Last Words
This thought-provoking short film by Lucas Jatoba and Andrew Goldie tells the story of eight convicts on death row and the last words they spoke before being executed. The details of the crimes committed are different, but the end results are the same.
Some of the convicts expressed deep regret for the bad decisions that led them down the path they chose. Some begged for forgiveness, while others offered forgiveness. And some insisted on their innocence up to the very end. Many of them expressed love for their families and they all shed tears that were loaded with a deep fear of the unknown.
The film brings up a number of important issues such as the meaning of death and society’s role in rescuing children before it’s too late.
No mother ever holds her newborn baby, looks into his or her future and sees murder and a death sentence. Most parents have healthy dreams for the children they bring into the world. Yet the reality is that many people grow up and go wrong. This begs the question: where are we failing children as a society? One convict said it best when she stated “save the children. Find one that needs help, sacrifice a small amount of your own wealth to protect the innocent ones. They are the key to making the world a better place.”
Who knows exactly what these men and women went through in their childhoods that led them to a life of crime? But the possibility remains that when each of them was still a small child, he or she needed to be rescued and it’s very likely that nobody did.
Is capital punishment the solution, though? Does it offer comfort and closure to the victim’s loved ones? Does it help people feel safer? What happens if the wrong person is executed?
It was Winston Churchill who stated ‘If you kill the murderer, the quantity of murderers will not change.’ Whether you agree or not with capital punishment, watch this film now.
Loading...
