Immoral Impulses Understood Through Punishment Park

Artists have often faced a great deal of struggle when attempting to make harsh critiques on the reality of situations that most political figures would rather have swept under the carpet. And it is exactly these sorts of situations that artists are the most interested in highlighting. Peter Watkins is a filmmaker who is focused on confronting political issues, specifically those that revolve around war. His films make blatant statements, generally liberal, and are structured as documentary to bring attention to the authenticity of the statements being made, even if the situations in themselves are false.

Punishment Park is a film that makes a statement about the Vietnam War. Using actual political activists and their real arguments, Watkins depicts a fictional setting where such activists are arrested and sent to “Punishment Park” for their actions. The park is falsely represented as being a positive alternative to a lengthy prison sentence. In actuality, the park is a place where those contained must complete the impossible task of taking a 50 mile hike to a posted American flag while pursued by armed police officers with motor vehicles. On the hike the officers are not supposed to shoot unless absolutely necessary, but they do shoot, sometimes purposefully maliciously and sometimes accidentally from anxiety or fear. One of the most disturbing aspects of the mockumentary is the general officers’ acceptance of their own despicable behavior. Even while being documented openly and addressing and being addressed by the camera they maintain that their actions are somehow justified. This says, to an extent, that the individuals within society are so far removed from the concepts of their actions that they can not even understand why or how they would be understood as being reproachable.