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In every historical fiction film there are two goals that the filmmakers must provide to the best of their abilities: immersion in the world and accuracy.
“Till,” which stars Danielle Deadwyler, Whoopi Goldberg and Jalyn Hall who portrays Emmett Till, did a good job of both things, but still had things that held back in regards to the two goals. It did an amazing job of painting a picture of the world during the time of Till’s passing, however, in my opinion, there was one thing in particular that they left out that would’ve added a level to that immersion. The movie was accurate in a sense, but at the same time it wasn’t, since the white lady, Carolyn Bryant (Haley Bennett), who he supposedly whistled at, has since come out and said that she lied about the whole thing.
Some will say that stories like Till’s should stay off the big screen, but I’m happy that this movie was made. For one, this story being shown to us in a color motion picture instead of black and white, adds depth and a sense of realism that words and black and white photographs can’t deliver. Seeing an accurate depiction of how America operated was crucial to the impact of this movie. We might hear how bad it was back then, but seeing how bad it was is one hundred percent needed. With that being said, this movie could’ve done an even better job depicting how bad it was if they showed the beating of Emmett Till.
This guest post is in partnership with True Star Media.