But, then, it should. Emmett Till's murder was the straw that broke the camel's back (along with the bombing deaths of four children at the 16th Street Baptist Church) in order to get the Civil Rights Act of 1964. When children are the victims of the unthinking and the prejudiced, something's got to give or no communal effort can be considered a society. But, then hate is always the irritant to any formation of a community. How can such a group improve, do better, become "more perfect" when there are elements insisting on doing the opposite. "A house divided cannot stand."
But, Mamie Till doesn't want to hear all that. Her son is dead, and the insanity that caused that act reached up into the government of Mississippi to minimize any "fuss" about it. And it became a time for a single mother to become an activist, a problem that wouldn't go away, and a beacon of decency in contrast to her victimizers...who had none.
It's quite the journey, and it starts on this porch and one goal—get her son's body back so it can't be buried and forgotten in Mississippi (which was official's intent), but bring it home. She would not cooperate with evil. And when she saw the mutilation of her son at the hand of white bigots, she vowed to put their hate on display, giving her son an open casket funeral, for all the world to see what they had done.
How could she do such a thing? Because it had to be done. It had to be shown. It had to be exposed for what it is. Pure evil in the midst of what was considered a society.
And if it's exposed...it can be dealt with.
It's a superb movie about a horrible event. And teaches a lesson that should never be forgot.
The Set-Up: Emmett Till, all of 14 years old, is dead. Kidnapped, beaten, murdered and his body dumped in the Tallahatchie River, his mother, Mamie Till-Bradley (Danielle Deadwyler) is in shock. She had sent him to Money, Mississippi to spend time with family, but warned him to "be small" and not attract attention among the residents. Now, Mamie, still in shock from the news of her only son's death, is being called on by her cousin Rayfield Mooty (Kevin Carroll), an activist with NAACP, over negotiations to return Emmett's body to Chicago for burial. Mississippi won't do it...for their reasons. Mooty is here to deliver that news...and encourage Mamie to speak out about her son's murder. But, Mamie has one thing on her mind. Getting her boy back.
Action.
Mamie finally acknowledges the world around her and looks up
at Gene standing with Rayfield.
Rayfield has something on his mind...
Mamie listens, but the information is overwhelming.
Words by Michael Reilly, Keith Beauchamp, and Chinonye Chukwu
Pictures by Bobby Bukowski and Chinonye Chukwu
Till is available on DVD and Blu-Ray from Universal Home Entertainment.
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