We all got the wrong message from 'Midnight Express'

SF Gate ^ | 1/4/2004 | John Flinn

[a_Turk]

Mention that you're planning a trip to Turkey, and there's a good chance you'll get a reaction like the one I got from a friend the other day.

"Didn't you see that movie?'' he said, shuddering visibly. "You know -- 'Midnight Express?' "

[2banana]

I only learned that there is a right way to go around the circle and a wrong way - and you don't want to go around the wrong way...

[Vision]

Hayes is an idiot. If I remember correctly, he played with authorities during or after the legal process. And that's where they lost their patience.

I thought it was a movie about justice served.

[Prodigal Son]

You know, Midnight Express never crossed my mind when I decided to visit Turkey.
Of course, smuggling dope out of the country never entered my mind either ;-)

[Rebelbase]

Had Turkey adopted fundamamental Islamic law, There never would have been an escape, book and movie.

Oh well, live and learn. :-)

[Conspiracy Guy]

Turkey is a beautiful place and the Hash is magnificent. Seriously I'd like to go there someday.

CG

[Allan]

It should be noted
there is a sizeable number of tourists in Greece's prisons
for violating their severe drug laws.

I understand the prisons in Greece also are not known
for their luxurious conditions
however
to my knowledge
no one has contemplated making a movie
on this theme.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

Turkey is extremely interesting. I would go back in a hearbeat.

On another note, one wouldn't want to do time in a Panamanian prison either. Panama also has a prison island called Coiba which is hell on earth. Coiba is reserved for murders, rapists, and other terrible crimes against humanity. Leaving Coiba alive is a feat. (Maximum sentence in Panama is 20 years if one lives that long in prison. One less nuisance on the street if one doesn’t make it out.)

[Jim Noble]

And the criminal justice systems in a lot of countries are just as bizarre as the one in the movie

Where the guilty are swiftly convicted and punished.

Bizarre.

[a_Turk]

ping..

Please forgive me 'coz I can't answer your responses for lack of time. I do scan through them though, and who knows, hopefully soon I'll have some time to get more involved.

Meanwhile, here's an article a friend alerted me to.

[a_Turk]

I had never heard about hash until I arrived in the USA and the kids in college asked if I had brought some with me..

[Conspiracy Guy]

Actually in the late 60's and early 70's most hash in US came from Lebanon. The US creates the market.

CG

[new cruelty]

You absolutely don't want to star in "Midnight Express: The Sequel."

Also known as...

[CTOCS]

There's a prison is Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain, on the Bay of Cadiz near Herez. It's where Columbus got the crew for his third voyage. I lived near there in the mid '70's while stationed at Rota.

The prison sits right on the water. The cell blocks are below sea level. Seems when the inmates get a little testy, they just flood the blocks. Kinda hard to breathe in a ten foot cell with twelve feet of water in it!

Wouldn't want to be there either.......

[LoudRepublicangirl]

The only message I took from that movie was 1. Don't smuggle drugs and 2. The human spirit can overcome adversity even when things seem impossible. It doesn't matter that the movie was set in Turkey, it had a good message for anyone anywhere.

[7thson]

When I saw the movie, I got lots of flack when I stated that the main character got what he deserved. Then again, I don't have much sympathy with those shot at Kent State. It may seem like arse kissing, but you just never start arguments or piss people off who have firearms - especially when you do not!

[whereasandsoforth]

If the USA's Cadillac prisons don't win any gold stars, I wonder exactly which countries are selected for the honor.

It wouldn't be a printable article without at least one punch thrown at the good ol' USA.

[Dog Gone]

Turkey is a great place to visit. And it's stupid to violate the laws of any country, including our own.

[uncbob]

Well he should have retained veto rights over what the movie would represent before he signed over the rights

[StriperSniper]

It wouldn't be a printable article without at least one punch thrown at the good ol' USA.

You missed one:

the original Midnight Express was actually a humane way for Turkey to rid itself of foreign drug offenders while appearing to meet U.S. demands for harsh sentences.

It is actually the drug warriors here in the U.S. that are the monsters that create these horrors is the implication.