The central elements of the film ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ that continue to be the significant elements of discussion and activism for US society today comprise racial injustices and violation of human rights. The film portrays various instances of racial crimes where the whites highly discriminated the black people. More so, the whites used to regard themselves as more superior than the black African Americans.
The movie presents cases where the characters; Scout, Jem (her brother) and Atticus, her father experienced racial injustices. For instance, Atticus was the lawyer of the town and stood for what he believed was right. Thus, he defended Tom, a black man who was accused of raping a white girl. It implies that Atticus was trying to advocate for justice for the blacks. Also, one of the lawyers declared that Tom was guilty after admitting that he only sympathized with the white girl but did not rape her. The lawyer explained further that a black person could not sympathize with a white due to superiority differences. Another instance was when Scout and Jem got attacked on their way from school, and the attacked got killed. Atticus argued that Jem was the one who killed the attacker in self-defense but Sherriff insisted that it was Boo who ended the life of the attacker to defend the kids. Since Boo, a white man helped the kids; it means that the whites had begun to protect the rights of the blacks.
Concerning the film ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ the US society has changed in many ways. For instance, the country has enacted laws that discourage racial discrimination and injustices. Therefore, the whites can now see black Americans as essential people in the society. The video has also sensitized the US society against death sentences. The Americans used to charge rape cases with capital punishment, but in the video, governor, Miller changed the death penalty to life imprisonment.
