"This Is What I Want My Words To Do To You"

"This Is What I Want My Words To Do" was an incredibly thought-provoking film. I expected the women inmates to spend the majority of their writing justifying their actions; however, I was surprised to find that they devoted far greater space to admitting their guilt and wrongdoing. By showing the women read their own pieces, the film did a wonderful job of demonstrating how being "misunderstood" is not nearly as mentally stressful and burdensome and being understood - and guilty. This project was participatory in that it allowed multiple inmates to relate their own life experiences in feelings; the use of actresses to interpret the inmates' work created another dimension of collaboration. However, the project still had concretely laid out guidelines, as the inmates were given specific prompts, and even asked to elaborate when Eve did not feel they had dug deep enough.

Like many other participatory projects we have discussed, "This Is What I Want My Words To Do To You" seems to have a utilitarian component. Not only does it allow outsiders to view the inmates in a new, more human way (and perhaps call into question their preconceived notions of what it means to be and what type of people become criminals), but it also gave the inmates themselves an opportunity to release and explore their emotions. For the inmates, the project was not only a work of art; it was a type of group therapy. This therapeutic quality stood out during every level of production: from the actual writing and delivering responses in a group setting to the viewing and responding to the actresses' performances.