The motion picture “Till,” released last month, coincided with the unveiling in Greenwood of the Emmett Till Memorial Statue, which struck me as excellent timing. The film tells the story of the 14-year-old Chicago boy’s murder in 1955, just up the road in Money; the statue serves as a lasting tribute not only to his memory but the civil rights movement galvanized by his death.
I helped cover the statue unveiling for the newspaper and went to see the film last week (in probably one of the few theaters still showing it). I was deeply moved by both experiences.
If you haven’t seen it, and, judging by the box office results, you probably haven’t, “Till” is a powerful retelling of Emmett’s kidnapping and murder and the actions undertaken by his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, to obtain justice. Emmett is played by Jalyn Hall, and Mamie is played by Danielle Deadwyler, neither of whom I have seen elsewhere. Deadwyler in particular is Oscar-worthy, giving a genuinely inspiring performance.
I appreciated the movie concentrating on the fact that Mamie was a mom who lost her son to a senseless act of racial hatred. It opens by showing how close Emmett was to Mamie, the bond they shared, yet there is the suggestion that Mamie senses something is about to happen. Indeed. Emmett is planning to visit his cousins in Mississippi, and as a boy growing up in Chicago, he has no idea how dangerous a trip that might be for a Black male in Jim Crow Mississippi.
Emmett shrugs off his mother’s warnings about “how to act around white folk” with the usual “Aw, Mom!” denials. Sadly, he does not comprehend the danger he’s in when he tells Caroline Bryant that she “looks like a movie star” and shows her the picture of a white girl that came with his wallet. He then makes a bigger mistake by wolf-whistling at Bryant. This prompts her to grab her gun.
The film portrays these details but the violence done to Emmett at the hands of J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant (who later confessed in Look magazine for $4,000) is portrayed off-camera. We do, however, see Mamie’s reaction to the sight of his bloated, partially-decomposed body, which the film does show in detail.
This is a very well-made film that gets most of the historical details right (there might be some dramatic license taken) and has a point of view. What I mean is, there are no sympathetic white people in the movie. When it shifts to the courtroom trial of Bryant and Milam, we see a sea of white shirts, signifying that Mamie never stood a chance. The only law enforcement officer, Tallahatchie County Sheriff Clarence Strider, is deeply bigoted toward Blacks, which I understand is also accurate. In a film about Emmett Till, made mostly by African Americans, I can understand why this would be the case. After all, how many sympathetic African American characters are in “Dirty Harry”? Or “The Godfather”?
What I don’t understand is why the film has thus far failed to attract a wider audience. I think Marvel movies are OK, but here is one that is actually about something that has relevance and a deep connection to history. Have ticket buyers written off this kind of movie? Are we so starved for entertainment that only superheroes make any money, while films about topics that matter go ignored?
“Till” was not released specifically to coincide with the statue unveiling here in Greenwood — how could it have been? In my mind, however, the statue reinforces the movie, and vice versa. I’ll never forget standing in that crowd as the statue was revealed, the rush of excitement, the upraised cellphones taking photos or recording videos, the cries of joy, the crush of bodies trying to get close enough to the statue to touch. It felt like a historic moment, and given what that statue represents, it surely was.
For me, coming from Arkansas, the story of Emmett Till was not as locally (or even culturally) relevant. That’s changed.
I hope “Till” will pick up a few Oscar nominations and find a bigger audience at home. I think it will.
- Contact Dan Marsh at 662-581-7235 or dmarsh@gwcommonwealth.com.
