February 17, 2026
Locked up, comments on the loose
This is What It's Like to Spend Your Life in Prison (2023) [video]
Angola lifers speak; comments erupt over mercy, care, and 'slave labor'
TLDR: NYT Opinion spotlights elderly men serving life at Angola with little chance of release. Comments clash over alleged prison “slave labor,” who cares for elderly lifers if freed, and a haunting case of a possibly innocent 19-year-old—plus a weird “standalone”/internet meme adding dark humor. It’s a vital debate on justice and humanity.
In the NYT Opinion video, elderly men serving life at Angola prison describe decades behind bars with almost no hope of release. The comments? Pure wildfire. The loudest thread blasts life without parole as a moral dead end, while others argue consequences are consequences. One user drops a gut-punch anecdote: a friend arrested at 19, funny and kind, but locked away forever—maybe innocent, maybe not. Another asks the practical, chilling question: if lifers are released old, who cares for them with zero savings? Then the powder keg: a fiery claim that U.S. prisons are 'slave labor' factories, which triggered an all-out ethics brawl across the feed.
And because the internet can’t resist chaos, a random techy quip—“can’t buy it as a standalone for desktop”—spawned a meme storm. Replies joked about parole via Wi‑Fi and “as long as there’s a decent connection,” turning grief into gallows humor. Some praised the film for humanizing lifers; others felt it softened violent crimes. The result: maximum drama, with policy talk, personal stories, and memes colliding under one heavy video. Whether you see reform, retribution, or just raw reality, the comments made this prison story impossible to scroll past. It’s empathy, anger, and uneasy laughs.
Key Points
- •The video is produced by New York Times Opinion.
- •It features men serving life sentences at Angola prison in rural Louisiana.
- •Many of the incarcerated men highlighted are elderly.
- •The subjects have little to no hope for release.
- •They have not seen the outside world or their families for decades.