The Spoiler Alert: To Kill a Mockingbird
A brief reflection as we arrive at Month 5 of Reel Late Reviews: Whether it’s the first time I am watching a movie or one I’ve seen a hundred times before — like earlier this month a la The Matrix — writing these reviews can sometimes be a little overwhelming.
In case you are new to the program, the purpose of each Spoiler Alert is as follows:
- to spoil: provide enough of the plot to deliver a devastatingly good ‘spoil’, while also avoiding a sort of regurgitated wikipedia or other movie summary/blog
- to entertain: highlight random or forgotten facts, actors, or quirks of a movie
- to give fresh perspective: draw new connections and associations that may not have been possible in the film’s heyday, and share anything that makes me giggle
Since we select our films from a list of the 100 biggest/best movies ever made, with that comes a surplus of critiques, summaries, and fan blogs out there. I sometimes I wonder if I’m covering enough. But I digress…
To Kill a Mockingbird is one of those movies that I have just been avoiding, due to performance anxiety. First and foremost, I have not read the book (I know, I know). Somehow it slipped through the cracks!! I started reading it earlier this month but have not finished, and when it came time to pick my movie, there it was, all up in my Netflix, mocking me. So screw it, I’m watching the movie before the book, and you can’t stop me.
Don’t you dare try to stop me, Smee.
The movie won 3 oscars and has been quoted, Sparknoted, and dissected by 8th graders everywhere. Let’s join the party.
The Essentials: 1962 | Category: Crime, Drama| Director: Robert Mulligan | Writers: Based on Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Screenplay by Horton Foote
So, we’re in Alabama in the 1930’s and everyone is racist. A young woman comes onto a black man of the neighborhood. Sadly, what could have been a very ballsy and liberating experiment for a young woman of her time turns into a shit show. Her father catches her right as she’s in the middle of her attempted intrigue, and she’s embarrassed for what she’s done and how it would be perceived in the community.
Her father proceeds to physically abuse her, which is kind of his hobby — but this time she had it coming. Instead of calling it a day, they decide to accuse the black man of rape knowing the entire town will believe them.
Enter Atticus Finch.
Atticus Finch
played by Gregory Peck.
The man has a lot going for him. He has a great name, he’s eloquent and noble, he’s a kind and firm single father who provides for his children. And oh, he’s also a badass lawyer who has dedicated his life to being a champion of the underprivileged. NBD. I’m crushin.
Atticus gently guides a morality more fluid, more broad, and more mature than those around him are accustomed to — and one they’re clearly not ready for. From his monologues in court to the conversations with his children, through Atticus, the readers and the audience find their compass.
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view […] until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
Boo Radley
played by Robert Duvall.
I am not one for horror movies and since this isn’t one, I was left unwittingly terrified when we arrived at this scene. So creepy.
Boo’s troubled childhood is the talk of the town, as gossip that’s shared from mother to child. Ah yes, the age-old story of Stranger Danger. Throughout most of the movie, we don’t know what Boo looks like and as an audience, we fear him (at least until he starts dropping off creepy little gifts in trees for Jem and Scout — I guess this is endearing?).
After the accident, the mysterious Boo finally reveals himself behind little Jem’s door, watching over him silently as one expects their neighborhood recluse to do…or not.
Out of all the opportunities to pop out from behind a door and shout “Boo!” — and also have it be literally, factually correct — you’d think this guy would have seized his opportunity.
I didn’t even realize until I started pulling photos, that Boo is played by the young Robert Duvall. It’s kind of crazy, isn’t it? I love Robert Duvall. He also stars in Lonesome Dove, which I highly recommend.
Kids or whatever
I thought that the movie overall was kind of slow-moving. Maybe it was because the children played such large roles but there was just a lot of creeping around and scary music. I admit I was a little disengaged. So, out of spite, I refuse to highlight Jem or Scout.
What I will say is this: the children observe their father in court, and come to understand how the world they live in operates. But where they have lost their innocence, they are able to reclaim it in the compassion solicited for Boo, the metaphorical mockingbird.
Conclusion
I Imagine the Book is Probably, Definitely Really Good
Harper Lee won a Pulitzer Prize for To Kill a Mockingbird. Part of what had me thinking about reading this was that she really didn’t write and publish anything else after it. Prior to To Kill a Mockingbird, she had written Go Set a Watchman which was released in 2015 as a sequel. But she stayed away from the spotlight, declining many invitations to speak at various events and generally set apart from the impact her work had made.
These days, there is popular discourse around success and how it often fails to be all we hope and expect it to be. Perhaps, pressure of expectations, whether real or self-imposed, kills our creativity altogether. Lee was once asked why she didn’t write anything else and said,
“Two reasons: one, I wouldn’t go through the pressure and publicity I went through with To Kill a Mockingbird for any amount of money. Second, I have said what I wanted to say, and I will not say it again”.
Nelle Harper Lee passed away this year at the age of 89. It would have been wonderful to see more of her work.
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corn cribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
-Rebecca
