Susan Sarandon as Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking
Best Actress at the 68th Annual Oscars (1995)
Notable Quote:
“Every person deserves respect.”
Synopsis:
Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon) visits with death row inmate Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn), and helps him to reckon with his violent crimes, as his execution date approaches. Great way to meet a man, if you ask me!
The character:
What do Sister Helen and Rihanna have in common? They both found love in a hopeless place (I hate myself). When she acts as a death row counselor, Helen steps into a situation that’s entirely bleak. She can’t save Matthew Poncelet, or do anything material for him: he’s going to die, very soon. It’s a situation that would lead many people to give up before they even begin, but Helen is still able to see the possibilities. She knows that she can help Matthew to live as best he can in his final moments: to give him dignity and to help him take responsibility for his actions.
Of course, this attitude is made possible by Helen’s incredible humility, which is directly tied to her deep and abiding faith. She’s a person who is willing to “live in the questions” (a phrase my therapist once uttered). She’s not really sure how to make sense of Matthew’s violent, senseless acts, or of how to balance his needs with those of the victim’s parents. It’s not even all that clear that she’s anti-death penalty on principle. But what she does believe is that everyone is a child of God, which gives her a moral obligation to support a man that many dismiss as a monster.
Helen’s empathy, and ability to see Matthew as a person, not only means that she can stand with him in the face of a lot of judgment, it allows her to hold him accountable. For instance, Matthew is a horrible racist, in the most classic sense: he openly hates Black people. It would be so easy to dismiss him wholly, but Helen is willing to fight against his racism, and to actually try to educate him, and force him to grapple with his own flaws. In doing so, she never comes from a place of moral authority, but acts as an advocate. We should all be more like Sister Helen.
The performance:
Susan Sarandon’s performance in Dead Man Walking is so simple and elegant that it’s hard to talk about. We’ve seen a number of performances that were rewarded for their big emotional moments and their attention-grabbing acting, but Sarandon is incredibly muted. But that’s exactly as it should be. Her goal is actually not to take up a lot of space on the screen: Sister Helen is here to make space for others, and Sarandon does that, while not allowing her to sink into the background. Through silent tears, without raising her voice, she has a powerful presence as a woman who stays quiet and listens to others without judgment. I’m thrilled that the Academy awarded a performance as soft and empathetic as this one.
The movie:
Though it’s certainly not my favorite movie that I’ve watched as part of this project, it’s probably the one that I’m mostly like to be thinking about years from now. I watched at a really timely moment, given that the federal government resumed executions last year. This film offers a really nuanced argument against capital punishment, even though it isn’t at all didactic. The thing I love most is that Matthew Poncelet isn’t an unjustly accused innocent: he committed horrible murders that he refuses to take responsibility for, and he’s a cruel racist to boot. But that’s the point: even given all those factors, the movie argues that there’s still the possibility for some kind of redemption.
Was the Oscar deserved?
Yes, this performance is a quiet storm.