sorry lemmings, this movie is not about hope.liberal lemmings like to rant, what hope?, what freedom? what the movie really impresses me is certainly not about "hope" but the sufferance, and accepting fate. when people facing such cruel reality. more hope means more despair....everyone has hope, there is nothing special to have hope, nothing to be proud of..what people really need is to understand the reality,have the courage to face the reality..only someone so disillusioned can be so clinical like Mccqueen's character, Henri Charriere <br /><br />I remember Steve Mccqueen mumbles many time "I don't know" "I don't care".such words show how cool and prepared he is. he is ready for any injustice....<br /><br />the true reality is not one person was lucky ..and escaped and got free, the reality is so many people couldn't be lucky and able to do the same.. to be broad, so many people are killed everyday in the world.people can't hold their fate, whatever how much they try. if people could really handle their fate, nobody would be killed or treated badly.. if a gang can kill a person, the society can play the role too..the society is unfair, it has been and always will be. just the nature of the society.<br /><br />talking about hope..shawshank is a movie about "hope".very idealistic about that one can easily escape the prison , easily deal with social machine. life is always wonderful as long as you have "hope"..and do what Andy does... typical brainwashing