St Edward's Academic Review 2025

ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

read as a single component of Stevenson’s legal and cultural strategies aimed at consolidating the reform movement against US mass imprisonment’ (Kerr, 2017). The array of evidence and statistics also elicits an emotional response and empathy in the reader when they understand how widespread the oppression is. In comparison, the film depicts racial injustice in the criminal justice system by focusing on the primary characters’ experience of racial bias and racial profiling, using visual techniques and the soundtrack to create empathy in the viewer. These depictions have a more personal effect than the descriptions in the memoir. For example, in a scene where Bryan is driving back home from prison (00.57-59), he is stopped by two police officers who without justification search his car and threaten him with their guns. This instance of racial profiling and a tone of fear is highlighted by the formal techniques used in the scene starting at 00.56.40, positioning the initial camera shot from inside of Stevenson’s car when he first sees the lights of the police car, so that the viewer can experience his fear and uncertainty firsthand. Giving the viewer Bryan’s perspective visually manifests the power dynamics within the criminal justice system, where there is bias against individuals of colour, such as Bryan himself. In this scene, low angle shots are used to make the police officer appear more dominant and threatening, showing the police officer from Stevenson’s perspective. The sense of threat and danger when the police officer pulls his gun out is marked and amplified by incidental music, specifically a low, ominous tone. These cinematographic choices underscore the systemic nature of racial bias as not merely an issue of individual prejudice, but a widespread, institutionalised bias embedded in law enforcement. This has a more immediate and personal impact on the audience than the broader and evidence-based explanation of racism in the memoir. In an interview with Bruce Dennill in 2020 Stevenson said ‘I think storytelling is key to how a society evolves, to how they mature, to how they recover from histories of bias and bigotry.’ Instead of showing racial bias in widespread terms, this scene shows its impact on individuals, making the viewer’s empathy more immediate. Another way in which the film depicts racial bias in the criminal justice system is through focusing on the primary characters’ experience in a courtroom scene towards the end of the film starting at 01.58:00. When Bryan arrives at the courtroom

for Walter’s final trial, an emotional climax of the film, he discovers that all the Black relatives and friends of Walter have not been allowed into the courtroom, while white people are seated inside. This deliberate exclusion of the Black community reflects the explicit racism present in the criminal justice system. There is an irony that the courtroom, which is supposed to be a symbol for equality and justice, is excluding Black people. Formal techniques employed in this scene from 01.58.00, before they go into the courtroom, highlight this point, positioning Stevenson and the white security guard opposite each other, reflecting the power dynamic between them, as well as the tension. Once in the courtroom, racial segregation is brought to light by a camera shot that places Walter and Bryan in the foreground, then white people sitting in the courtroom seats, and finally all the Black people standing at the back, as a result of not being allowed in. The camera is positioned looking down from the perspective of the judge. ‘High angles like this make the subject seem weak and powerless’ (Julian Films, 2020). In this way, the film visually depicts racial segregation in the US justice system and wider society, creating an immediate and emotional impact of injustice on the viewer. Decisions made in adapting Stevenson’s memoir to its film adaptation had a bearing on the depiction of systemic racial inequality. In the film, specific incidents of racism experienced by the protagonists are portrayed visually, allowing the viewer to empathise immediately and adding a personal lens to a systemic issue. In comparison, the memoir takes a more contextual and historic approach, exposing how racism is ingrained in the criminal justice system in the United States. ‘ Stevenson’s memoir Just Mercy utilises explanations of historical context and legal analysis to demonstrate how racial bias is integrated into the legal system in the US ’

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