I’ve never been to jail (except as a visitor to an incarcerated uncle and once to bail out a bone-headed friend who got busted for DUI). I hope to maintain my lifelong record of non-incarceration. Jail is so unpleasant.
But prison movies / television shows — now there’s a genre that just seems to inspire brilliance: Papillon. Shawshank Redemption. Cool Hand Luke. Oz. Orange is the New Black. Even campy shit like Prisoner: Cell Block H. What makes it work so well?