In the Heat of the Night
On Wednesday, November 2nd, 2022, my Talking About Freedom class met up in the Extraordinaire Theatre to watch the movie "In the Heat of the Night." Released in 1967, it is a film that portrayed race relations in the south very well.
I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Out of the three that we had watched, this would happen to be my favorite. I love mysteries and following along to see who the culprit is. So, watching this movie was very fun and entertaining.
Not only was it entertaining, but it also accurately depicted racism in southern towns. At the start of the film, we witnessed racism directed toward the main character already. Sidney Poitier played the main character, Detective Virgil Tibbs. Virgil Tibbs is a homicide expert from the north. He was heading home on the late train when he was stopped by a local police officer for being a "suspicious person." He was brought into the station, which is when we found out that he himself is an officer from the north who had been in Mississippi to visit his mother. He then experienced multiple accounts of racism directed at him. Those instances throughout the film ranging from not being served at a restaurant to being attacked.
The movie showed how Virgil Tibbs struggled to prove himself to the members of the towns police force. He continuously had to make an effort the show that he could solve the crime. He even believed that if he didn't solve the mystery of the murder, he wouldn't be able to show everybody how good of a detective he was.
Eventually, towards the end of the film, he was able to earn the respect of the towns chief officer, Bill Gillespie (played by Rod Steiger), though only through trial and error while figuring out the case. We witnessed when the officers tried to take control of the case multiple times, thinking they had solved it, jumping in to take credit and lead of the case. Virgil Tibbs had tried to show how he was better in these types of situations. Taking back control and showing what actually needed to be done to the less experienced officers. In the end, both Gillespie and Tibbs realized that in order to solve the case, they would have to work together.
Overall, the film was attention-grabbing for me and didn't hold back on the depictions of racism in southern towns. It fits the description of being a drama and mystery, perfectly showcasing how Virgil Tibbs would've been treated at the time and still including the mystery as a key focus.
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