The Color of the Mile
The popular film genre known as a “White Savior” film “features a group of lower-class,
urban, nonwhites (generally black and Latino) who struggle through the social order... Yet through the
sacrifices of a white teacher they are transformed, saved, and redeemed by film’s end” (Hughley, 475).
These films are used, since they represent whites as assisting minorities rather than demeaning them,
as a way to confront the white history of racism and attempt to absolve white guilt from the past ideas
of supremacy. This representation of cultures in film is still problematic because it creates subliminal
racism. The minorities are portrayed as inferior to whites and “in need of saving” because they are
lower class or unable to take care of themselves; only a white member of the upper class to assist them
or. Or, minorities are portrayed as “all knowing” gods of some sort. Through this portrayal, popular
culture is still transferring a message of white supremacy and a class system that is still linked with
ethnicity. White savior films teach an underlying racism in society and enforce the social boundaries
in which whites constitute the upper class and minorities make up the lower or they are in a mystical,
untouchable realm. White savior films are reliant on implicit racism and associations with race in
order to tell their stores. Themes involving race are pivotal to these films in order to make the white
protagonist the hero for aiding “poor” and “helpless” minorities. To this day, white savior films are
dominant in the film industry, especially in elite realms. For instance, this past year the 2013 Academy
award nominee, directed by the famous Steven Spielberg, Lincoln was a white savoir film. Other
popular, award winning white savior films include Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino and The Blind Side,
Avatar, and The Help, which were all nominated for multiple prestigious awards, given acclaim for
their stories and were immensely popular box-office hits (Sirota). Though the modern social desire is
to be ethnically diverse and equal, the popularity of white savior films makes their implicitly racist
messages prevalent in society today. The Green Mile, adapted from Stephen King’s series of six
novels for the screen by Frank Darabont, is often discussed as being a “white savior film”. While it
has a number of the elements inherent in a white savior film, it breaks the mold with its variety of
representations of character, character dynamics between those in principle roles and the importance of
the themes of good vs. evil and life vs. death for all of humanity.
The Green Mile does have elements that are similar to those of a white savior film. The main
character is a stand-up white gentleman in a position of authority. Paul Edgecombe is one of the head
guards on death row in the prison, known as the “the green mile. He seems to live a perfect life: He’s
caring and loving, speaks softly and gently, both to his co-workers and the inmates, has a wonderful
relationship with his wife, has close friends, and is generally liked. Even the prisoners respect him.
Paul fills the character archetype of the “white savior”. Furthermore, the minority character has
magical powers, which is often an element of a white savior film. John Coffey is the black “victim”.
He is an abnormally large black man with limited educational skills, another white savior trope, but he
has magical powers of healing and feeling. He takes pain away from people: cures Paul’s bladder
infection, saves the life of Del’s, another prisoner’s, mouse who he loves dearly, and removes the
horrifyingly large brain tumor that is killing the warden’s wife. John Coffey can also feel the pain of
others and see what is in their hearts. These, physical and magical, are all attributes of character
archetypes present in white savior films. However, regardless of the similarities, The Green Mile is
not a white savior film for a number of reasons, which are deeper than surface character traits.
Firstly, The Green Mile defies racial stereotyping. While all of the prison guards are white, this
is historically accurate for the time period. The majority of the film takes place during the Great
Depression in 1935, which is before the civil rights movements and laws of equality. However, the
inmates are of different races and two of the four are white rather than of ethnic minorities. The
characters on the Green Mile include: a Native American man named Arlen Bitterbuck who is the first
to be executed, a white man named Eduard Delacroix whom they called Del, a black man, the
“victim”, John Coffey, and another white man who committed the most heinous crimes, Wild Bill.
The film does not even discuss the crimes committed by the Alden and Del, it only depicts how they
are sincerely sorry for the crimes they committed and believe the death penalty is what they rightly
deserve. The film is careful to make the story about the characters and not the controversial use of the
death pentalty. The focus of crime is on Wild Bill and the alleged murders of John Coffey, which turn
out to have been Wild Bill’s murders instead. It may appear to be a racial statement that a black man is
initially sentenced to death for the crimes of a white man. However, John Coffey is caught with the
bleeding dead girls in his hands, while no one knows he was trying to revive them, so he is placed to
blame for the crime. It is circumstantial evidence that puts the blame on John Coffey, not racial
assumptions.
One guard makes an ignorant, stereotypical comment about potential Native American
religious practices and medicine men “shaking their dicks”. He is corrected by Paul who tells him that
medicine men do not, in fact, “shake their dicks” and while Arlen is visually Native American, he is
actually a practicing Christian. This example is just one of the circumstances where the film fights
racial stereotypes and associations because Arlen is not labeled by his ethnicity and he defies those
connotations. John Coffey is called a “simple-minded fella” because he is illiterate and has trouble
speaking, but Del is a white man and he is also uneducated and has trouble speaking. Since they both
have speech impediments, the “simple mindedness” is not solely related to a particular ethnicity, it is
just a character trait of the lowliness of the prison situation, not a racial connotation. In these ways,
The Green Mile cannot be a white savior film because it works to fight racist associations by defying
social stereotypes of race. White savior films rely on social and racial stereotypes to convey their
messages.
