The Green Mile

The Green Mile is a movie made in 1999 about the year of 1935 in the south. The movie follows the life the prison guards who works on death row, leading up to the execution of John Coffey. John Coffey is an enormous black man who is accused of murdering two local girls. He surprises the guards with his politeness and child like fears, more specifically being afraid of the dark. As a little time goes on it is made evident that John Coffey has the power of faith healing among other things. He heals the head guard, the friendly mouse (Mr.Jingles) and even the warren's wife from brain cancer. The guards become very sympathetic towards John Coffey and soon realize the truth of his innocence.

This movie does justice to the social realities during that time period. The racial divisions were extremely evident. There was a scene where the attorney for John Coffey was comparing black people to dogs. Saying that you can never trust a dog not to bite even if they have never been violent. He was attempting to prove that you can never trust a black man, more specifically John Coffey. He may seem harmless but you can never trust him. That was the popular belief during that time period. The fact that John Coffey helps everyone and is more like an angel was a twist to popular belief. Trusting a criminal, especially a large black man, was and is unheard of. Society is accepting of the well mannered black man that stays in their place. Once they step out of the box that the popular culture has created, they are no longer respected and are discriminated against.

The Green Mile did a good job demonstrating the disturbing flaws of discrimination within our society. Unfortunately, many of the discriminations and prejudices noted within this movie are still prevalent in modern day society and culture.