To Kill a Mockingbird; Breaking Barriers and Social Norms Through Film Directed by Robert Mulligan, To Kill a Mockingbird(1962) depicts the immense racial segregation and hatred in the small, fictional southern town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. The town drunk, Bob Ewell, accused Tom Robinson, an African American male, of raping his daughter, Mayella. Atticus Finch, a white male lawyer and father of two young children, Jem and Scout, chooses to defend Tom. The movie takes us through Tom’s trial and the town’s racial bias and hatred towards Tom and those on his side. This film depicts racial inequality by emphasizing the differences in the ways in which white people treat the black community. This apparent juxtaposition of their treatment and status, but not their actual self or character, calls for the realization that racial inequality is unjust and wrong. Atticus proves to defy this divide and becomes a white hero for the black community to promote the idea that all people are equal, despite the color of their skin. While it seems that Atticus teaches this lesson to his two children, the makers of this film clearly want to instill the same message in their audience. This motion picture was an adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel, based on mostly true stories from her experiences growing up in the South and her character Scout represents the author's point of view as a young, six year old girl.
One of the main ways that this film instills a message into the audience is through the mindful and well thought out decisions of the director, Robert Mulligan, and film writer, Horton Foote. Their choices clearly influence the audience and convey a compelling message. The release of the film corresponds with the uproar of the Civil Rights Movement. In 1960, when the novel To Kill a Mockingbird hit the book shelves, “...much of white America viewed the coming together of the races as immoral, dangerous, even ungodly” (Levy). The book received many controversial reviews, as society was not integrated at the time. However, the director’s choice to still produce a film that depicts racial tension shows a deliberate choice to defy the social norms and a commitment to spread Lee’s message. Lee also choose to tell the story from the point of view of a six-year-old girl. This filmmakers used this tactic to ensure that the film’s positive effects reach the audience. By telling the story from Scout’s point of view, the film tricks the audience into thinking that the production is just about a father teaching his daughter a lesson. However, the audience learns the same lesson. In other words, Scout learns what is right and wrong and how to treat other people along with the audience. In the film, Atticus “struggles to instill in his two children… a sense of tolerance, integrity, and justice” (Banks 240). This transfer of knowledge is evident for the audience to the audience as well because of the director’s choice to the story from Scout’s point of view and address the social issues of racial inequality. Foote and Mulligan adequately transitioned Lee’s deliberate choices to the film to garner the same effect. Another major factor that helped influence the audience was the use of different camera angles and techniques to convey different messages. One of the major aspects was the use of symbolic space. This technique can be seen in the many scenes in which Scout and Atticus interact on the porch. Atticus usually takes this time to teach Scout a valuable lesson about life, including equality, compromise, and how to understand others. These shots are often upclose, showing that Atticus is caring and compassionate towards Scout and by connecting the audience deeper with him. Further, the front porch “becomes a place where viewers witness the moral lessons, ... a space in which the film’s primary moral agents can imagine that they sympathetically understand the point of view of an [other]” (Watson 439). Mulligan used the porch to teach a moral lesson repeatedly throughout the film to show its significance. The space is utilized to teach lessons and show their importance because of their isolation from everything else. In this film, the porch functions as a place where viewers can associate with safety, compromise and other major moral lessons. Overall, the director and screenplay writer held true with many of Lee’s intentions from the book in order to fully convey an immense message in a discreet manner to influence the audience’s thoughts.
