 2 girls, which I now don't think was appropriate. They should have gone to a women's prison, and THOSE are probably scarier than the men's prisons.

[–] Necramonium 13 years ago

Dont forget in what you see is heavy edited footage, the experience for the kids was still the same as the kids in the original scared straight.

[–] hodie 11 years ago

Absolutely! I remember the convicts being MUCH more graphic about the convict/punk relationship. That was a disturbing show.

Get me a bromide! And put some gin in it!

[–] kamildouglas2010 10 years ago

yup your all right there would be law sutes up the ass if the show everything uncut like it is in real life when u get locked up