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Black and White Are Not Just Colors

In: English and Literature

Submitted By AngieScott
Words 1295
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To Kill a Mockingbird:
Black and White Have Never Just Been Colors
Angie Scott
IVY Tech Community College

To Kill a Mockingbird, Black and White Have Never Just Been Colors
Discrimination and prejudice transcend the ages, and the 1962 Oscar nominated film To Kill a Mockingbird shows us exactly that. It shows us that emotional, physical, and social choices we as human beings make will affect us and our world for generations to come. The film provides us with lessons in mankind that we can use in our world today. Upon your first viewing, you may not feel like it has relevance in your life today. You may be of the opinion that the world that Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson lived in is a far cry from our world today, but current events reflect otherwise. Most of us can remember the famous words spoken during the Los Angeles riots in 1992 by Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along?”, and we all can never forget where we were the moment the towers were struck on September 11, 2001. Very different in their own rights, each of these events was caused by prejudice or discrimination. While the top notch acting is unsurpassed in our world of CGI, 3D, and High Definition movie making, no breathtaking stunts, superheroes, fantastic cliffhangers, or 3D glasses are required to watch To Kill a Mockingbird. Gregory Peck, the actor who portrayed Atticus Finch, still stands 49 years since its original release, the greatest movie hero of the 20th century (American Film Institute, 4 June 2003). The story itself is one of triumph and defeat, loss and gain, and the lengths that a man of great character will go to in order to make sure everyone is treated as an equal no matter the color of their skin.
The movie touches on the rape trial of a local African American named Tom Robinson and his court appointed attorney Atticus Finch in 1930’s Alabama. The character Atticus Finch is indeed a hero and someone who we can emulate in our daily lives. If you are someone whose opinion on race and color has vacillated over time, one viewing of this movie in its true black and white form will change your opinion forever. Even though times have changed and laws have been made since that time, the storyline of prejudice and discrimination in To Kill a Mockingbird is still very prevalent in the year 2012. It still has such relevance in the world today and anyone who watches cannot walk away unaffected by it. This movie feels like a time capsule of a different time and a much different state in the world. You are transported to a time where at first glance seems like it is a much simpler place to live. Our children will never know what it is like to have an African American woman as their housekeeper or having her raise you because your parents either did not want to take the time or your mother was no longer alive. It is not an everyday occurrence that a lynch mob waits in a field for a man they want to kill because their color is different than yours. Yet our children will know what it is like to see gang members kill a man because of the color of his skin. This movie, at its very core, has just as much relevance today than it did in 1930’s southern Alabama. Atticus Finch states in the movie, “You never know someone, until you step inside their skin and walk around a little.” That statement alone proves its relevance in our world today as well as in the 1930’s.
I have found that on most occasions, the acting in older movies is subpar compared to the abilities of the actors in our movies today. We watch scenes that take our breath away by performances that move us, or the scenery we are shown, and 50 years or more ago we more than likely would be watching a film void of color with actors that feel like they were picked off a tree and asked to read a few lines in front of a camera. In To Kill a Mockingbird, you are so enthralled in the different storylines of the film that you actually forget you are watching it in black and white. The actors in this movie were so superior to what was the norm for that time. Gregory Peck was far ahead of his time in his abilities on the silver screen. Whether it was the way he looked into the camera with sadness in his eyes or he transported you to a different time by his words or the tone in his hallowed voice, you are very aware that you are watching a man who is arguably one of the greatest actors of not only that time but any time then or now. The culmination of the actors and the adaptation from the book to the screen, it is no surprise that according to the Internet Movie Database (2012) poll, To Kill a Mockingbird is the 64th greatest movie of all time.
The story in my mind’s eye is beautifully written and portrayed on the screen in a way where not many other movies I have seen compare to it. I will have to admit though, that the many years ago I was forced to read Harper Lee’s book by my high school English teacher did not have a great impression on me. I was young and had more important things to do than read a book about life in 1930’s southern Alabama fraught with prejudice and little kids scared of their neighbor they assumed was “the boogey man”. When I watched the movie and saw it play out on screen my opinion changed completely. Many people disagree with me and feel that the storyline in the book was far superior to that of the film adaptation. Referencing the 1960’s activist Andrew Young’s skepticism over Mockingbird’s extra-literary sway, Mark Holcomb (2011) states that “the film adaptation’s overall effect is flattering but shallow, making the movie the last thing Mockingbird needs.” He could not have been more wrong. Today’s world of cliff notes, computers, all things digital, and the pleasure one once got from reading a great American novel is gone, the chances of finding a teenager today who has read Harper Lee’s book will be slim to none. The only outlet left for someone to experience Mockingbird is on the movie screen. The choice by Robert Mulligan to adapt the book into a film opened up a whole new generation of people who will have the chance to fall in love with and be moved by Harper Lee’s words.
In a world where children are taught to be kind and non-judgmental is a thing of the past, the story of a man who in the face of great adversity chose to do the right thing is a breath of fresh air. This movie changed how I felt about others unlike myself in such a way that it still holds true today. Watching To Kill a Mockingbird is something that everyone should experience at least once in their life. One viewing has the ability to show you that in fact, black and white are not just colors anymore.

References
100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains. (4 June 2003). Retrieved October 8, 2012, from http://www.afi.com/100years/handv.aspx
Holcomb, Mark. Hey Boo: A Cinematic Mash Note to Harper Lee and her Mockingbird. (11 May 2011). Retrieved October 16, 2012, from http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-05-11/film
IMBD Charts: IMBD Top 250. (2012). Retrieved October 13, 2012 from http://www.imdb.com/chart

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