In the Heat of the Night
For me personally, the arrest of Tibbs at the start of In The Heat of the Night made me groan. Not another story of blatant southern racism…However, I was surprised how much the film turned around and made me sit on the edge of the seat, gripped by the enfolding murder mystery. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I like this movie!
Many themes that we are discussing in class were apparent in this film, such as the representation of how race and prejudice has kept people from going forward and working for the betterment of the nation. One theme that slowly evolved was the relationship between Tibbs and Chief Gillespie. It seemed that the Chief and Tibbs grew to be buddies and certainly the heartfelt goodbyes that were exchanged toward the end were a signal of a change in opinion of racism and first impressions. Like Beverly Hills Cop, we have a black cop/character teaching the white man how to be more intelligent and calculating in their investigations. I much prefer how Virgil does his investigations to the silliness of Axel Foley but that’s beside the point J
I tried to approach the movie with the mindset that all things done in movies is purposeful and not by accident so finding little things to look for made this movie a little easier to watch than the other two. The romanticized sexuality of the Dolores at the start of the film seemed trivial and crude, just to satisfy the male audience or whatnot; however you find out how pivotal her role is toward the end of the film. This used of a woman’s sexuality is almost as important as continuous swearing in these cop films….
I found it interesting that not all characters commented on Mr. Tibbs’ dress. He was obviously at a higher economic level than his counterpart Chief and is alluded to that he has money but the only character that I remember commented specifically about his dress was Harvey in the jail cell. The matter of race for him seems to vanish because of their current situation, they are both in jail together and he sees his as a more of a equal because of it.
The scene that I felt was the most awkward but simultaneously made me happy was the representation of the cotton fields at Endicott Cottons Co. It remind the audience of how things still are but Tibbs’ drive through it symbolizes a change, suggesting that one step at a time and you can be free of what you are almost destined to do. Even Gillespie comments of this realization: “None of that for you, huh, Virgil?”
It was refreshing to watch this movie and see how the change for black actors was beginning to take place….
Many themes that we are discussing in class were apparent in this film, such as the representation of how race and prejudice has kept people from going forward and working for the betterment of the nation. One theme that slowly evolved was the relationship between Tibbs and Chief Gillespie. It seemed that the Chief and Tibbs grew to be buddies and certainly the heartfelt goodbyes that were exchanged toward the end were a signal of a change in opinion of racism and first impressions. Like Beverly Hills Cop, we have a black cop/character teaching the white man how to be more intelligent and calculating in their investigations. I much prefer how Virgil does his investigations to the silliness of Axel Foley but that’s beside the point J
I tried to approach the movie with the mindset that all things done in movies is purposeful and not by accident so finding little things to look for made this movie a little easier to watch than the other two. The romanticized sexuality of the Dolores at the start of the film seemed trivial and crude, just to satisfy the male audience or whatnot; however you find out how pivotal her role is toward the end of the film. This used of a woman’s sexuality is almost as important as continuous swearing in these cop films….
I found it interesting that not all characters commented on Mr. Tibbs’ dress. He was obviously at a higher economic level than his counterpart Chief and is alluded to that he has money but the only character that I remember commented specifically about his dress was Harvey in the jail cell. The matter of race for him seems to vanish because of their current situation, they are both in jail together and he sees his as a more of a equal because of it.
The scene that I felt was the most awkward but simultaneously made me happy was the representation of the cotton fields at Endicott Cottons Co. It remind the audience of how things still are but Tibbs’ drive through it symbolizes a change, suggesting that one step at a time and you can be free of what you are almost destined to do. Even Gillespie comments of this realization: “None of that for you, huh, Virgil?”
It was refreshing to watch this movie and see how the change for black actors was beginning to take place….
posted by Alexandria Vazquez at 8:05 AM
1 Comments:
I was worried about the same thing with the movie starting off with a black guy getting arrested. Way too typical. It did turn out to be a pretty good movie though.
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