Today, during class, Miss Huang shared with us a video of Mississippi Burning, another film related to racism in the twentieth century.
The blog prompt is whether I liked the film and why (or why not).
Let me start my opinion with a quote used frequently in day-to-day life: "Everything has its pros and cons." In actual fact, I remain neutral to the film - neither liking it nor disliking it. Let me explain to you why this is so.
The Pros
This film was able to vividly portray the actual scenes of racism and ill-treatment the blacks received from the white community, especially the infamous Ku Klux Klan. They were horribly beaten up and their houses and churches burnt down to ashes. All these happened merely because of their identity - a Negro, a black, a "nigger". This point made it better than "To Kill A Mockingbird", where few incidents depicted the rampant racism.
The Cons
The big problem of this film is that it is overly violent. One word to describe it would be "gruesome". There were many scenes in which inhumane acts were being carried out. This greatly shocked me, as I did not believe that humans would do such a horrible thing to another of the same species.
Examples would be when the black man being thrown off onto the road from a car moving at an extremely high speed. Another black man was hung on a rope during the fire. Even whites were not spared - those who supported the Civil Rights Movement. They were being shot by the Mississippian police force, which gave rise to a huge irony.
After all this, I feel that this film is a good one if you would like to find out more about the means of which the whites discriminated the blacks. However, it is not one I would recommend to you, if you are faint-hearted.
Best Regards,
Nathan =)
Dear Nathan,
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with your point of more examples of racism in this movie compared to 'To Kill A Mocking Bird'. I feel that you think this way because the incidents in this film was very visual and detailed, making it much more frightening and "gruesome", making it unforgetful. This is also one point which I feel that the movie has done well in. It really questions us on our moral values.
Otherwise, a very inciteful post =D
Nicholas
Dear Nicholas,
ReplyDeleteYes, the visuals are really frightening. However, I felt that the show exhibited more examples, not only because of these graphics, but also due to the many examples which were not reflected in "To Kill A Mockingbird". Examples would be elaborations of Ku Klux Klan deeds like lynching amongst all others.
Thank you for your comment (although it should be "insightful", not "inciteful"!) =D
Best Regards,
Nathan :)
Remember that the novel was published in 1960, when censorship was much tighter. The film, in contrast, was made in 1988, when people were making films with far more graphic and visceral scenes. By today's standards, the scenes are rather mild. But I'm glad you find them violent. It would be sad state of things if ever a day comes when such scenes no longer stir any feelings of repulsion in you.
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