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Inherit the Wind

In: Film and Music

Submitted By ccarsfreak14
Words 701
Pages 3
Nathan Munoz
History 101
Prof. Smith-Trafzer
24 April 2014
Movie Paper
The movie “Inherit the Wind” was a film that was originally released in 1960, however it has been remade several times since that time. It was directed by Stanley Kramer and written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee. It is based on the true story of John “Monkey” Scope’s trial of being convicted of teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in a high school, even though it was illegal in the state of Tennessee. The story is told in Tennessee around the time of 1925. The film shows issues between cultures about how some believe in evolution and some believe in the Church, however, the major issue is the one on how Americans can think for themselves. I feel the movie depicted the issues in neither a negative nor a positive manner. I think it was more of a historical film than a film that takes a side on either side of the issue. It is negative in the fact that the way it was handled and the laws at the time thoroughly showed that it was illegal. At the time, teaching the theory of evolution was illegal in high school. The thought of children learning of how humans came to be outside of what the bible described was blasphemy. The people showing hatred towards Bertram Cates, the name of the character in the film that portrayed Scope, was a prime example of the way people viewed those who thought this type of way. I feel that it depicted society in a negative manner more than the situation itself. In the film, you heard citizens singing for the defendant and his attorney for their death. This often left the viewing contemplating their beliefs. The film touches more on the understanding of reason more the emotion. It opens more eyes as it teaches that each person may believe one thing while another may believe something else. To be prosecuted for what you believe in is something that was

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