{"id":724,"date":"2020-06-25T16:03:15","date_gmt":"2020-06-25T06:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/?post_type=articles&p=174616"},"modified":"2020-10-31T15:51:13","modified_gmt":"2020-10-31T15:51:13","slug":"a-time-to-kill-film-1996","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/a-time-to-kill-film-1996\/","title":{"rendered":"What We\u2019re Watching: The 1996 Film \u201cA Time To Kill\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Credit: Pinterest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like many, we have been immersing ourselves in stories that give us a window into lives that are different from our own. We have a lengthy list of literature here<\/a> \u2013 books to read to learn more about race and a black person\u2019s experience in this world. We\u2019ve brought you a couple of big stories: this one is about the Bowraville Murder<\/a>s as told by an Indigenous Australian whose nephew was killed by a white man and this one where we interview a lead attorney in charge of getting wrongfully condemned black men off death row in Alabama<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We also have recommended a few keys films like Just Mercy<\/em> with Jamie Foxx and Michael B. Jordan<\/a>, Ava DuVernay\u2019s Stella<\/em> <\/a>and If Beale Street Could Talk<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n

This week\u2019s film recommendation comes from our contributing fashion features editor, Alissa Thomas.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike most people in their thirties or forties now, A Time to Kill<\/em> by John Grisham was our To Kill A Mockingbird<\/em>. A racial reckoning via fiction. The plots were far removed from my suburban Sydney childhood but the themes of acceptance and prejudice were universal,\u201d writes Thomas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it was made into a film in 1996 the graphic emotion became even more scarring. The story is of an African American father (Samuel L. Jackson) in Mississippi who avenges the white supremacists who attacked his young daughter. When the defense lawyer (Matthew McConaughey) delivers his closing statement during the father\u2019s murder trial, he talks through all the horrific, disturbing facts of the story. She was 10. She was raped by two men. They gloated about it. The lawyer pauses and says to the jury \u201cCan you see her? I want you to picture that little girl. Now imagine she\u2019s white.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an unexpected moment of heartbreaking realization. That the jury\u2019s unconscious racial bias could be corrupting their judgement. And they knew it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a sobering thought that has stayed with me since. That racism can be quiet and slow, not just violent and loud.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt can fester and grow without you even noticing. It has the power to infiltrate thoughts and opinions throughout your life and be just as dangerous. The perfect example of why anti-racism is necessary over and above non-racism.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re in Australia, you can stream A Time To Kill<\/em> now on SBS On Demand<\/a>. If you\u2019re in the US, stream it here at Amazon.<\/a><\/p>\n