Why is tkam in black and white

Everybody should watch this film. Click below to watch the trailer: If you cannot see the trailer for To Kill A Mockingbird below, your browser may need adjusting. Some people believe we should go back to the days when it was okay to keep children in cages. Scout and her older brother Jem pass the time one hot summer playing games and getting up to mischief. One of their favourite games is teasing each other about the boogeyman who lives in their street — a recluse called Boo Radley who is rumoured to have committed a violent crime many years earlier.

Scout and Jem are both afraid of him, but they dare each other to go up to the house. One time Jem does indeed come into contact with Boo, but Boo ignores him.

Shortly afterwards though, the children start finding presents left for them in an old tree, presumably by Boo. Atticus has agreed to defend Tom, a black man accused of raping a young white woman. The day before the trial, Atticus announces to his children that he will be spending the night at the courthouse. The children decide to follow him there. They find Atticus sat outside the building as a lynch-mob turns up, determined to kill Tom. Atticus tries to reason with the mob, and says he will not allow them to pass.

Just as it seems things are about to turn violent, Scout runs up to be beside her father. The next day what seems like the whole of the town turn up for the trial, and the children also sneak in. When Atticus cross-examines her though, it becomes obvious that she is lying.

When Tom gives his version of events, the truth comes out — Mayella attempted to seduce Tom, but was interrupted by Bob, her father. Furious, Bob beat Mayella and concocted the rape story. Atticus assures Tom they will appeal, but later that day Tom is shot and killed while attempting to escape. Several weeks later, Scout and Jem are on their way home from a school pageant, when they are attacked.

Although the film version of To Kill a Mockingbird includes every major event from the novel, the screenplay takes place over two years, not three, and many events are left out. For example, the children have virtually no contact with Mrs. Dubose, and the film never shows the inside of a classroom, so viewers don't experience any of the episodes with Miss Caroline, Miss Gates, and some of the other minor characters that create Maycomb's texture and layers.

Lee's novel is a coming-of-age story influenced by a major event in the community and within one family. Scout not only tries to understand and process the trial, but she's also wrestling with the expectations those around her have of little girls.

The film, on the other hand, is a courtroom drama that happens to include something about the lead attorney's home life. In its film version, To Kill a Mockingbird only touches on the issues of femininity. The movie never gets into Maycomb's caste system, so viewers don't necessarily know that the Ewells are considered to be "trash. The implied incest between Bob and Mayella Ewell is never discussed during the course of the trial.

Unlike today's films, movies in weren't allowed to cover such controversial subject matter. Instead, films had to find ways to work around taboo subjects. In this case, the film works around the incest issue by showing Bob Ewell's unscrupulous behavior in other ways. For instance, he begins stalking Jem and Scout before Tom's trial begins, and viewers can see from Mayella's facial expressions in the courtroom that she's frightened of her father.

The courtroom scenes are condensed in the film. Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch delivers a shortened version of Atticus' closing arguments to the jury. The lines he does say are verbatim, but several points from the speech aren't included.

Neither does the film explore the aftermath of the trial or portray the conversations Atticus has with his children in trying to help them understand the situation. The film addresses the plight of African Americans only through the trial.

Calpurnia is treated respectfully by everyone, the children never attend Calpurnia's church, and on the day of the trial, blacks and whites enter the courtroom together although the blacks, and Scout, Jem, and Dill, sit separately in a balcony, just as they do in the book. Would your opinions of the film change? Do you think the message would have been as clear? You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account.

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