Till directed by Chinonye Chukwu is about being strong. The movie is not about being physically powerful or destroying every obstacle in the path. Instead, the type of strong present in Till is sturdy and unmoving. The main character in Till is not Emmett Till, who the story is based on, but his mother Mamie Till-Mobley and her actions regarding her son’s death.
The movie begins with subtle and gentle interactions between Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley: a trip to the department store and a night watching television. Emmett is excited to go to Mississippi to visit family by himself and escape Chicago for a time. Yet, in such peaceful moments, Mamie is isolated with a face filled with worry, expressing a mother’s concern for her child but also foreshadowing Emmett’s fate. This silence is a recurring moment, and is most heavily conveyed when Mamie learns of her son’s death. Mamie’s journey starts from there.
Emmett’s death only makes Mamie stronger in herself and for her journey of justice for her son. She asks the body of her son to be brought to Chicago and lets the nation see her brutally lynched son’s body. Mamie speaks out bravely in front of crowds and a court that does not want to listen. She faces pressure and obstacles as a woman of color, many instances where she is not treated with respect (strangers calling her by her first name) and not taken seriously. She constantly tells the story of who her son was. In the end, the verdict of Emmett’s murderers is not guilty and they go free to live their lives but the audience also sees Mamie’s constant efforts for Black people.
One thing I loved about the movie was Mamie’s sturdy and unwavering self. In most of the movie, her posture stands straight and her face is one placid with determination, even under mass amounts of emotion and sadness. When she sees Emmett’s body after it is brought back from Mississippi, she cries silent tears about the destruction done to her son. However, Mamie is also determined
for the world to know the brutality committed to her child and brings a reporter to take photos of her son’s body. In the end of the movie, Mamie gives a speech about her son and for the fight of civil rights, which arouses the crowd in an applause.
Additionally, I found the constant motif of mirrors interesting. The audience constantly sees Mamie’s reflection from a mirror, angled in different points. In one way, the view from the mirror is a perspective of Mamie’s changing self, from nervous and anxious to headstrong and many points in between. Another way to see the mirrors is the distance from Mamie and how people see her in certain points of her life. The mirror may be more of an external view of how we see Mamie, even though Mamie is standing right in front of us. Although it is sometimes unclear how the director Chukwu portrays the mirrors, it is certain that they convey the reflection of identity.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie and gained insight on the perspectives of what occurred in the Emmett Till tragedy. I had learned about it at school, but the movie gave a more detailed and clearer view of events that unfolded. Although Till is not a movie that excites and has a lot of action, it is meaningful and heartwarming for many audiences.
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