Movie Recommendation

This last week I went to the library and checked out To Kill a Mockingbird. The stars are Gregory Peck and bunch of other people whose names mean just about nothing, and perhap less than nothing, to us today. However, I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed the film; in fact, I liked it so much that I went back and checked out the book of the same name by Harper Lee.

Plot Summary: Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) is a small-town lawyer in the South around the time of the Depression. He has two children, who for some reason call him Atticus instead of Dad, or Daddy, or Father; their names are Jem and Scout (Note: Scout is a girl). Scout also functions as the narrator for the story.

The plot revolves around a trial in which a black man, whose name is Tom Robinson, is accused of raping a white woman, and Atticus volunteers to defend the accused man. Atticus does his best to protect Tom, despite the onslaught of lies, abuse, and typical anti-Black prejudice. Jem and Scout, as well as their friend Dill Harris, have their share of adventures in the meantime, many of which involve a local lunatic, whom everyone calls Boo Radley. After presenting scenes including a mad dog, a lynch mob, and the father of the girl who claimed to have been raped, the story comes to a climax when..."well, that's my secret" (from Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac). I know I say that a lot, but I don't want to give away the ending. That would ruin the surprise and defeat the purpose of recommending that you watch this film. All I will say is this: There are many people who have bumper stickers asking the question, What would Jesus do? There are a few others who have bumper stickers which ask, What would Chuck Norris do? (By the way, did you know that when Chuck Norris does push-ups, he isn't really pushing himself up? He's actually just pushing the world down). But I wonder why people haven't gotten around to making a "What Would Atticus Finch Do?" bumper sticker. Personally, I think that leadership by quiet example would improve the world we live in much more quickly than any of Chuck's roundhouse kicks to the jaw of society.

In conclusion, To Kill a Mockingbird has the ability to make you realize that, even though things haven't always worked themselves out in the past, we can still control much of what happens in the present. Perhaps we have shot our share of mockingbirds, that is to say we have a multitude of sins to cover (see 1 Peter 4:8), but we are not obliged to continue adding to the pile. One bird is killed through hate, while another is saved through love, and thus we find redemption.