To Kill A Mockingbird is a Harper Lee classic which discusses many of society’s sensitive topics such as

racial prejudice, inequality, injustice and mental health issues prevailing and rampant most especially
during the Jim Crow era. The conditions were made worse by the Great Depression which severely
affected many southern states in America. The prevailing segregation back then in America, divided the
black and white Americans which hampered the administration of justice, as mostly blacks are at the
receiving end of injustice, and the jury were composed of whites almost always willing to send every
black man to the gallows or jail even on negligible evidence. The efforts of lawyers embodied by Atticus
Finch are laid to waste by the ineffective jury system. Their brilliance and idealism is struck down by
people whose conviction mostly relied on hate and prejudice is so robust, not even a strong and solid
evidence against it cannot overturn. The case of Tom Robinson is a great argument against death
penalty. The movie is when it comes to legal representation is far from reality for today’s poor and
marginalized people has barely an opportunity to afford the kind of service a lawyer like Atticus Finch
can offer. The status quo is still reflects the reality in the movie, wherein the poor are usually the subject
of wrong convictions and they are deprived of life, liberty and property without access to quality legal
service. In the Philippines even in the absence of the capital punishment, it is the downtrodden who are
the usual victims of extrajudicial killings, similar to the mob mentality and lynchings inflicted upon
African-Americans during the Jim Crow era America. The voiceless and the poor are the ones hit hardest
when the judiciary is ineffective in dispensing justice, they bare the weight of harsh laws and punitive
actions and are defenceless against those who commit injustice against them. The movie showed to us
that in order to dispense justice effectively, those tasked to effectuate it must be free from prejudice,
bias and must be like a blank slate whose judgment will be formulated only on the basis of the merits of
the case. Lastly, the movie offers as an early insight on discussion on mental health by presenting the
character of Boo Radley who is a mentally challenged or insane man who becomes the hero that saved
the lives of Jem and Scout, this is relevant on the passage of Mental Health Bill in the Philippines, which
recognizes mental illness as a serious condition deserving our full attention and understanding,
moreover it stresses that we as a society should extend compassion to our PWD citizens for they are
part and parcel of our state towards progress.

The movie is an eye opener to society and is great at disturbing who are privileged and the comfortable.
Although social conditions today have improved, still the reality America is still facing is that it has the
highest rate of incarceration per capita in the world and their prison system is still filled with Blacks.
Racism is still rampant and anti-immigrant attitude is on the rise. Things might have improved but still
has a long way to go to eliminate hate in our society and there is still a lot of room for improvement and
overhaul.

Overall, this film is just as much of a timeless classic as the novel and should inspire family discussion of
not only racism and injustice but also how values such as empathy and compassion can overcome
entrenched bigotry and profound ignorance. If our society today is much more free and compassionate,
surely it owes a lot of gratitude writers like Harper Lee, who opened our minds and stoked our hearts for
the improvement of our society.