# to kill a mockingbird **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130 "2010-03-03T15:30:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/21 "2010-03-04T12:46:21Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Your teacher was a figurative blue jay. And that’s a fact, Jack. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/22 "2010-03-04T14:46:14Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > Nope, I musta napped through this part > > Come on; I was tired…I’m middle aged man. You’re a middle-aged man and you just now watched TKAM? That’s even worse! From your question in the OP, it sounds like you think the phrase “to kill a mockingbird” predates the book, but I’m pretty sure the book is what introduced it. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/23 "2010-03-04T19:27:56Z")
> [@daveg](#): > > Wonderful story, wonderful movie. One of my favorites. And to think no CGI or 3D. My my. _Yet._ The 3-D, CGI, Surround-Sound, force-feedback, LED-screen, fully-interactive remake will be released in 2012. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/24 "2010-03-04T20:03:32Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > _Yet._ The 3-D, CGI, Surround-Sound, force-feedback, LED-screen, fully-interactive remake will be released in 2012. … in _COLOUR!_ ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/25 "2010-03-05T05:29:09Z")
Just like to point out that Boo Radley was played by a very young Robert Duvall! ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/26 "2010-03-05T05:46:06Z")
As an aside, the Korean translation of the book title amounts to “Killing Parrots.” We use the same word for mockingbirds and parrots. As a teacher I’ve gotten questions about whether parrots are commonly seen in the wild in Alabama. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/27 "2010-03-05T05:49:46Z")
Are they? (I saw them frequently in L.A.) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/28 "2010-03-05T05:50:30Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Just like to point out that Boo Radley was played by a very young Robert Duvall! In (more or less) his first movie role. He is listed as having an uncredited, unconfirmed part in [_Somebody Up There Likes Me_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049778/), then several appearances in TV series, then _Mockingbird_. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/29 "2010-03-05T10:19:14Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > You’re a middle-aged man and you just now watched TKAM? That’s even worse! I’ve never seen it either - just read the book. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/30 "2010-03-05T13:38:26Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > It was a magnificent movie, based on a wonderful book. Anyone who has never read it for its own sake is missing out. Anyone who had to read it in school (where they tend to bleed all the enjoyment out of reading) should revisit it and see the film again. My sixth grade teacher damn near got fired for assigning the book back in 1969. I remember her coming into class a couple of days after assigning it, almost in tears, telling us that the book was “inappropriate”. Ah, the good old days. ETA: Needless to say, that was all it took to make sure I read it. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/31 "2010-03-05T14:44:27Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > My sixth grade teacher damn near got fired for assigning the book back in 1969. Wow. What state was that in? ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/32 "2010-03-05T14:56:08Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > As an aside, the Korean translation of the book title amounts to “Killing Parrots.” We use the same word for mockingbirds and parrots. As a teacher I’ve gotten questions about whether parrots are commonly seen in the wild in Alabama. [They used to be common.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_Parakeet) But not since the late 1800s. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/33 "2010-03-05T15:21:15Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Wow. What state was that in? This was in Oklahoma, which may explain a bit. ---
**Author:** ![daveg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@daveg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daveg)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/34 "2010-03-05T16:55:27Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Just like to point out that Boo Radley was played by a very young Robert Duvall! I believe it was his first movie. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/35 "2010-03-05T17:04:12Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Wow. What state was that in? The state of ignorance and fear, where many school boards reside. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/36 "2010-03-05T19:24:52Z")
My 7th grade English teacher saw me reading it and wanted to make sure I checked with my parents to make sure they thought it was appropriate for me to read at that age. Not because of the racism, or the scapegoating and murder of an innocent man, or the attempted murder of two young children, or the old drug addict. No, what she was worried about was the fact that Tom was being tried for [distressed whisper]_rape._[/distressed whisper] The mind reels. But I can see how some people might think the book is a bit…heavy for the average 6th grader. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/37 "2010-03-07T00:37:19Z")
Aside: My wife and I recently listened to the audio tape, and the story seemed twice as long with a bunch of extraneous stuff beyond the story we recall reading! For example, late in the audio book, the bit of Scout being a ham in a school play and Halloween? Also, late in the audio, Scout’s brother’s teacher makes a mention about the Holocaust? …Also, Scout (I believe) being punished and must go read to some old lady? We don’t recall any of this! Could there be an abridged version out there, or what? Do other SDopers recall this? ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/38 "2010-03-07T02:46:44Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > Aside: My wife and I recently listened to the audio tape, and the story seemed twice as long with a bunch of extraneous stuff beyond the story we recall reading! For example, late in the audio book, the bit of Scout being a ham in a school play and Halloween? Also, late in the audio, Scout’s brother’s teacher makes a mention about the Holocaust? …Also, Scout (I believe) being punished and must go read to some old lady? We don’t recall any of this! Could there be an abridged version out there, or what? > > Do other SDopers recall this? Some of this I remember from the book and some I don’t. What I remember for sure is that the book has a lot more subplots than the movie. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/39 "2010-03-07T03:00:06Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Some of this I remember from the book and some I don’t. What I remember for sure is that the book has a lot more subplots than the movie. I have read the book just about every year since I was 12- about 30 years. Those subplots are certainly in the book. Jem reads to Mrs Duboise after killing her flowers. It was in retailiation for her making snide comments about Atticus. The whole book is less specifically about Tom’s trial but about the factors that influence Scouts coming of age. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130/40 "2010-03-07T04:48:51Z")
I recently read the book and the Holocaust bit is in Scout’s class - the kids are asked to present on a current issue and one of the kids does a presentation on Hitler. Scout is confused because her teacher denounces the Holocaust but at the same time makes racist remarks regarding the Robinson trial. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/531130.md?page=3)