Villainy in The Green Mile is also not associated with race. There are two main villains in the
film: Percy and Wild Bill. Percy is the villainous guard with no respect for humanity, be it authority
or prisoners. He is the nephew of the governor and uses his status to manipulate the rules and get away
with poor behavior; making him a poor representation of upper class white people. Furthermore, he is
violent and cruel. He breaks fingers of an inmate because he smashes them against the bars of the cell
with his club and crushes Del’s mouse just to upset him. Not only is he physically abusive to the
inmates, but also he is verbally abusive. He curses at the inmates in general and uses derogatory slurs
like “faggot” and “dummy nigger”. The only times derogatory racial slurs are used in the film, they
are spoken by Percy. He even verbally defaces the dead bodies on the mile, mocking them. Then, he
begs to be up front in the next execution to watch it occur. Paul points out the inhumanity of this
character when he responds to this request, “Watching a man die isn’t enough for you, you gotta be
close enough to smell his nuts cook”. Paul references the horror of death and how shocking it is that
Percy is indifferent to it. Percy is meant to be a negative depiction of white superiority, which further
combats the idea of white supremacy inherent in white savior films.
On the other end of the spectrum, the other villain, Wild Bill shows the inhumanity of lower
class white men, so the statement of villainy is not one about a particular socioeconomic class or frame
of mind, but of humanity in general. Wild Bill murdered three women in a hold-up including a
pregnant mother. He is the only loud and obnoxious prisoner who refuses to follow the rules while in
his cell, making him the obvious problem on the mile. He urinates on the guards, spits on their faces,
chokes Percy against his cell and has to be put in solitary confinement multiple times. Before he
entered the Green Mile, the solitary confinement cell was full of furniture because was never used.
Percy was also put in solitary confinement in one scene because of his inappropriate behavior, further
drawing the parallel between the two characters of opposing status. In the end, it is shown that Wild
Bill actually raped and murdered the two girls that John is on death row for “raping and murdering”.
The images of the murder show that he murdered them for his own enjoyment and said to them John
Coffey, because of his magical abilities, sees all of this when Wild Bill grabs on to his arm. The
ability to kill for sport is another demonstration of lack of humanity. The parallels between the villains
of opposing social status shows that villainy is a human quality not classified to a particular group, as it
would be in a white savior film.
John explains to Paul the horrors of the world they live in and how wild Bill “killed them with
their love” because both girls kept silent in order to save the other’s life. This conversation between
John and Paul depicts the inhumanity of Wild Bill and how he could kill for sport and use their love for
each other against them. John Coffey continues his speech to say; “now you see how it is. That’s the
way it is every day. That’s the way it is all over the world.” He shows that the lack of humanity and
care for others is inherent in people all over the world regardless of ethnicity. People don’t respect the
lives of others and they do horrible things every day. This is a main theme of the film; it is not about a
white man saving a black man. John Coffey teaches Paul important lessons about life and changes the
meaning of his. If the film were a white savior film, Paul would be aiding John Coffey lifting him
from his dismal circumstances. However, John Coffey is aiding Paul, unintentionally, in finding a new
understanding of humanity. This interaction and relationship does not fit the white savior formula in
that respect.
This relationship between John and Paul also doesn’t fit the “God”, “wise-man”, or “Christ the
martyr” stereotype of the black man in the white savior film. John Coffey says himself that he
“doesn’t know much about anything”. He can’t play the “wise-man” or “all-knowing God” role
because his simplicity detracts from his wisdom. He also can’t play the martyr or “Christ” figure
because his death doesn’t save anyone. It is almost as suicide because he both wishes for and asks for
death. Suicide is a sin in the Bible. Not only does his death not save anyone, it curses Paul; as he
mentions in his final speech. If this curse is his “atonement” or “punishment” by God for killing John
Coffey, as was his will, neither characters are acting as a savior for either of them. Paul’s execution of
John is punishable because it is wrong and Paul is cursed by John’s wish of death. Therefore,
opposing potential interpretations, the relationship between Paul and John does not fit any of the white
savior molds. John is not a god-like figure; If he were, Paul would be rewarded for his deed and Paul
is not a savior because John is killed. John Coffey suffers from the pain that other people feel.
Though he is said to be “simple,” he makes profound statements about humanity throughout the film
that contain the lessons and messages the film carries. After he shows the images of Wild Bill’s
murder to Paul, he says, “Mostly, I’m tired of people being ugly to each other. I’m tired of all the pain
I feel and hear in the world every day. There’s too much of it. It’s like pieces of glass in my head all
the time.” This is his explanation to Paul of why he wants to die. This statement is not wise, but a
suicidal request. The desire for death contradicts the archetypes for a white savior. Paul reaches a new
understanding about humanity from this wish, which does not fit the white savior formula and neither
do either of the relationships between the characters.
