Atticus Finch | Greatest Hero In American Film | Under Lens

‘I put everything I had into it – all my feelings and everything I'd learned in 46 years of living, about family life and fathers and children. And my feelings about racial justice and inequality and opportunity’

This is what Gregory Peck thought about his character Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird. In year 2003, Atticus Finch was rated as the Greatest Hero in American Film by American Film Institute. I always thought that no one can beat Rick Blaine. I still feel that Indiana Jones and James Bond are overrated. But that was the ERA when I was unaware about the gem called To Kill A Mockingbird. Based on Harper Lee’s novel by the same name, To Kill A Mockingbird is not just a good movie. It’s education.

Who is Atticus Finch? He is white. He is a lawyer. He is good with firearms. But that’s a rough prototype of numerous characters of the era. What makes him different? Atticus believes that everyone should be treated equally and everyone deserves respect, irrespective of class, race or gender. He not only lets his kids call him by his first name, something unusual to the time, he also respects their opinions on different things. He also respects judgment of his kids’ nanny of the darker race. In a time when racism was prevalent, he fights for a black in court against the words of a white woman. He stands for what he believes in.

Atticus Finch can change your perception. He remains a part of the system where racism and sexism is sort of norm but he fights the ills in his own way. His struggle may give him a few tough days but he can sleep with peace in eyes. His struggle may instill fear in his followers but it inspires more. Atticus Finch, as a matter of fact, inspired numerous lawyers and activists across the globe. Sometimes he was the character in novel and sometime he wore the mask of Gregory Peck.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh