Displayed in America's Entertainment.
             In a country where intolerance for other people's differences evolves into violence all too often there was a ray of hope in a movie. This country has not made much tangible progress in race relations in a very long time, or so it seems anyway. However, by viewing two movies that were filmed over forty years apart I see that there has been some progress as miniscule as it may be. The two movies were To Kill a Mocking Bird, and A Time to Kill. I feel that movies reflect society and these two movies showed very different societies.
             To Kill a Mocking Bird was based on the classic novel by the same name. This novel and movie was based around a black man's trial for rape. The man was clearly innocent and incapable of committing the crime for which he was accused. However, the jury still found the man guilty regardless of the fact that there was no actual evidence that the man committed the crime. The all white jury believed the testimony of two white community members over the facts and the testimony of a black man. This certainly showed a cultural bias towards the black population. The people believed that all black men were liars and their white women should not have been left with them. This cultural bias was shown in the town's people showed in their individual actions. For instance a man came to the defendant's attorney and implied that he should not have put up much of a defense for the defendant, when the defendant's attorney did not agree he was asked what kind of a man he was and reminded !
             that he had children of his own. Obviously the people held little compassion for the black man and their prejudice was institutionalized when a verdict of guilty as charged was read. The defendant was assured that there would be an appeal but he was shot and killed by a police officer while being transported to the prison. Very few white members of the pop...