I'm really happy to be watching this movie again, at this point in my life (I'm thinking of re-reading the book as well). The first, and only time, I read the book/watched the movie, was in seventh grade. While there are a lot of things I took away from the book at the time, I feel like I appreciate it more fully now. I imagine that will become more true the older I get, the more intolerance and injustice I see and experience. It just resonates really strongly (especially considering how the trial ends) with how I've been feeling the past couple of years, this year in particular with everything that's been happening. The fact that it is still so relevant today speaks to both how well it addressed certain themes, and how far we've actually come as a society.
On the topic of the movie itself, "To Kill A Mockingbird" uses a child's perspective in a remarkable way, to get the audience to see things a little simpler. It provides both the opportunity to have certain things directly explained (the use of the n-word) and to be able to understand things in a different, "naive" light (the way we experience Boo Radley, for example, is different in Scout's POV then an adults, and offers much more acceptance). It still preserves the complexity of racial inequality with the results of the trial, but frames it in such a way where it kind of becomes very obvious how wrong this all is (again, because the kids so easily understand something is wrong, so too does the audience).
Honestly it makes the most of how it was written, eliciting very visceral reactions from myself and my peers. It shows the trial for exactly as unfair as it was. There isn't a turn of heart in the jurors, Tom doesn't magically get away, there isn't some kind of immediate action. But, it shows us reality. And, it shows an unrest in the children, shows how upset they are, especially Jem, at seeing this injustice. I think seeing things like that, really seeing how badly POC were (and are) treated in America was such a huge part of the civil rights movement.
I imagine that because film and literature serves as both a reflection and creation of culture, this novel had a lot of impact, much like "Selma" very recently has. And while this movie/book is fantastic, and addresses racial injustice in a fantastic way, I find it tiring. For me, the movie draws forth some frustrations, not because of what it says, but because of how it says it. I feel like it reinforces the racial imbalance in our country (which, as a discussion point is fine, but as a piece of film that can impact the thinking of people, is not) because it is a white narrative. Again, this is not to discount the book, but it is to acknowledge that for our current purposes, it is less useful. Many people, including myself, are very tired of having to watch a movie about what Black Americans experienced, told from the white perspective. Especially because there are so many black narratives out there that we never get to see, or that never reach the same sort of fame. And for the time period, right in the middle of the Civil Right's movement, I can understand that a black narrative maybe wouldn't have gotten the same traction or respect, but it almost feels unfair that a major american novel that talks about race was done from a white perspective while there were so many people of color speaking out about it. I don't know, I just think we need a new American classic that can better reflect and shape our current national feelings.
Also, I was thinking about what you said earlier, about how people were banning a book they've never read, which is a very scary thought. But, maybe they have read it. Maybe they read it, and just don't get it, or just don't care, or can't remove their head from their ass. I think that's scarier to me, to think that these people did read the book, and see how that word was actually used, and just don't get it. Scarier still if they just don't care. I don't think there's much more to the thought, but yeah.
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