To Kill a Mockingbird (1965) is a character-driven story about moral courage. Atticus Finch is an attorney in Makem, Alabama in the 1930s, called up to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman. Because he has integrity he has to truly defend the man, which goes against what most of the people in the town believe is right. The story takes places when "Jim Crow" law was in force down South. Jim Crow laws were designed to keep black people "in their place" and reflected malicious racism during that era. As Atticus puts it in court, all black men were believed to be liars and all black men were believed to be a danger (sexually) to white women. It was a forgone conclusion that innocent Tom Robinson, a decent family man, would be found guilty because a white woman and her father had accused him. That was the way Jim Crow law worked-black men were always found guilty and were often lynched by white men who took the law into their own hands-thus, the narrative is realism.
             "Scout" Finch, a 6 or 7-year-old girl tells the story. All the events of the trial and the actions of the people in the town are seen through her eyes and those of her brother Jem (about 10) and their friend Dill. The children don't always understand what is happening in the story, but viewers of the film do understand, which builds a sense of literary irony into the story. The story is believable because told through the fresh and honest eyes of the children. It is a story that is significant and important because historically accurate. Innocent black men got the death penalty or were lynched frequently during the 1930s down South.
             The film also shows how people lived during the 1930s and what life was like. Filming the story in black and white adds to the depression-era feeling. The way children were raised in those days comes out in contrast to the way they grow up now. For example, children played outdoor...