Talking Your Teens Through Just Mercy

Talking Your Teens Through Just Mercy. Just Mercy discussion questions and tips with a movie review.

We saw this movie with three moms, and three teen/young adults. All of us agreed that we would recommend the movie and be willing to discuss it with friends.

To Know Before You Watch:

Movie: Just Mercy
Rating: PG-13
Age Suggestion: 12+ with parental guidance
Running Time: 2 hours 15 min
Release Date: January 10th ,2020
Stars: 5 out of 5
Themes: Responsibility, Hope, Mercy, Bigotry, Racism, Injustice, Hate, Fear, Anger, Truth, Incarceration, Foster Care, Poverty, Mental Illness, Equality

Warnings: Is it appropriate? Parents and guardians need to be aware that this movie, while incredibly inspiring, deals with very hard topics including, but not limited to, racism and death. I would not let my teens, especially if they are in the foster system, go see it without me there to walk them through it afterwards. There is never blood or death depicted directly on screen, but the pain is vivid. Moderate cursing. (We do still highly recommend!)

Quick Summary:

An incredibly important movie that we hope will inspire many positive conversations, and more so, positive action.

Civil rights attorney, Bryan Stevenson, is shocked when he meets a young person that mirrors himself on death row. He and his partners work tirelessly to free people from the heavy chains of injustice, but it is not an easy task, or a safe job. “We’re proud of our civil rights monument”, the townspeople all declare, as they continue to push forward systems of injustice. Based on a true story, from his book of the same name- which is a must read even after watching the movie. (You can find the version adapted for young adults here.)

This movie is a beautifully made and well timed reminder that whether or not we agree with each other, we are all human, and we all need justice and hope. And hope, partnered with conviction and mercy might just change the world. We hope that this Just Mercy discussion guide will be helpful for you!

Just Mercy Discussion Tips: 

First of all we need to acknowledge that these discussions will look very different based on your backgrounds and what injustices resonated with you the most in the film. We hope that these tips and questions are helpful for you, and we would love to hear the conversation points that popped up in your discussions about the movie!

1) The single most important thing to do when you’re having a serious discussion with anyone, but especially a teen, is to listen. We want to share our experiences, perspectives and to teach them. But, for them to be open to your guidance, they need to know that their voice will be heard.

2) Share your experiences honestly, in an age appropriate way. Have you experienced injustice, racism, an unjust system like foster care? This is a great time to share those stories- but remember that when you have a kid, teen or young adult looking up to you. They still want and need to feel safe.

3) Be wary of emotional escalation. Know when it’s time to give a hug, or take a break. Set an example of calm, open communication.

4) Avoid being critical or judgmental. Remember how much your own opinions have changed since you were a teen. They’re still growing. They’ll remember you being critical of their opinion longer than they’ll remember what your opinion was. Remember to let them know that you’re glad that you are able to talk with them about hard things.

5) Humanize the conversation as much as possible. This is a good movie to have a conversation about everyone, especially the people we disagree with, being human. How we treat people matters. How we talk matters. What we say online matters.

6) Come away with an action step. What’s one positive step you can take together to help someone else? What’s the next right thing? (We will have a list of online resources at the end of this post)

We have free Just Mercy curriculum here on our site and here on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Just Mercy Discussion Questions:

**SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT**

1) ‘Why on earth would you want a nice lawyer!? Nice doesn’t get you anywhere.’ But it does for Bryan. What’s different about how he does things?

2) Several of the characters note that racism is embedded so deep in their culture that they feel like they’re guilty from the moment they’re born. (In fact, in several of Jamie Foxx’s press interviews for this movie he talks about times he experienced racism even as a young child. And the police chief is obviously extremely racist but continually claims not to be.) Have you examined your biases about race recently?
2B) What can we do better to humanize each other and to champion
equality? What does the diversity of your library look like? Do you
support diverse movies and music?

3) “Whatever you did, your life is still meaningful.” (Bryan Stevenson) After watching the movie, could your view of the term ‘pro-life’ be expanded?

4) There are good people taking action everywhere. How did you see that exemplified in the movie? In which families? Which officers? Which inmates? Who in the judicial system?

