“This is 1986. This isn’t like the 60s and 50s”: Locating the Long Civil Rights Narrative in Just Mercy (2019)
Most mainstream films about the civil rights movement are set in the South in the 1950-1960s, but this article points out how Hollywood in the 2010s broke new ground by also portraying civil rights struggles after that era. Many historians have heeded Jacqueline Dowd Hall’s call to revise the Americ...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Association for American Studies
2024-06-01
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/22242 |
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| author | Johanne Østergaard Mikkel Jensen |
| author_facet | Johanne Østergaard Mikkel Jensen |
| author_sort | Johanne Østergaard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Most mainstream films about the civil rights movement are set in the South in the 1950-1960s, but this article points out how Hollywood in the 2010s broke new ground by also portraying civil rights struggles after that era. Many historians have heeded Jacqueline Dowd Hall’s call to revise the American civil rights narrative, and this article argues that Destin Daniel Cretton’s Just Mercy (2019) is a part of a wave of “long civil rights films.” Exploring how Just Mercy portrays a key injustice that continues to affect contemporary America while also showing civil rights activism to continue into the 1980s, 1990s, and onwards, the article argues that Just Mercy’s depiction of the unjust treatment, conviction, and incarceration of Alabama native Walter McMillian in the late 1980s effectively calls for a revised understanding of the longer lines of civil rights activism. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0f76d866b17c4a09b557f52eda73c918 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-06-01 |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-0f76d866b17c4a09b557f52eda73c9182025-01-06T09:07:55ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362024-06-01192“This is 1986. This isn’t like the 60s and 50s”: Locating the Long Civil Rights Narrative in Just Mercy (2019)Johanne ØstergaardMikkel JensenMost mainstream films about the civil rights movement are set in the South in the 1950-1960s, but this article points out how Hollywood in the 2010s broke new ground by also portraying civil rights struggles after that era. Many historians have heeded Jacqueline Dowd Hall’s call to revise the American civil rights narrative, and this article argues that Destin Daniel Cretton’s Just Mercy (2019) is a part of a wave of “long civil rights films.” Exploring how Just Mercy portrays a key injustice that continues to affect contemporary America while also showing civil rights activism to continue into the 1980s, 1990s, and onwards, the article argues that Just Mercy’s depiction of the unjust treatment, conviction, and incarceration of Alabama native Walter McMillian in the late 1980s effectively calls for a revised understanding of the longer lines of civil rights activism.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/22242civil rights filmthe long civil rights narrativecourtroom dramaJust Mercy |
| spellingShingle | Johanne Østergaard Mikkel Jensen “This is 1986. This isn’t like the 60s and 50s”: Locating the Long Civil Rights Narrative in Just Mercy (2019) European Journal of American Studies civil rights film the long civil rights narrative courtroom drama Just Mercy |
| title | “This is 1986. This isn’t like the 60s and 50s”: Locating the Long Civil Rights Narrative in Just Mercy (2019) |
| title_full | “This is 1986. This isn’t like the 60s and 50s”: Locating the Long Civil Rights Narrative in Just Mercy (2019) |
| title_fullStr | “This is 1986. This isn’t like the 60s and 50s”: Locating the Long Civil Rights Narrative in Just Mercy (2019) |
| title_full_unstemmed | “This is 1986. This isn’t like the 60s and 50s”: Locating the Long Civil Rights Narrative in Just Mercy (2019) |
| title_short | “This is 1986. This isn’t like the 60s and 50s”: Locating the Long Civil Rights Narrative in Just Mercy (2019) |
| title_sort | this is 1986 this isn t like the 60s and 50s locating the long civil rights narrative in just mercy 2019 |
| topic | civil rights film the long civil rights narrative courtroom drama Just Mercy |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/22242 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT johanneøstergaard thisis1986thisisntlikethe60sand50slocatingthelongcivilrightsnarrativeinjustmercy2019 AT mikkeljensen thisis1986thisisntlikethe60sand50slocatingthelongcivilrightsnarrativeinjustmercy2019 |