Mozart, Harmonicas, and Aesthetic Incongruence in The Shawshank Redemption

Abstract

Aesthetic incongruence describes when assumptions, values, and ideologies associated with music are perceived as incongruent with filmic images or narrative. Influenced by individual and societally shaped attitudes, such judgements echo those frequently made about the (in)appropriateness of music in various everyday contexts. A sequence from The Shawshank Redemption in which an operatic aria is played over the prison intercom is used to further explore these issues. Intradomain incongruities between this sustained diegetic presentation of classical music and the rest of the film’s soundtrack are discussed. The benefits of reframing the characters’ responses and existing analyses of this presentation of music in a seemingly atypical context as aesthetically incongruent are considered. Empirical data demonstrate the varied interpretations and potential perceptual implications of this audiovisual pairing.