Scared Straight!/YMMV

These things about Scared Straight! are subjective - not everyone will agree with all of them.

Anvilicious: Played with. Back then, Scared Straight programs were relatively new and that gave an advantage to their effectiveness due to how unpredictable and dangerous the Lifers were to the shock of all who watched. Which in turn showed the seriousness of prison life and as a result warned the kids of the consequences should they continue their path. However a modern viewer would take some of their positive lessons, like Ali telling them to go back to school, as preachy. The fact that Scared Straight Programs are now a dime a dozen compared to how scarce they were in the 70s is believed to help lessen the impact this documentary was trying to create.
Ensemble Darkhorse: Ali. While there have been other Lifers that have had passion and charisma to keep the kids in line Ali stands out among them the most. Despite being one of the shortest of the Lifers, he makes up for it with a loud voice and an intimidating personality. The kids in the program all agree he scares them the most. Yet on top of all that, he does try to balance breaking them down and building them up. The latter he does by encouraging them to get back to school and better their lives. He was so memorable that his release and reunion with the kids twenty years later was met with shock and applause.
Retroactive Recognition: Columbo's Peter Falk is the host and narrator of the Documentary.
Values Dissonance: While the Lifers are doing what they can to prevent the kids from going to jail, their use of racial and sexual slurs which back then was considered the norm, as well as being used to further emphasize what life in prison will be like would not fly on national TV today. Ali, the most well known of the Lifers, referred to one of the kids as a "faggot" in part of his turn to scare them straight. That being said, while usage of the words is wrong, it's no different than what prison would be like today, since once in prison, no one cares how offended you are at their words.

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