Foote and Mulligan closely and accurately portrayed the blacks and whites in this community in order to demonstrate the great and unjust inequality of the time. They utilized a sharp juxtaposition to emphasize the difference in the treatment and representation of the two different communities. The black community of Maycomb was represented in a proper and dignified way. During the trial, this depiction can be seen in two ways. First, the black community came out to watch the trial. They crammed into a small balcony in the back of the courtroom. However, everyone was clean and well dressed in suits, dresses, or collared shirts. The community looks put together and collective. In addition, for the entire trial they were quiet and respectful, no matter what occurred. Second, when giving his testimony, Tom was respectful, cooperative, and truthful. He never raised his voice or lost his temper. The portrayal of the black community in the film was dignified and proper. On the other hand, the portrayal of the white community in court, with the exception of Atticus and a few others, was very different. Dressed in overalls and a collared shirt, Bob Ewell looked dirty and frumpy, showing his lack of respect for the current situation. While testifying, Ewell slumps back in his chair, as if he does not care at all. His words and actions while testifying also show his hostility and inappropriateness. He causes a ruckus in the courtroom with his bad attitude and foul language, yet he does not seem to care. Tom, on the other hand, was obedient, civil, and well spoken. Society at that time was more respectful of Bob Ewell, despite his pathetic actions, than of Tom. This unfair treatment was simply because of the color of their skin. The portrayal of the blacks and white exposes the gaps in the racist thinking. The blacks, better mannered and causing no harm, received worse treatment than the white, no matter how disgraceful the white men of the town acted. The portrayal of the black and white community, consciously constructed by the director, was done to reveal the gaps in logic in racist thinking. While watching the film, one is motivated to feel compassion for the black community, as they did nothing wrong, yet they are still receiving unfair treatment. Scout demonstrates her understanding of this at the end of the movie when she proclaims that Tom was the mockingbird in this situation, a harmless human being punished for something he did not do. Overall, the director ensures the inequality is noted by demonstrating the differences in black and white society and the subsequent treatment of one another.
Racism was an outright part of society in the South at this time, however, when the movie came out in 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement was in full force. By no means were African Americans treated equally at this time, but, acceptance and tolerance was starting to spread. Atticus Finch was a prime example of a white person breaking social standards by supporting the rights of all human beings, no matter their race. Because many whites were not tolerant of this idea, Leed ensured that Atticus was an intelligent and trustworthy character. Robert Mulligan portrays him as a man of stature by using many different techniques. First, Atticus was well dressed. At all times throughout the film Atticus wears a suit, despite the fact that Scout, the narrator explains that Maycomb was a small, hot, and tired town, in the opening scene of the film (Netflix). Most others throughout the town did not dress like Atticus, they were much more casual. This portrayal of Atticus shows that he was part of a higher society and distinguished him from other characters such as Bob Ewell, a town drunk. This portrayal made Atticus laudable in the eyes of the viewers. Second, it was evident that Atticus was well educated because he was a lawyer. As a lawyer, Atticus stuck out among his neighbors in the small farm town. Many citizens of Maycomb were poor farmers and did not have the same economic or academic advantages of the Finch family. The viewers see this concept through Mr. Cunningham, a man who owed Atticus a great deal of money, but could only pay him with food from his farm. Atticus accepts this payment and explains to Scout that Mr. Cunningham is poor. Atticus was better educated than most in Maycomb at the time. This depiction is also supported by the fact that Atticus wears glasses, a sign of intelligence in the literary world. The auteur made sure it was clear that Atticus was well known and well liked. There were several points in the movie where Atticus stopped to talk to neighbors in a friendly and engaging tone. The only people that were ever hateful towards Atticus were Bob Ewell and the gang, the uneducated and outwardly racist men of the town, that came to the town jail. Atticus was well liked and well respected in the town, therefore calling for his respect and admiration from the audience of the film. In the end, Atticus was a trustworthy and admirable character to all viewers because of his outright courage and positive portrayal in the film. The auteur used Atticus Finch to usher in the idea of acceptance and equality for all. He broke “... the rules of his racially segregated society” by demonstrating courage in the face of mass and widespread prejudice (Banks 239). Instead of just being a white hero for the white community, he stands up for the African American community as their hero and spokesperson. Atticus was an effective character to instill this idea of tolerance to his town and the movie audience because he was well respected, and therefore credible, among the small community of Maycomb, Alabama. Overall, To Kill a Mockingbird was a revolutionary film of its time. It successfully utilized different methods to unearth a new way of thinking about race in order to put an end to racial segregation in society. Lee, Mulligan, and Foote were effective in conveying this message by using deliberative techniques and mindful choices to portray the inequalities of the time. They promote understanding through blatant honesty and with the guidance of an accepting and intelligent character, Atticus Finch.