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Mississippi Burning is an evocative movie that arouses horror over racial hatred. In fact, Director Alan Parker, in an interview, stated that the film's objective was precisely to "...cause them to react...because of the racism that's around them now..." (King, 1988, para.7). Parker does this by questioning the origins of the hatred through the characters in the film. Ward, the by the book FBI agent, expresses it eloquently when he wonders, "Where does it come from, all this hatred?" (Mississippi Burning)
One clear implication made by the film is that racism is perpetuated by the ignorant, as evidenced by its depiction of rednecks who, blindly adopting the racist attitude of their forefathers,...
Ward....' Gerolmo attempts a quick-fix enlightenment, blaming poverty and superstition....' (Kempley, 1988. para. 6,10.)
The film further traces the origins of prejudice in cowardice and insecurity: "Pell's wife...taken a lot...self-hating racist, who needs a gun on his belt...hood over his head...gather the courage.... We can see how sexy their hatred feels to the racists...compensates for their sense of worthlessness." (Ebert, 1988. para. 5,10.) While the movie focuses on the ignorant and cowardly, intimidating tactics of the masses, it by no means excuses the…
Bibliography
Web Site
Ebert, R. (1988, December 9.) Mississippi Burning. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved September, 2003, from the Chicago Sun-Times Web site: http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1988/12/328325.html
King, W. (1988, December 4). Fact vs. Fiction in Mississippi. The New York
Times. Retrieved September 5, 2003, from The New York Times Web site: http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?title1=Mississippi%20BURNING%20%28MOVIE%29%20
Retrieved September 5, 2003, from The Washington Post Web site: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/Mississippiburningrkempley_a0c9de.htm
Mississippi Burning The 1988 film Mississippi Burning depicts the total infestation of Mississippi government and civic society by racist rednecks. The Ku Klux Klan serves as a quasi-governmental and paramilitary authority that defies federal law. Their total infiltration into local governments makes the KKK an incredibly dangerous and powerful organization. Civil Rights legislation presents real threats to Klan authority. The KKK have no respect for the mandate of the federal government and
The fact that the local police authorities and local governing officials (like the mayor) were all of the same mindset as the perpetrators and that a deputy sheriff was involved first-hand in the murders virtually ensured that the crimes would remain unsolved unless the investigating authorities deviated from the normal guidelines for criminal investigations. Nevertheless, the specific tactics used by the FBI agents were themselves criminal actions that, in other
Membership in the KKK implies a support for hate crime; membership in the KKK is equivalent to membership in a domestic terrorist group. No Klan member can plead ignorance about the motives and tactics used by the organization. The organization exists to perpetuate a culture of white supremacy, by whatever means possible. Using violence, intimidation, infiltration of law enforcement, and conspiracy all point to terrorist acts. The KKK is
The efforts of the FBI to solve this case were certainly in the greater good, and they did solve the case, even though the trial was a mockery. It seems the FBI could have done more to have the case moved to a more neutral location to help ensure a fair trial, which certainly did not happen. Indeed, the FBI gave high priority to the case, and even opened an
Mis) representations of African-Americans in film: From the Birth of a Nation onward Recently, the Academy of Motion Pictures awarded 12 Years a Slave the title of Best Picture of the year. However, it is important to remember that the development of American cinema, racism, and the perpetuation of African-American stereotypes in film has a long and ignoble history. In the essay "The Good Lynching and Birth of a Nation: Discourses
Imdb.com). What Mrs. Pell says to agent Anderson is both poignant and ironic: "Hatred isn't something you're born with. At school, they said segregation what's said in the Bible...Genesis 9, Verse 27. At 7 years of age, you get told it enough times, you believe it. You believe the hatred. You live it...you breathe it. You marry it" (Pell, (www.imdb.com).This movie was not a documentary albeit it did follow the plot