Escape From Alcatraz And Its Impact On Popular American Media And Culture

One early morning in 1962, Frank Morris and brothers Clarence and John Anglin broke out of Alcatraz prison. Using nothing but a raft fashioned out of raincoats, the three men traveled out into the foggy San Francisco Bay, never to be seen again. This was over 50 years ago, but the escape is still significant today. Society today still cares about the escape from Alcatraz because of its presence in the media, Alcatraz’s reputation as “escape-proof”, and natural human curiosity.

First of all, the escape from Alcatraz has had a significant impact on American media and culture. The presence of this event today is still evident, especially in popular American media. For example, movies Escape From Alcatraz (1979), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) are
The authors of the National Park Service for Alcatraz Island describe the prison as “escape-proof,” (National Park Service 1). The fact that three people could have escaped a supposedly escaped an inescapable prison is bound to capture people’s attention. This situation relates to another significant event in the twentieth century. In 1912, the Titanic crashed into an iceberg and sank. Although this event occurred over 100 years ago, it is still relevant. For example, the movie Titanic was very successful, and it was based on a disaster that has occurred almost 100 years ago at the time. The Titanic was reputed to be “unsinkable”, which might have been why it was such a big deal when it ended up sinking. Despite the fact that there have been hundreds of other ships that have sunk throughout history, this event is the one getting all the spotlight. A second reason the Titanic could have been such a significant disaster was the number of fatalities. Although, there have been other shipwrecks that were just as deadly, if not deadlier. All this does is prove how much reputation impacts the longevity of the relevance of a notable event. Another way to prove that the escape from Alcatraz is still important is to apply this logic to the escape. Its reputation as escape proof makes it more exciting when there is a possibility an inmate could have escaped. Even though other prison escapes have occurred, this one has remained significant while others have faded in and out of popularity. When someone does something that is supposed to be impossible, of course, it would attract attention for years to