Scared Straight!

Scared Straight! Is a true crime Documentary made in 1978. As part of an effort to reduce juvenile crime, filmmaker Arnold Shapiro, in collaboration with the Rahway State Prison in New Jersey, filmed a documentary depicting the then-new Scared Straight program, in which juvenile delinquents were taken to the prison to show what life would be like for them if they continued their criminal ways. While the program itself was three hours long in real time, the film reduced it to 52 minutes of the most prominent -- and intense -- parts of the program.

The film revolves around seventeen kids who have been arrested for petty crimes such as theft and drugs, as well as severe crimes such as assault. The documentary, narrated by Peter Falk, starts with them being interviewed as they are escorted inside Rahway State Prison. Specifically what they did and how they feel about what they did. It then leads to them on a tour of the prison cells, where they both receive an in-depth look at how the inmates behave around new prisoners, many of them shouting lewd comments and threats of prison rape. The kids are then placed in groups in separate prison cells, so they can see what kind of conditions they may be in should they fail.

However, the most infamous part of the film is a session held in the prison auditorium, with a group of inmates known as "Lifers" (called that due to their sentence being life in prison). Each one offered his own insights, insults and fear-induced motivations in an effort to discourage these kids from ever wanting to set foot in prison.

While the Scared Straight program itself was criticized for its extreme methods, the documentary received many awards including an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. The documentary also spawned three more films. First came ''Scared Straight! Another Story'' (1980), which rather than a documentary was a dramatization with Arnold Shapiro serving as producer instead of writer and director. It was followed by ''Scared Straight! 10 Years Later (1987) and Scared Straight! 20 Years Later'' (1999), which both followed up the initial film by detailing the subsequent lives of both the original kids and the Lifers. The kids almost entirely managed to turn their lives around for the better (with the exception of Angelo Speziale, who was serving a 25-year sentence to rape and murder). It also showcased some of the Lifers being released from prison, with some even offering alternative programs to help kids stay out of jail.

Last but not least A&E produced a 2011 documentary TV series called Beyond Scared Straight!, which took the program to national levels.

Scared Straight!
"Ali: I'm here for murder, kidnapping, robbery, armed robbery, conspiracy, breaking the dude's jaw and breaking his fucking woman's both her goddamn arms!"
 * Angry Black Man/Scary Black Man: Many of the Lifer groups have at least two or three of them. The most prominent of these is "Ali", who despite being shorter than the larger inmates makes up for it with a loud voice, intimidating presence and having a permanent visible injury. In his case, his eye.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: While the others have talked about their crimes minor and major, Ali's list takes the cake. He lists his most serious crimes with ones that are minor compared to them.

"Ali: We didn't get away with nothing, we're here!! So what makes you think you're gonna get away with it?"
 * Armor-Piercing Question: Ali asks one. As shown in Not So Different, he mentions that many of the Lifers were kids, too, but most of them were tried and convicted as adults. Mentioning that none of them including him got away with their crimes, he asks the kids the following question -- with no answer from the kids.

"Ali: You can have the same kind of jobs!! You can make the same kind of money!!! It's so motherfucking easy it's passing you by!! Go to school!!! Get that education and pistol whip the shit out of it!! A gun ain't gonna tear that 30 foot wall down out there!! A pipe is not gonna tear that 30 foot wall down out there!! But an education may just tear that motherfucker down!!"
 * Berserk Button: As part of the scare tactics, the lifers invoke this trope by freaking out on the kids, at the slightest of annoyances. Specifically anyone who smiles at them, looks at them funny or moves in their seat is enough to set them off.
 * Cluster F-Bomb: On top of winning awards, Scared Straight! became one of the first documentaries to have their swearwords uncensored on national television.
 * Dare to Be Badass: Ali passionately invokes this to the kids, by encouraging them to get jobs and educations that would get them further than what criminal life could ever do.

