By james art 
Laura Dern played the character of Elizabeth Gilbert in the biographical dramatic movie A test of fire. Edward Zwick’s film sheds light on the real life case Willingham against Texas, which raised questions about the criminal justice system.
Elizabeth Gilbert, a French language teacher and a playwright from HoustonIt was at the end of the forties when she became a pen as a prisoner of death of death in 1999. This prisoner was Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in 2004.
Willingham was convicted of making arson in his own home, which led to the death of his three young daughters. During his correspondence with Gilbert, he insisted that he had done nothing to harm the girls.
Then it was a complete investigation that Gilbert conducted on her own. Unfortunately, despite the great effort she made, proving that Willingham deserves a second chance, she ultimately was unsuccessful to save him.
This whole series of incidents, with minor changes, was shown in 2018. A test of fire. Continue reading to learn more about how Gilbert’s faith in Willingham’s innocence raised serious doubts as to whether he deserves the death penalty.
Fire gave Elizabeth Gilbert the closure he needed
Elizabeth Gilbert wanted to write a play to inform the world that Willingham might not have been the villain the judiciary considered him. Unfortunately, she failed to do this.
So when Laura Dern, Jack O’Connell (who plays Willingham), and director Edward Zwick did FireGilbert finally managed to process his loss. In an article by Rafinery29 of May 18, 2019, it was reported that she had said:
“I had a huge amount of grief and guilt that I had failed it. [process of] Developing the movie and re -reading his letters, and in fact hearing the real words from his last letter to me [made me realize] I was the right person at the right time. Although we didn’t have the success we wanted. “
Cameron Todd Willingham refused to plead guilty
David Granner’s New York article since August 31, 2009, inspired the movie FireS On December 23, 1991, Cameron Todd Willingham, a 23-year-old unemployed car mechanic, woke up to find his family home in Corsicana on fire.
He managed to escape from the burning house, but failed to save his three children, one-year-old twin daughters, Carmon and Cameron and two-year-old Amber. His wife, Stacey, was far from that time.
The investigation made authorities conclude that Willingham deliberately set fire to the house. They offered him a deal: if he pleaded guilty, the state would give him a life sentence. He refused, claiming that he did not. This decision cost him his life.
The wife, Willingham’s parents, and his children’s babysitter insisted that he could not commit the crime to no avail. The only other person who believed that he deserved a fair process was playwright Elizabeth Gilbert.
Gilbert had done her best to prove that Willingham was probably innocent, but failed to stop her execution. Due to the fatal car accident that left her bed in real life, she could not be there during his execution. For a dramatic effect, the film showed that he missed the execution of Willingham on February 17, 2004 because of the car crash.
Fire is available for streaming at Netflix.