The official trailer for the Emmett Till biopic, Till dropped, and Black Twitter reacted negatively to it.
The Till trailer, starring actor Jalyn Hall as Emmett Till, was officially released on July 25. The movie recounts the events leading up to the teen’s brutal murder in 1955 and his mother, Mamie Till’s fight to receive justice for her son. However, after the film’s trailer began making rounds on social media, Black Twitter expressed outrage over it–especially since viewers will be expected to watch a depiction of Emmett’s heinous lynching on the big screen.
“I hope that Emmett Till movie FLOPS. Directed by Chinonye Chukwu. Literally, nobody asked for that,” user @NileRoss tweeted.
i hope that Emmett Till movie FLOPS. Directed by Chinonye Chukwu
literally nobody asked for that.
— Nile Ross
(@NileRoss) July 24, 2022
“There’s nothing all that novel about the Emmett Till movie. Using the brutal murder of a black boy to humanize everyone except them is a core tenet of modern activism,” @forinquiriesand said.
https://twitter.com/forinquiriesand/status/1550935708684242945?s=20&t=cVwX_Dfa1vNfZLvgnehnPg
“I think I’m going to have to pass on the Emmett Till movie, thanks,” user @Philip_Lewis_ wrote.
I think I’m going to have to pass on the Emmett Till movie, thanks
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) July 25, 2022
“The movie about Emmett Till should’ve focused on his life before that horrific event. Stories about the things he loved, how happy he made his family and friends, & the dreams he never got to fulfill. That should be his legacy. Black people are so much more than their trauma,” user @penielleee said.
https://twitter.com/penielleee/status/1551620685751111681?s=20
Emmett’s body was discovered in Mississippi’s Tallahatchie River as he was viciously beaten, lynched, shot in the head, mutilated, and thrown in there after he was accused of flirting with white woman Carolyn Bryant Donham.
Despite displaying a re-enaction of the Chicago teen’s graphic death for the entire world to see, the director of Emmett’s biopic said her intent wasn’t to traumatize viewers.
“I didn’t want to re-traumatize audiences or myself,” Nigerian-born filmmaker Chinonye Chukwu reportedly said at a conference about the movie, which is also co-produced by legendary award-winning actress Whoopi Goldberg.
She added that since the film’s storyline is mainly told from the lens of the victim’s mother, it does “not just show the inherent sadness and pain” but also the “joy and love that is really at the root of the narrative.”
Till is set to debut at the New York Film Festival, which takes place from Sept. 30 to Oct. 16, and will hit theaters nationwide on Oct. 28.
