The film A Time to Kill, directed by Joel Schumacher and released in 1996, represents the overall perspective that most white people in society believe they are superior to African-American people and as a result, African-American people have to fight against racial prejudice for equality and justice. This film follows the journey of an African-American man, Carl Lee Hailey, living in Mississippi in the 1980s, who is on trial for murdering the two white men who raped his daughter. The perspective is constructed through the careful choice of music utilised in particular scenes which assists in representing the African-American people’s fight for justice and change. The characterisation of Billy Ray Cobb and Carl Lee Hailey constructs this perspective
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The song used in this scene, ‘Take My Hand, Precious Lord’, originally by Elvis Presley holds large significance as it was the favourite hymn of Martin Luther King Jr and was also sung at his funeral. Martin Luther King Jr was a prominent leader in the African-American civil rights movement in the 1960s, in which he was fighting for racial equality, much like the African-American people of the film. In his speech ‘I Have a Dream’, Martin Luther King Jr stated; “I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice”. The music used in this scene, therefore, offers a connection between the racism which was present in the 1960s, along with the beliefs and values of Martin Luther King Jr to the racial injustice that was still occurring in Mississippi as seen in the events of the film and Carl Lee Hailey’s push for equality. This connection shows that through murdering Cobb and Willard, Carl Lee Hailey was fighting for the same thing as Martin Luther King Jr, justice for African-American people in Mississippi, but in a different way, by taking justice in to his own hands. Therefore, the perspective of …show more content…
Through the reference to Martin Luther King Jr and his attitudes about racial equality, the music used in particular scenes displays the fight for justice and fairness for African-American people in Mississippi. Due to the characterisation and dialogue utilised in the film, representations of particular groups in the society are expressed in certain characters. These representations, along with the historical references in the film, construct the perspective that most white people in society believe they are superior to African-American people and due to this belief, African-American people are fighting against racial prejudice for justice and
The song used in this scene, ‘Take My Hand, Precious Lord’, originally by Elvis Presley holds large significance as it was the favourite hymn of Martin Luther King Jr and was also sung at his funeral. Martin Luther King Jr was a prominent leader in the African-American civil rights movement in the 1960s, in which he was fighting for racial equality, much like the African-American people of the film. In his speech ‘I Have a Dream’, Martin Luther King Jr stated; “I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice”. The music used in this scene, therefore, offers a connection between the racism which was present in the 1960s, along with the beliefs and values of Martin Luther King Jr to the racial injustice that was still occurring in Mississippi as seen in the events of the film and Carl Lee Hailey’s push for equality. This connection shows that through murdering Cobb and Willard, Carl Lee Hailey was fighting for the same thing as Martin Luther King Jr, justice for African-American people in Mississippi, but in a different way, by taking justice in to his own hands. Therefore, the perspective of …show more content…
Through the reference to Martin Luther King Jr and his attitudes about racial equality, the music used in particular scenes displays the fight for justice and fairness for African-American people in Mississippi. Due to the characterisation and dialogue utilised in the film, representations of particular groups in the society are expressed in certain characters. These representations, along with the historical references in the film, construct the perspective that most white people in society believe they are superior to African-American people and due to this belief, African-American people are fighting against racial prejudice for justice and