Hey, Boo: Harper Lee and 'To Kill A Mockingbird' (2010) -
It's amazing to think that this hugely famous author only really had one novel in her lifetime and how much that one books popularity made her and its title a household name.
Yes she had a second novel released just a few years before her death, but it will always be 'To Kill A Mockingbird' that she is remembered for. As such I think that tells us how brilliant and important the novel must really have been and still is with its resonance in today's society still sadly rife.
I have only currently seen the big screen adaptation of'Mockingbird' starring Gregory Peck, but I felt that it was ahead of its time and it was a brave thing for Harper and the publishers to release this book at the time and for it to be made in to a film so shortly afterwards in 1962. I mean we're still fighting racism in 2024 for goodness sake, so back then it was really making a statement.
Whether the book would be so well received now I can't say, because so many have been written that have broached the same topic since, but I would bet money that 'To Kill A Mockingbird' and by extension Harper Lee lead the way for most of those important, boundary pushing and brave stories that did follow.
I've never understood racism and as such the stock footage shown here of violence towards people of colour sickened me, although it was nothing I hadn't seen before, because it's always horrifying to see how recently we as a people were treating people so badly just for the hue of their skin. What a ridiculous idea!!!??
Based on this documentary it's obvious that Lee wrote about what she knew, which is only fair, but not only must she have had an interesting time in her youth, she also knew how to get it down on paper in an engaging way. This study of her novel and life would never have been made otherwise.
It was interesting to see the views of those interviewed with regards to Harper having only written one book, which was true in 2010 when the film was produced, because I felt kind of smug knowing that there was another book that has since been released.
I definitely felt an empathy with Nelle Harper Lee, because I find it hard to motivate myself to write my own stories too and I recognised her fear that the next book she wrote could never live up to her first, but it is such a terrible shame that with the exception of 'Go Set A Watchman', her second novel released in 2015, we will never get to experience what else she may have had to offer due to those fears. Either way, this look at her life and her main great work have certainly sparked an interest in me and I look forward to reading both of her works.
706.88/1000.