The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till
The documentary, the Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till, whose director is Keith. Beauchamp, introduces us to a disgusting story of a young boy, Emmet, who was lynched brutally. It brings out a significant period in the U.S when racial torture was at its peak, widespread injustice, racial hatred, evils of mob lynching and social interactions in the U.S at that time. Racial discrimination and hate are the main arguments of the author since the documentary is centered on how a 14-year black boy was lynched brutally by the white people just because he whistled to a white woman jokingly.
Racial Injustices and Tensions
The documentary’s central claim as earlier mentioned is centered on racial injustices and tensions in the U.S in this 1955 film. The picture below depicts the electrified level of racism as expressed in the movie. The young boy was tortured mercilessly, disregarding his rights to a fair trial because he was black. The eyeballs were hanging on his cheeks; one ear was cut off, the face separated from the back and a bullet hole in his head. Not even a capital offense criminal can be killed this way, but because of a mere reason of whistling to a white woman, things turned sour for the young black boy. In the film, the Jury presiding over the case unanimously agreed that the perpetrators were non-guilty, a clear indication of fully fledged racist discrimination even in the justice departments. Yet still, the local Sheriff of Tallahatchie County, Harold Strider, ordered for immediate burial of the body, without offering proper investigations.
Beauchamp's Role in Appropriating Racialism
The writer, Beauchamp, plays a very crucial role in appropriating the contents of racialism in his film. Together with his audience through investigations, he manages to shed light on the connection of the 14-year boy murder. Through his newsreel footages, he exposes how the perpetrators behaved during, after and before the trial. His audience, such as Emmett's cousin, recounts how the black boy was brutally taken from the house like a capital offense criminal. He interviews a Sheriff who blatantly shows no concern about the murder of the boy because he is black. One of his audiences, who happen to be the reporter, Dan Wakefield, reports that everyone knew about the murder, but no one was willing to confess because it was a black related case. Similarly, the defense attorneys, as part of author’s audience, cautioned the Jury that if they voted to convict perpetrators of that murder, their forefathers would roll in their graves and curse them. He used the mother of the boy to tell the whole story and the way she struggled to find the body of her son which was hidden from her.
Eliciting Sympathy and Emotional Imagery
Through his tone of inflammatory and sorrow, Beauchamp makes the viewer’s sympathetic with African American families and Emmett’s families and get into more in-depth thoughts. Through the interviews, Emmett's family, friends, relatives are portrayed talking in a bad and despair mood, making the audience empathize with them. They express how during the trial they felt rejected and unwanted as African Americans. The beginning of the story was heart-wrenching experience describing how the boy was brutally tortured before the murder.
The Validity of the Film's Argument
The argument of this film is valid because the perpetrators, Bryant and Milam were not convicted. Doubts, however, arise when the nature of Emmett's case is dealt with in a very aggressive way than other cases. This is evidenced when Crawford, the deceased friend, wished for self-torture to empathize with his friend's death. Since this documentary applies to pathos, the validity of racialism is valid. It is impossible for anybody to be unwaved by the sadness and outrage depicted in the film. The emotional imagery and the tonal music used in the background scenes evoke feelings of sorrow. The perspective of African American is equally represented in this documentary. The authors have similarly maintained their credibility by hiding the identity and names of the witnesses in order to protect their security.
Gaps in Thematic Expressions
However, some gaps are left in explanation of thematic expressions in this film. It is biased on the black society and percepts white race as savage murderers whose intention is to torture Africans. The verdicts delivered at that time were based on different moral grounds compared to today. Narrowing down to the general issue of whistling to the white lady and failing to dig deep into the real events leading to the boy's lynching is an overlook to the side of the author. He did not explain what led to the whistling and the manner in which the boy joked to the lady.
Embracing Human Equality
In summary, it is clear domain that this film exposes the U.S as a racial society but in the context of the period when the film was produced. In overall, the film has provided insight on the need to embrace the aspect of human equality. At the same time, the film has exposed how the past societies were evil, and it is high time we have to reflect on such perspectives and improve our society.
