SummaryIf you knew your next meal would be your last, what would you choose?
Until recently, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice provided a variety of answers to this question on their website, making available the final meal requests and last statements of over 300 executed offenders beginning in 1982.
Using nothing more than photographs and type, filmmaker Michael Pfaendtner’s documentary short, Texas Hospitality examines the final meal requests of ten of these executed offenders and in the process, offers a revealing look at the individuality and humanity of these condemned men and women as they awaited their imminent demise.
One by one, the image of each offender fades up along with their name, execution date and details of their conviction. As the conviction fades away, the screen then begins to fill randomly with food selections, in some instances covering the entire screen with type. Despite the filmmaker’s strong feelings against capital punishment, the seemingly ambivalent attitude of this film leaves it open to interpretation. While the heinous nature of these crimes makes a compelling case for the death penalty, there is also the realization that these were still human beings, facing one final decision before their lives were terminated.