The film further strays from the formula of a white savior because the focus is not on the
African American male, but the white male. In a white savior film, the white male would be playing
the savior, yet the black man is the one that “saves” the white man even though he does not fit the
“god” archetype. John Coffey takes Paul on the emotional journey creating his character arch and the
outline of the film. The film may appear to take the form of a white savior film by the way Paul
believes John Coffey is innocent even while he is on death row, offers to help him escape and “sets
him free” in the end, by executing him to remove him from the horrors of the world. However, these
moments in the film are neither the central focus nor the message of the film. The beginning and
ending of the film are focused on Paul in his old age in the nursing home, reminiscing on his time on
the Green Mile, when his family and loved ones were alive. The beginning and end frame the story
and signify whose story it is. When John Coffey allowed Paul to see what Wild Bill did, he gave him a
“part of him”, as he did the mouse, which caused them to live a very long time. At the beginning and
end of the film, Paul is 108 years old and this story is the reason he lives the way he does. The final
scene is a speech by Paul where he is explaining his appreciation for life because of his experiences
with John Coffey. His final speech goes as follows:
It’s my curse knowing I’ll be there to see [you die]. It’s my atonement, you see. It’s my
punishment for letting John Coffey ride the lightning; for killing a miracle of God.
You’ll be gone like all the others. I’ll have to stay. I’ll die eventually. Of that I’m sure.
I have no illusions of immortality but I will have wished for death long before death
finds me. In truth, I wish for it already. I lie in bed most nights thinking about it and I
wait. I think about all the people I’ve loved now long gone. I think about my beautiful
Jan and how I lost her so many years ago. And I think about all of us walking our own
Green Mile each in our own time. But one thought more than any other keeps me awake
most nights: if he could make a mouse live so long how much longer do I have? We
each owe a death. There are no exceptions. But, oh, God sometimes the Green Mile
seems so long.
This speech is the most important speech of the film and ties all of the pieces together. It parallels
Paul’s youth with his old age. During the speech, the images are of him walking the nursing home
superimposed over walking the green mile, each with Mr. Jingles in his pocket; the images are nearly
the same. These superimposed images show the parallel between him and the prisoners on death row.
Paul he directly speaks of this parallel when he says, “I think about all of us walking our own Green
Mile each in our own time”. In this statement, the “Green Mile” is the time at the end of life that one
knows is the end. This speech is demonstrating how it’s all the same. He is trapped in his life,
awaiting his death just as they were trapped in their cells awaiting theirs. He recognizes how
everyone’s lives are like prisoners: there is pain and suffering all around the world, everyone watches
loved ones move or pass on and everyone suffers in their own ways. These are messages about all of
humanity, disregarding all classifications of race, thus breaking the white savior mold.
While Paul “sets him free”, John Coffey enlightens Paul about life in general. Paul ties together
all of the messages that John coveys throughout the film in his final speech. He explicitly states the
conclusion the audience is meant to come to from John Coffey’s words and directly explains the
understanding the audience should have. The film is not meant to make statements about race
relations, John Coffey is merely the vessel for thought and teaching that allows Paul’s character to go
on his emotional journey and come out a changed man in the end. The story is about the emotional
journey of this, seemingly perfect, man and the internal conflict he confronts. The messages of the
film are about good and evil, life and death, not about race, as a white savior would be.
The Green Mile does include elements of a white savior film. The main character is an
upstanding white male in a position of authority who befriends a lowly black man on death row, who is
the lowest of the low. However, the film does not follow the formula of a white savior film. The film
combats racial stereotypes with its portrayals of races and portrayals of the villains. Paul does not save
John Coffey; John Coffey saves him, indirectly, and teaches him valuable life lessons in his wish for
death, but not from wisdom. In the end, John Coffey is not brought up in society to live “like a white
man” Paul is brought down from his position of authority to realize lessons about life for all of
humanity. Through these characters, interactions, and images, The Green Mile defies the mold of
white savior film and combats racial inequality in film.
Works Cited
Darabont, Frank, dir. The Green Mile. Writ. Stephen King. Castle Rock Entertainment , 1999. Film. 22
Apr 2013.
Hughley, Matthew. "The White Savior Film and Reviewers' Reception." Mississippi State University .
n. page. Print. <https://collab.itc.virginia.edu/access/content/group/e1c83749-216f-479b-b0954144a8ec1c78/Week 13 Readings/Hughey 2010 TheWhiteSaviorFilm.pdf>.
Owen, A. Susan, and Peter Ehrenhaus. "Communities Of Memory, Entanglements, And Claims Of The
Past On The Present: Reading Race Trauma Through The Green Mile." Critical Studies In
Media Communication 27.2 (2010): 131-154. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Apr. 2013.
Sirota, David. "Oscar Loves a White Savior." Salon. Salon Media Group, 21 Feb 2013. Web. 21 Apr
2013. <http://www.salon.com/2013/02/21/oscar_loves_a_white_savior/>.