Analysis Of C. Wright Mills And The Sociological Imagination

In the movie Marshall, a lawyer by the name of Young Thurgood Marshall, is tasked with the challenge of being the only lawyers working for the NAACP. He teams up with Joseph Friedman, a lawyer who has never handled a criminal case before. With the odds stacked against them, Marshall and Friedman fight against racial inequalities and anti-Semitic views to defend the freedom of Joseph Spell, a black man accused of a crime he did not commit.

C. Wright Mills is the master that created the Sociological Imagination. Mills believed that the life of an individual is linked to historical context (1959). In fact, one cannot understand the life of an individual nor the history of the social world without understanding both as interrelated systems (Mills

Mills wants to know the essential components used to complete the society (Mills 1959). According to the movie, the dominant religion remains Christianity. For example, when Friedman was interviewing potential jury members he was taken aback by a comment that insulted his Jewish religion. Next, it appears as though the main social class is the middle, to upper middle class. The clothing that people wore was always clean, posh and pristine (Hudlin et al 2017). Most of the men were in suit and tie, or business casual. The women had their hair done, wore a nice dress with some heels. Also, the education level eludes to a higher social class because these individuals would have the means to pay for higher education. However, it seems to be that the men were the ones that were highly educated. For instance, the lawyers, reporters, police, and the judge were all men. Each of these occupations require some sort of post-secondary schooling. What was interesting was that the women, who appeared to have no secondary education, offered subtle tokens of wisdom that leave a rather large impact. For instance, a woman that Marshall encountered at a bar gave him the piece he was missing to solve his case. She said, “men will be men and women will be women” (Hudlin et al 2017). This was the key piece of advice that helped

But that’s just it, a part of history that repeats itself in today’s society, particularly the justice system. This is one reason why this movie is important in this particular time in society. It highlights the African American stereotypes that are common biases corrupting the justice system. For instance, Marshall’s main mission in this movie is to defend those who are innocent but have been wrongfully convicted because their race. He is fighting against a system where Joseph is considered guilty until proven innocent. This is relevant to today’s society because the nature of African American men in American today is much the same, guilty until proven innocent. This is evident in the display of African American men in the media being pulled over by cops as if they are guilty of something. They of course have to prove their innocence in order for the police man to be satisfied. In a way, this movie counter-acts this stereotype by painting a different picture of African American men in court. Marshall is a highly educated African American lawyer who is partly responsible for proving the innocence of a black man against a white woman. A narrative that is uncommon in today’s