5) One of the lines that struck me as the most devastating is that one of the characters says that he’s never had more people ask if they could help him in his entire life than on the day of his execution. How can you offer to help someone else? (We’ll have some online resources posted at the end of this, but confronting our own biases and spreading awareness is a great first step)

6) What do you do if someone uses their power to mistreat you? What about if you see someone mistreated? **It’s easy to give a generic answer here, but dive into specific situations- it’s also important to point out here that not everyone misuses their power to mistreat others!** (Officers, Teachers, Coaches, Popular kids, etc…)

* Bonus point of discussion for older teens and adult small groups! Did this movie change your perspective on how you vote? We saw various examples in the movie of systems that are broken (legal, foster, health) and that misuse of power seems to be a big symptom of those systems.
**Reminder that it is extremely important to stay calm, listen and remember to humanize these issues.**

Review of the movie Just Mercy:

-Characters & Acting: I was blown away by the acting and characters they portrayed! I read a lot about the movie before seeing it, and I was sucked in from the beginning. The way they emoted was amazing and made it easy to empathize with their characters. Michael B Jordan, Brie Larson, and Jamie Foxx were absolutely wonderful in their roles, but there was literally not a SINGLE actress or actor that seemed out of place or unnatural to me.

-Script & Story: This movie was incredibly unique because not only is an important story, one that includes faith non-ironically, but the story and visuals were extremely well done!

We were struck multiple times by the irony of the parallels between “To Kill a Mockingbird” and the case, which happened in Harper Lee’s hometown. (& was very impressed with how the movie handled it!) The segregation in the 90’s that looked straight out of the 1800’s. (And just so you aren’t fooled into thinking it’s all been taken care of in a decade, this article popped up in my newsfeed yesterday about debtors prison.+ the federal government will be resuming capitol punishment with the death penalty after over a decade.) Also how it mirrors our sinful pride throughout history, thinking that we know better than to follow God, trying to save souls but not disciple them. The Harper Lee storyline was also a good reminder that when words are presented as ‘facts’ (regardless of their basis in truth) and repeated over and over again it becomes a truth. – eg: We’re the home of a Civil Rights Monument, therefor we are not bigots.

It was a gross, uncomfortable feeling, knowing how awful it is that there are still all of these atrocities happening. It feels like they should have been dealt with and put away hundreds of years ago. There was also the cloud of this small town mentality of ‘This is how it’s always been, and we will keep it that way no matter what.’ Which makes progress feel like a hundred pound weight needing to be pushed through sludge. But the story did an AMAZING job of managing to remain hope filled while it dragged through that sludge. Reminding you that if you’re always feeling nice and comfortable, you aren’t listening enough.

-Film Quality: There are so many movies that are important, faith based, or both that are just not up to the quality of blockbuster movie, but this was!! The acting, the music, the angles of the shots, lighting…. it all just worked together SO well! (Although one momma remarked that Larson’s jeans in the movie were not the real mom jeans of the 90’s ;] ) We absolutely recommend this- on the big screen or off, but if you can see it on the big screen- go!

Favorite Moments:
1) When Bryan’s mom was hugging him at the beginning it made me tear up, such a sweet moment.
2) When we de-humanize each other, we allow fear to dictate how we respond and act to people. I think Jeremy’s storyline showed that best, an officer who had a big change of heart after he realized how human and normal the people he was prejudiced against were.
3) When Bryan looks at Herbert and says “Whatever you did, your life is still meaningful.”
4) When Eva looked at Bryan and said she wasn’t quitting! “I don’t want my son growing up knowing that his mom quit because of a crazy bigot.”
5) When Walter looks at Bryan, having every reason to be distraught, and instead says that he can leave the world happy now because he broke through the lies that everyone had been pushing on him (and that he had started to believe himself). “I got my truth back.” Such a touching moment.
6) When Walter and Bryan are testifying and Bryan says that ‘you can’t change the world with just an idea, you have to have hope and conviction too. The opposite of poverty and justice. And we all need justice, mercy and unmerited grace.’ Woooo!!! What an awesome statement and example.

