Best Day Ever? Part Deux

Dec 13, 2007 7:09 am by Cokekitty

I got a bit of extra time. Let's see how much of this letter I can type up:

Dear [name withheld]:

While I applaud your efforts to educate yours students as to the importance of an American classic such as To Kill a Mockingbird, I'm appalled that you consider "A Time to Kill" an appropriate film to show high school students. An English classroom is hardly a suitable setting in which to be showing movies in the first place--aren't you in the business of promoting reading? Pedophilia, child sexual abuse and racial violence are not subjects that should be included in your curriculum, and while the book does include those themes, To Kill a Mockingbird fails to offer the gratuitous violence displayed in A Time to Kill.

Additionally, the lead character's actions in that movie cannot compare to the courage of Atticus Finch, the America Film Institute's "greatest hero of American film." Finch is nearly a folk hero in legal circles, and has done more good for the self-image and public perception of the legal profession than any real-life lawyer.

If you feel your lesson preparation skills are so inadequate that you must show a film in class, perhaps the 1962 classic, "To Kill a Mockingbird" would be more appropriate, especially considering that the students are actually studying that book and not the John Grisham pulp fiction version of a similar murder trial. My daughter does not have permission to watch the film you selected. In the future, I would prefer that she actually study English and American literature instead of watching movies.

...I love my mom. xD

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