Episode 340 – Wild in the Streets – Blood and Diamonds (1977)

Liam, in this movie that we're going to talk about today, Blood and Diamonds, the main character is played by Claudio Cassinelli, and he gets, well, at least in his mind, he gets set up in a crime that he's doing and ends up going to jail for five years.

Now, we've talked about, you know, our experience with the law in the past.

Neither of us have had a long prison stint or anything like that.

Liam, if tomorrow you were forced to go to prison for five years...

What would you do to spend your time? What would you do to pass the time? Now, I know that you're a prison abolitionist.

You're not a big fan of the whole carceral structure.

But what would you do if you had to pass five years in prison?

I mean, I don't know, man.

That sounds like a nightmare.

I know that people go for way longer than five years.

I think in the world of criminals, a five-year stint is not considered a mind-breaking experience.

Yeah, well, I mean, that's why I think it's an interesting one to ask about, Liam.

I mean, presumably, you know, there's a certain continuity that you could have after the five years.

Yeah, I don't feel like that.

The whole experience sounds like a nightmare to me, and I would just – I think I'm too soft for that.

Well, you wouldn't be when you came out.

Assuming I'm not a soft weirdo who would lose my mind in the first, like, few months, probably a combination of reading – I feel like there's nothing you could do worthwhile – other than reading and working out, unless you happen to be at one of those prisons that actually has a program that works, right? So most prisons, at least in the US, just treat you like you aren't a real person.

But occasionally, people come in from outside of prisons and do education programs, theater programs.

That's what that recent movie with Coleman Domingo was about.

If one of those actually good things exists, I'm jumping into that immediately, because I need something to not make me feel utterly depressed, right? And so Sure, I would do any of those things.

But if I'm in one of the, you know, much more common prisons where there's nothing worth doing in there, it's all books and pushups, man.

Like, I don't know what else I could do that would feel worth it.

You know what I mean? Other than, you know, hopefully not getting killed, right? Like, that's sort of the other option.

You

just refuse to do other stuff in prison.

Liam, in this movie that we're going to talk about today, Blood and Diamonds, the main character is played by Claudio Cassinelli, and he gets, well, at least in his mind, he gets set up in a crime that he's doing and ends up going to jail for five years.

Now, we've talked about, you know, our experience with the law in the past.

Neither of us have had a long prison stint or anything like that.

Liam, if tomorrow you were forced to go to prison for five years...

What would you do to spend your time? What would you do to pass the time? Now, I know that you're a prison abolitionist.

You're not a big fan of the whole carceral structure.

But what would you do if you had to pass five years in prison?

I mean, I don't know, man.

That sounds like a nightmare.

I know that people go for way longer than five years.

I think in the world of criminals, a five-year stint is not considered a mind-breaking experience.

Yeah, well, I mean, that's why I think it's an interesting one to ask about, Liam.

I mean, presumably, you know, there's a certain continuity that you could have after the five years.

Yeah, I don't feel like that.

The whole experience sounds like a nightmare to me, and I would just – I think I'm too soft for that.

Well, you wouldn't be when you came out.

Assuming I'm not a soft weirdo who would lose my mind in the first, like, few months, probably a combination of reading – I feel like there's nothing you could do worthwhile – other than reading and working out, unless you happen to be at one of those prisons that actually has a program that works, right? So most prisons, at least in the US, just treat you like you aren't a real person.

But occasionally, people come in from outside of prisons and do education programs, theater programs.

That's what that recent movie with Coleman Domingo was about.

If one of those actually good things exists, I'm jumping into that immediately, because I need something to not make me feel utterly depressed, right? And so Sure, I would do any of those things.

But if I'm in one of the, you know, much more common prisons where there's nothing worth doing in there, it's all books and pushups, man.

Like, I don't know what else I could do that would feel worth it.

You know what I mean? Other than, you know, hopefully not getting killed, right? Like, that's sort of the other option.

You

just refuse to do other stuff in prison.