Just Mercy Facts from the End credits:
+ Extra Statistics

1) “Bryan Stevenson has been fighting for the poor, incarcerated, and condemned for over 30 years”
2) “He and his attorneys at the Equal Justice Initiative have won relief, reversals, or release for over 140 death row prisoners.”
3) “Eva Ansley continues to manage operations at EJI, where she has coordinated and developed legal services for death row prisoners since 1989.”
4) “Herbert Richardson is one of over 65 people who have been executed in Alabam since 1983, most of whom could not obtain adequate legal assistance.”
5) “Bryan and Walter McMillian remained close friends until Walter’s death is 2013, from early onset dementia. His years on death row weighed heavily on him until the end.”
6) “In 1986, Anthony “Ray” Hinton was convicted of a double homicide, based almost entirely on a faulty ballistics report. The prosecutor said he could tell Ray was guilty just by looking at him. Bryan ultimately took Ray’s case to the U.S. Supreme Court, and won. In 2015, after nearly 30 years on death row for a crime he did not commit, Mr. Hinton was set free.” You can find his book, The Sun Does Shine, here. He now works at the Equal Justice Initiative.
7) “For every 9 people who have been executed in the U.S., one person on death row has been proven innocent and released. A shocking rate of error.”
8) “After serving 30 years in prison, Ralph Myers was released in 2017.”
9) “Tom Tate remained the sheriff of Monroe County for 32 years, until his retirement in 2019. He was RE-ELECTED SIX TIMES after Walter’s release.”
10) “In 1993, a new investigation confirmed Walter McMillian’s innocence and implicated a white man strongly believed to have murdered Ronda Morrison. But no charges were EVER filed.”

Other Statistics:

1) Children as young as 8 years old can be tried as an adult. Children were executed in the United States until 2005.
2) Capitol cases are expensive, it’s astounding how many people find themselves on death row (or imprisoned in general) because they cannot afford a lawyer.
3) There are strong racial biases still present in the legal system. Prisoners are more likely to be sentenced to death row if the victim in the case is white and they are not.
(All of the above information can be found on the EJI website and you can find more information about death row on this spreadsheet.)
4) 90%, yes NINETY percent, of youth who have 5 or more foster placements will enter the justice system. 60% of children involved in sex trafficking in the US (that we are aware of!) are in the care of the state. Over 20,000 teens age out of foster care system each year without a support system.
5) Children who are born into poverty are much more likely to enter the legal system as adults than children who are born into any degree of wealth.
6) Prisons are now the largest psychiatric facilities, with many caregivers choosing to have their mentally ill, aggressive, children jailed because they cannot find access to appropriate mental health care.
7) The United States has the highest incarceration rate per citizen anywhere in the world. We imprison 724 people for every 100,000.

While these statistics seem largely discouraging, it’s important to remember (especially when talking about them with our teens) that just spreading awareness is incredibly important. A big take away from this movie is that there is always hope and good people ready to help.

Start Your Search To Make An Impact…

There is no right place to start, here are several online resources that might help you figure out a spot to start. While helping others, it is important for us to examine the biases that we have.

-Check out *and donate to* Bryan Stevenson’s work at the Equal Justice Initiative.
-Learn more about racial reconciliation through Be The Bridge.
-Donate to your local foster closet, think about becoming a foster parent, or an advocate for a child through CASA. Or donate your small talk.
-Keep having difficult conversations with your kids.
-Consider donating or volunteering with a prison ministry like Prison Fellowship or the Equal Justice Initiative.
-Brainstorm ways that you can help those around you that are less fortunate. Check out our Ebook on developing Kindness with Kids for only $2 on Etsy with printable charts. *Free here during the pandemic*
-Remember that your voice and vote matters. Demand that those in authority start dismantling failing systems- Rock The Vote!
-Learn about what systematic racism is in this short video.
-A surprising lesson in discrimination from a third grade teacher. Known as the blue eyes test, this frontline special from the 80’s is incredibly relevant today.
–Evaluate your diversity!! Do your kids have books and toys that feature characters that don’t look like them? That have different abilities and body types? What about the movies and shows you watch? The songs you request on the radio- who are they written and sung by, is there any diversity?

What to check out next:

If you liked this Just Mercy discussion post, check out our posts on:
-Brene Brown’s Netflix Special “The Call to Courage“
-Review and lessons from Becoming (The book & Netflix special)
-Discussion guide for the book New Kid by Jerry Craft.
–20 Books where Girls Take the Lead.

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