we re not used to it. the population here isn t used to seeing them playing women. and yet that s the way shakespeare s plays were originally done. you have overstepped your authority. what an awesome sight. bow down and acknowledge my heights. by magical words, i shall give the illusion of spirit with much nerve. as the actors were performing, i looked over my shoulder and i noticed iris was silently reciting every word of the play. so i focused my camera on him and i thought it was pretty cool that he was getting to see his own words coming to life and enjoying it so much. all he s known in belief, he shall bury it. i tell you, hags, that this [ applause ] this is the first time i seen it when he was speaking, i knew everything, i knew the words as he was saying it, right? it s crazy to hear it. to see the words come to life.
just days before our shoot, inmate iris white had completed a 3 1/2-year shu term and had been transferred to general population. he was allowed to return to the shu to finish his work on the script. now, he gets to join this group of general population inmates who will bring the script to life. it was really funny, because some of the inmates were playing witches in macbeth, dancing around, these big old guys, dangerous, scary-looking guys, going whoo! an all-male cast is something that we need to get accustomed to. we re not used to it. the population here isn t used to seeing them playing women. and yet that s the way shakespeare s plays were originally done.
that s here at this prison and i hear all the stories because i listen and i think to myself, you do not know how fortunate you are. you re going out there with another chance, whether it s five years, ten years or what. you re getting another chance. i ll never get that chance. i would give my leg, my arm, for that chance. i m never going to get it. i m going to die right here. it s fun to break the law and dance with the devil. but see, when you got to pay the fiddler, it ain t nothing nice. trust me, i m living it. i m living it. when it comes to serving hard time, white trash baker is hardly alone. me, myself, i got 35 to life. i m here on a three strikes case. in the mid- 80s i had a burglary and attempted burglary. i did four years for it. those are strike one and strike
make you want to continue to do it. like art imitates life. oh, man, that looked good. i like it. they did good. i want to see some more of it, though. for iris white, the playwright, it was the first time he had seen a performance of it, and he was really happy. you know, it was like the greatest day of his life. but white s elation was not to last. the day ended in bitter disappointment. and then an hour later, he got in a fight in the yard and got busted and got sent back to the shu. so it just shows how fast things can fall apart even when things are going good. prison can take it all away from you. it s the old law, you know? for every action, there s a reaction. so i can relate to macbeth, you know, by the choices he made predicted his punishment. some of us made mistakes.
that doesn t mean you want to kill them or threaten them. exactly. complaining about the opposite sex is an american right. when we re talking about the epidemic and the trend of these violent crimes, they historically and recently disproportionately are targeted at women and by men. even more so which violent crimes are you talking about? 98% of violent crimes most of the murder victims in america are male. disproportionately african-american male. 95% are perpetrated by men. there are 66,000 domestic violence calls daily. hold that thought. steve, listen, you heard what arthur said. this is art imitates life, doesn t it?