Variations on the 12th Man

Evening, gang.

Welcome to another work week and another step in the journey.

A look out the window late yesterday revealed a multi-colored sun, a pastiche of purples and reds with a splash of blood orange. As gorgeous as it was, it still sets way too early for my liking. If we can hang together another dozen days, though, we’ll be able to enjoy those brilliant sunsets a little later every day. Simple stuff, sure, but for now, it’s sort of our gold standard.

Speaking of a dozen and 12 in particular, the concept of the “twelfth man” can go beyond the sporting world. If, by chance, you’re not familiar with the expression, it most often applies to football, with the adulation and encouragement of the crowd influencing the game’s outcome.

In terms of our day 12, though, let’s visit with another celluloid hero. Let’s look at Henry Brubaker (Robert Redford) the eponymous character of the story, the warden at Wakefield State Prison in rural Arkansas.

In the film (1980), Redford initially poses as an inmate at Wakefield to expose corruption. Before he reveals his true identity, he witnesses everything from sexual assault to doctors extorting money from inmates for medical attention to crooked politicians.

Along the way, Brubaker enlists the help of Dickie Coombs (the late Yaphet Kotto), a savvy trustee (sort of like an inmate supervisor, usually a convicted felon with time in grade) who comes to realize that the idealistic warden actually cares about the men in his charge.