Dear Parish Faithful,
Earlier this week, Presvytera Deborah and I saw a deeply affecting film that explored themes as important as justice and mercy within the wider context of racism and the systemic injustice and deplorable inhumanity that racism can generate.
The film we saw is called Just Mercy. This was a cinematic dramatization of a notorious murder case that takes us back to the world of the 1980's- 1990's in the state of Alabama. The setting is actually in the small town where Harper Lee lived, and where she set her American classic, To Kill a Mockingbird.
In the film, an African-American man by the name of Walter McMillan (played by Jamie Foxx) is arrested and convicted of brutally murdering a young white woman, though there was no real evidence to convict him other than an unreliable witness who was pressured to testify against him. Mr. McMillan was sentenced to death for this crime and spent about eight years on death row. His case was eventually taken up by an idealistic Harvard-trained lawyer, an African American by the name of Bryan Stevenson (played by Michael Jordan).
Stevenson has devoted his life to defending convicted criminals on death row who either did not receive a fair trial, or did not have competent legal representation. A credit at the end of the film informed us that he has helped spare the lives of 85 men wrongfully convicted of murder and eventually spared the death sentence through his legal intervention. That is an accomplishment of heroic dimensions.
Just Mercy was based on Stevenson's memoirs of the case that he published in the past. From what I have been able to read about the case, the film appears to be a reliable presentation of the case as it unfolded over time, though again in an engaging dramatized form. The case gained some real notoriety when it was the subject of investigation on the popular 60 Minutes series. Both presvytera and I would highly recommend it.
In a film market flooded with either excessive action, sex, or just plain inanity, this is a good example of a film with genuine moral content that will make your "blood boil" over such crass injustice; and will also make you think out the implications of such themes as justice and mercy captured by the film's title. Such a film can have a good impact on our "young adults" and both broaden and deepen their own emerging moral sensitivity. Whenever justice and mercy are the subject of a work of art, one can justifiably reflect upon it theologically. There are deep Christian themes embedded within this film that are easily discernible and worthy of reflection and discussion. Issues of sin and redemption, the workings of the conscience, guilt and forgiveness, are some of the more obvious ones that come readily to mind and which receive thoughtful consideration throughout the film.
What is sobering about Walter McMillan's case is that it occurs about a quarter of a century after the passage of Civil Rights legislation in the 60's. Racism - either systemic or personal - can be so ingrained within any society that it becomes "natural" and something of a "way of life." Legislation will combat racism but cannot eradicate it. Ultimately, it is about a change of mind and heart. Then again, any attempt to combat it is met with mistrust, or simply contempt and hostility. In the racially polarized society that continued to exist in rural Alabama at the time of the film - again the 1980's - 1990's - we see how this led to the arrest and conviction of Walter McMillan. In the film this is all the more egregious as it is painfully clear that Walter McMillan was not even remotely involved in this tragic murder case.
What is equally troubling was the fierce opposition that any attempt to reopen this case was met with. And this opposition was organized from the top down, so to speak: law enforcement, the legal community, the judiciary, etc. This was further intensified by the not-so-hidden threat of violence that persons involved with seeking justice in this case were threatened with, beginning with Bryan Stevenson himself.
At the same time, there were other decent (white) people who had moved far beyond such ingrained racism, and who also worked with the black community to seek justice in this case. At one point, a disheartening legal judgment, after a well-crafted appeal, had placed Mr.McMillan back on death row. But this decision was overturned by the higher State Court of Alabama, so that here you sensed the gains of the Civil Rights movement that served the cause of equal justice. And, of course, Walter McMillan is eventually given his freedom without even needing a new trial. This is not meant to be a "spoiler" because this was a very high-profile case that received national attention and one that can be studied from a variety of sources. Even though one may know the outcome of the case ahead of time, the tension and uncertainty that the film maintains, is dramatically very convincing.
The film itself is well done. One of the challenges of a film that is portraying actual people, many of whom are still alive, is that of being one more "bio-pic." At least for me, bio-pics often just don't succeed in being that attractive. These can be either overly-dramatized or overly-sentimentalized. I believe that the director of Just Mercy, Destin Daniel Cretton, maintains a good balance between both of those tendencies.
With the story line being what it is, the film is intense and it is heartfelt, but never really overblown or maudlin. Of course, we have fine and nuanced dramatic performances by both Michael Jordan and Jamie Foxx, as well as the cast of other supporting actors. And they are both given some scenes filled with drama and good dialogue. There was a wonderful scene in which Jamie Foxx, playing Walter McMillan, says - after years of being considered and called a murderer, and after he finally was defended in a convincing manner - that "I have got my truth back." And Michael Jordan, playing Bryan Stevenson, is given some fine speeches that attain a level of genuine rhetorical flourish. Hard to say just how true-to-life all of that may be. (Though I recently heard an interview with the "real" Bryan Stevenson and he is very articulate).
One hopes that the essence of each of the persons they were portraying is not distorted in the process of bringing them to the screen. Yet, how fitting that Walter McMillan, a victim of racism and acute prejudice, accused of a murder he did not commit, and suffering through years of this together with his family, is the subject of a film that captures his dignified suffering in an honorable fashion. (Sadly, he died in 2013 of acute dementia thought to have been the result of the trauma of spending years on death row).
Finally, the film appeals to our own sense of right and wrong and of justice properly served. As I said earlier, it makes your "blood boil" while remaining simultaneously satisfying on the moral plane when people of goodwill and deep conviction work toward the service of "justice, mercy and unmerited grace." That meaningful expression belongs to Bryan Stevenson, spoken before a United States senate investigative committee. A sense of "unmerited grace" is a fine way to conclude a film concerning justice and mercy.
Again, I would accord Just Mercy a hearty endorsement/recommendation - as would Presvytera Deborah.
As something of an addendum to my review, I would like to briefly explore the very open allusions to Harper Lee's classic To Kill a Mockingbird that are found throughout the film.
The setting of the film is in the small Alabama town in which she lived for many years. What was the significance of that great novel in relation to the content of the film? Presvytera Deborah and I had a "lively discussion" over its possible meaning. One of us thought that perhaps the director is telling us that now a black man is a lawyer standing where Atticus Finch once stood, and successfully defending another black man; whereas Tom Robinson in the novel, endured no such redemption and was even tragically killed in the end. Were we being told that as a society, we have "progressed" to this point, where justice can be so served? Or, as one of us thought, is the background presence of To Kill a Mockingbird a painful reminder that racism within the judicial system continues to linger on a full half century - including the era of the Civil Rights Movement - later? A rather troubling question.
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