Most of us know the 50 ft level story of Emmett Till. I am very thankful for this televised event that provided us with more intimate details as to what led up to his horrific death and the aftermath. While I am glad that this story has been told, a few things. It is way too long. At most, it should have been a 2 night event. And that's being generous. This is a powerful story that tells itself. The strumming violins and overwrought acting ironically diminishes its value. We all know tragically how the story ends. So we don't need the heavy-handedness of the directing and the music. What we needed was better editing and more nuanced storytelling. The most troubling part for me of all is Mamie Till herself. Adrienne Warren is a very good actress, but you can almost see her acting. She doesn't really inhabit the spirit of Mamie so much as she looks like a dressed up character. I hope some understand what I mean by that. If you don't, Angela Bassett and What's Love Got to Do with It. I was also deeply troubled that we never really saw her grieving before they jumped to showing the stereotypical strong Black woman who's always strategizing. It's important to show the humanity of Black women including our frailty when we experience extreme trauma and tragedy. It is almost unbelievable to think that a woman would look at her child's brutalize, mangled body and immediately start thinking strategy for the cause. I did not like that at all. If anything, they should have spent at least half a night focusing on her grief and remembrance of her child, not her immediate flip the switch to "the movement." All that said, I think it was still necessary and worthwhile to have this story told and I'm very glad to have been able to see it.
