jshy7979

15th Jul 2023

The Green Mile (1999)

Question: When Dale is being hooked up to the electric chair, shouldn't he have been able to tell if the sponge was wet or not? If so, why did he not speak up?

Danny1129

Answer: He may not have been aware it was supposed to be wet. They probably hadn't told him all the details of what was going to happen. That, or in those terrifying final moments, knowing he was about to die, he simply forgot.

I can't remember exactly, but at this stage, wasn't his face uncovered? So, would have seen that the sponge should have been in water.

Ssiscool

No, the first thing they do is put the hood over him.

jshy7979

22nd Nov 2021

The Green Mile (1999)

Question: How long will Old Paul live for?

Answer: At the end of the movie, it's discovered that Mr. Jingles is 64 years old. This is about sixteen times the life span of a regular mouse. Since this logic could apply to Paul, he could live anywhere between 1,300 and 1,500 years.

Nice idea but the math ain't mathin'. Your equation presumes that Mr. Jingles dies at age 64. But he is still alive! It seems more likely that John Coffey gave Paul and Mr. Jingles an indefinite natural life. They live forever unless something kills them. I'm sure if Paul was in a plane explosion over the Atlantic, he would die.

This is actually much simpler than either one of you are making it out to be: the answer is, there is no answer. We know that Paul and Mr Jingles are going to live longer lives because of John Coffey, and anything beyond that is pure speculation. I think this was intentionally left vague to keep the audience without a clear answer to Paul's fate, just like Paul is left without a clear answer.

jshy7979

Answer: Paul and the mouse both aged considerably. No one ever said they weren't aging, just that the power from John was making them live extremely long lives.

MovieFan612

Answer: If Paul could live to be that old then he would still be looking young. He would not be looking like a centenarian.

Gravity is relentless.

MovieFan612

Answer: Since John Coffey was able to die via execution, we can assume that Paul could be killed. This means that, like John, Paul would have to choose to die. All we know is that John gave Paul a piece of himself - perhaps that piece was immortality?

2nd Apr 2018

The Green Mile (1999)

Question: Just before Del's execution, Paul realises that the sponge is dry because there's no water on the floor. Why didn't he halt the execution before the switch was thrown? If he had, Del wouldn't have suffered an agonizing death.

Answer: It was only 15 seconds between when Paul first sees what doesn't look right until the switch is thrown. He was spending most of that time looking at the rest of the floor and Edward's head to see if he could see wetness, which only left about two to four seconds from when he probably was actually concerned until the switch was thrown. The ceremony is obviously very structured, and if he halted it at the last second it would be a major issue so if he did and nothing was wrong there would be hell to pay so he probably trusted (poorly) that he was mistaken rather than take the risk. There is also an attitude of not getting your coworkers in trouble so stopping the execution would also go against that - the trouble of an execution with a dry sponge is a counterargument that probably didn't dawn on him in the couple seconds in which the decision had to be made.

jimba

He could have take the bucket and doused Del's head. This would have resolved the dry sponge issue immediately.

That's a terrible idea. He could get others wet including himself and electrocute them.

lionhead

Answer: They all had pistols. In Last of the Mohicans Hawkeye shoots the British officer being burned alive to spare him the suffering. You'd think these guys would have thought to do the same.

It is shown in great detail how precise and professional the guards are during an execution, and how seriously they take it. There is simply no scenario where any of the guards would have taken out their service weapon and used it on Del in a room full of people.

jshy7979

14th Jun 2016

The Green Mile (1999)

Question: Why did Del say Mr. Jingles is going to make him rich when he gets out? Does he understand the concept of death row?

MikeH

Chosen answer: Del (like every other prisoner on death row) was hoping for a last-minute pardon from the Governor or some sort of stay of execution from a court. The chance of that was slim to none, but they can always hope.

Scott215

Answer: My interpretation was, it was just some light-hearted humor on his part. In attempt to raise his own spirits, even if only for a little bit. Kind of in the same way a terminal patient might say "when I get out of here," even when they know there is no chance.

jshy7979

15th Mar 2019

The Green Mile (1999)

Question: Paul lived to be an old old man because John touched him. Did Melinda live to be an old women since John healed her of cancer? Nothing was ever said about her but Mr. Jingles lived to be an old mouse.

Answer: John Coffey only transferred "a piece of myself [himself]" to Paul, intentionally and Mr. Jingles, unintentionally. Paul didn't have that power after John cured his UTI and Mr. Jingles didn't have it after John cured him from the attack by Percy. The movie is very clear about that.

Brenda Horne Elzin

Answer: Actually, Paul does mention Melinda as one of the people he has lost along the way. No mention is made of how long she lived, but I would assume that John simply cured her tumor, and she lived the rest of her life as a normal woman.

jshy7979

Answer: Yes she lived for very long and ailment free. But you gotta know Elaine was already much older than Paul was, so even though she lived very long, Paul outlived her. He specifically mentioned her, saying something in the lines of "eventually I even outlived Elaine."

lionhead

I think you are confusing Melinda and Elaine. Elaine is the woman Paul is recounting his story to, she is considerably younger than him and yet he outlives her. Melinda is the wife of the warden who John Coffey heals. It is not said how long she lives but since Paul specifically mentions his long life being a curse for his role in John's execution, we can assume she was not particularly long lived as he was.

BaconIsMyBFF

Yes, of course. Melinda. I got the idea that the people who John Coffey heals have long life without ailments. Paul and the mouse are the living proof of that, so why not Melinda? I meant to say Melinda was I think already older than Paul when she was healed by Coffey (although the actress was 40 when this film was made) and thus her life was extended, but less so. She may have died even after Paul's wife, even though he mentions her first. It's still probably been a while though.

lionhead

Melinda's fate after John heals her is never mentioned. Paul believes he has been cursed with long life as punishment for his role in John's execution. That to me indicates that Melinda didn't live a particularly long life. If she had Paul would have no reason to believe he was being punished.

BaconIsMyBFF

Besides Mr. Jingles.

lionhead

Paul mentions Melinda by name when recounting the people that he lost along the way. "Hal and Melinda" are the first names he mentions.

jshy7979

Answer: It would appear, based on what Paul says, that only he and Mr. Jingles were gifted (cursed?) with long life. Paul specifically mentions outliving his family and friends and is shown outliving Elaine as well. Paul speculates that his long life is punishment for his role in executing John, but he says nothing of why Mr. Jingles lives for so long.

BaconIsMyBFF

Paul says that he believed that what happened to Mr. Jingles was an accident. Meaning he was never supposed to have a long life but, during Del's execution, a small bit of John's healing power accidentally went into Mr. Jingles.

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