[Tiffany H.]

Did it grate on my ears to hear John Coffey talking in that ‘Yes massa’ dialect? Definitely. But was it historically accurate? I think so. As for the film being racist to white people by portraying them as the bad guys: I don’t think so. Sorry to say, but at that time many white people were the bad guys. This film reminded me of the true story of a family cousin who was lynched in Louisiana for the rape and murder of a local white girl with whom he had been friends. It wasn’t until he had been hung on a bridge directly in front of a church that the truth came out: She had been murdered by her white stepfather. The whole white town came out for the spectacle. The sherrif was quoted in the newspapers as saying he just couldn’t keep the mob from coming in the jail to collect him (my cousin). This didn’t occur in centuries past, but during the same time period as The Green Mile’s setting.

Depicting historical realities doesn’t mean you are capitulating to stereotypes. Just because we don’t like what happened in the past doesn’t mean we should deny its existence. Besides, Tom Hanks, the other hero of this story, is hardly the image of the ‘evil white man.’

User Detail :  

Name : Tiffany H., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Disability : Hearing-impaired, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Catholic, Age : 25, City : East Lansing, State : MI, Country : United States, Occupation : Medical Student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

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