"Lifer: What am I here to amuse you. Did you just smile? Huh? Something's funny? -louder- Something's funny with you!? Huh!? -quiet- Get that smile off your face boy. -quieter- Let me tell you something. I'll bite your fucking nose off your head. And if you think somebody's gonna stop me from doing it, believe me, you're wrong. Because by the time they get here, it'll be too late. It'll be all over with. I got so much time, they can't give me no more. You understand what I'm telling you? So when you sit there, you keep that smile on your face. Because I'm gonna hurt you. Don't make me hurt you. Please? I talked to you nice right?"
 * Establishing Character Moment: The Lifers first establish themselves when the first one, Willie, gives one of the kids, Raoul, their ID cards to pass to the others to prove that they are convicts and not counsellors, lawyers, actors, or even cops in disguise. To further show how tough and unpredictable they are, Willie smacks the deck of cards out of the Raoul's hands when he didn't pass them around the way he asked him to while demanding he hand them out properly.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: The Lifers are comprised of people who have committed the worst of crimes with murder and rape being the top convictions. Yet they don't hold back how disgusted they are when kids are committing crimes that will eventually lead them to the same paths the Lifers themselves took.
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The Lifers invoke some Paranoia Fuel, using this specific trope. See below for how.
 * Eye Scream: Ali makes mention of his right eye being taken out in a fight. Another Lifer threatens to do the same to a kid for not paying attention.
 * Get Out!: Whenever one or more of the kids cross the Lifers one too many times, they stop their speech demanding they leave. The kids do come back later on though.
 * Heel Face Turn: The documentary ends with many of the kids talking about how the program changed their lives and that they'll never commit crime again. One exception was Angelo Speziale who got convicted for rape and murder. As well as Qadir who never stopped until he was arrested.
 * Not So Different: The Lifers invoke this trope as a means of relating to the kids. They know that the kids would believe they don't understand what they are going through, simply because the Lifers are adults. However many of them mention, that not only were they kids themselves doing the same things, but also mention that being kids don't matter, pointing out that when a kid commits an adult crime, they get tried and convicted as an adult.
 * Paranoia Fuel: The Lifers invoke this, telling the kids that every one of them at least has one or more family members and that it's not hard for those kids to steal from one of them. If they do however, the Lifers will read about it in the newspapers and go after them should they get sent to prison for it.
 * Pet the Dog: After all the yelling, threatening, insults and other scary behavior the Lifers had to offer one, Lonnie, hands the kids cards with phone numbers. What are the numbers for? Youth Counselling. Showing in the end they do care about their well-being and don't want them to go to jail and offering every chance they can.
 * Politically Incorrect Villain: Many of the Lifers use racial and sexual slurs to better scare the kids and show how serious they are.
 * Prison Rape: Early in the film when they take a tour of the jail cell, the inmates threaten the kids with this. During the session with the Lifers, many of them go into graphic detail on what it's like.
 * Reality Ensues: The ultimate goal of this documentary both within the documentary and outside, is to show the harsh realities of the consequences, these children and children like them would face should they continue down a criminal path.
 * Secret Test of Character One of the Lifers, Greg, puts a kid through this. He takes the biggest kid of the group, named Roy, and dares him to punch him. The kid says no, calmly explaining that he (Greg) would kill him. So Greg offers Roy protection, in exchange for the kid holding him by his belt. Strutting around and telling the others that this kind of stuff happens every day. Greg asks Roy if he has cigarettes. Roy says no. So he asks a random Lifer if he has cigarettes. Which the Lifer provides, prompting Greg to sell Roy for the smokes. Greg lets Roy know that if he didn't want that happening to him, he should have punched him, and thus failed the test.
 * Scare'Em Straight The Trope Namer.
 * Sir Swears A Lot: Many of the Lifers. Ali especially says his fair share of swears and slurs.
 * Tranquil Fury: While many of them are loud and passionate, special mention goes to one Lifer who upon having the above Berserk Button pressed, calmly and quietly threatens one of the kids into stopping it.

Scared Straight! Another Story

 * The Last of These Is Not Like the Others: While the other entries are documentaries, this one is a dramatization.

Scared Straight! 20 Years Later
"Ali: I'm here for murder, kidnapping, robbery, armed robbery, conspiracy, breaking a dude's jaw and breaking his woman's both her arms. Like I said before, I am not your friend. I'm not your enemy. I'm not your mother. I'm not your father. But I'm glad to see all y'all today and I hope you feel the same about me."
 * Badass Preacher: Terence, one of the kids in the program, has become a baptist preacher after serving in the Navy.
 * John has also become a christian preacher and teaches Kung Fu.
 * Call Back: When Ali surprises the kids, regarding his release from prison, he recites his rap sheet word for word.


 * The Dreaded: Played with. The kids all agree that among the inmates they met, Ali scared them the most. However upon reuniting with them after twenty years, after getting over their initial shock, they are just as happy to see him as the other reformed Lifers.
 * Heel Face Turn: While the documentary is more focused on how the kids changed their lives, it also shows how some of the Lifers turned their lives around. In terms of the Lifers Lonnie, the man who handed the kids the youth counselling numbers, works as a rental apartment agent. Willie, who scared Raoul personally, has been out on parole since 1995, working as a truck driver and running a rug cleaning service. Greg, who demonstrated life in prison with Roy, was released in 1996 and is now a drug rehabilitation counsellor. Malik was the first Lifer to be out on parole and ironically came back to visit Qadir in prison to see what went wrong. In a unique twist, it's implied Malik got himself arrested so he could keep a closer eye on Qadir. In the most shocking of twists, Ali was released from jail in 1990. He works as a mechanic and volunteers his time helping kids stay out of trouble.