The most significant thing I took away from the part of the movie that we watched today was how involved the KKK was with the situation that evolved in Mississippi. The scene where the KK chases the boy out of the house into the pigpen and then when they dumped him in the middle of the town was very surprising. I think it shows how brutal the KKK was to the blacks in Mississippi. As if beating up and dumping a kid in the street was not brutal enough, the KKK also raided a church because of one boy. The scene where the black people come out of their church and try to run away but the KKK chases everyone and attacks them was horrifying. These people were American citizens, and their skin color was what meant the difference between a broken limb and breaking another person’s limb. There are also signs that the KKK is corrupting the local police department too, which shows an even greater sign of KKK involvement. With the power to use the law to root out people the KKK has almost no limits as to what it can and cannot do. Just as a side note, the KKK member who hit the little black boy who talked to the FBI agents had the same voice as the man who the older FBI agent grabbed at the groin and threw to the ground. The amount of corruption is astonishing in this small town in Mississippi and the missing three people helped to expose this. The only goodness that I can see coming out of the boys’ deaths is a sort of martyrdom, where their deaths helped expose Mississippians for who they really were. The interviews of random people that said that blacks and whites were equal were again a sort of revealing to us as viewers that Civil Rights in the south were far from equal. The white people even refused to acknowledge what life was really like in Mississippi. Overall this part of the film was shocking, eye opening, and I can’t wait to see what happens next in Hollywood’s version of the triple homicide and missing persons case we are watching.
Brad, I agree with you that this part of the movie really highlighted the KKK's involvement. It was really terrible to see the way that white citizens treated other humans beings only based on their skin color. One of the other things that this part of the movie showed was the FBI's involvement, and how powerless they were against the KKK. Because the KKK is a secret society, it is impossible to tell for sure who is a part of it, and what exactly they are responsible for. Acts of violence throughout the town could be organized KKK crime, or it could simply be one angry white citizen who decided to target a black. Even if it was identified as an act of the KKK, it would be impossible to tell who exactly in the KKK was responsible. This part of the movie is showing that even with hundreds of men in Mississippi, the FBI cannot overpower the KKK. The FBI will have to find a different strategy if they want to beat the KKK.
In my last comment I ended it with saying it will be interesting how these two different FBI agents will work together. I think that the relationship they develop is really interesting. In the beginning, it is tough to tell if Mr. Anderson truly believes that integration is the right path for America. He seems to somewhat side with the people in the South because that was where he was raised. However, by the end of the section we just watched it is clear that Anderson does believe in the cause and that he will do whatever it takes to find the three boys and prosecute the members of the team who organized the killings of the three boys and the various violent and vicious attacks following the deaths of the three boys. Anderson goes about finding these three boys in a very different but still effective way from Proctor. Proctor goes directly by the book and wholeheartedly believes in Civil Rights and the two often butt heads. The progress they both make is substantial but very different from one another. It will be interesting to see if the two become good partners by the end of the film.
Like Tina has said before me, I was interested in seeing how the relationship between the two FBI agents would develop and also their relationship with the town they are in. There seems to be some tension rising between the two agents as both have two different ideas on how to deal with this situation. The younger one wants to do everything by the book while the older one has lived in a town much like this and has a better understanding of how to get things done. The older agent realizes that the wife of one of the KKK is not happy with her husband and could be convinced to help them. He goes after this and spends time with her to try and figure this which is unconventional as the agent who does everything by the book only talks to husband and gets no where while he starts to get information from her. Since the older agent is the one who seems to be getting somewhere with the investigation we are meant to start to like him more and see him as someone who knows what he is doing and what to do to solve the investigation. This means that we are led to not like the other agent as much as he ignores the advice he is given and only does what he believes is right. I am interested to see whose investigation techniques lead to success.
I think there were two significant ideas that were exposed in today's section of the movie. The first is the way the two FBI agents are developing and the other is the significant role the KKK plays in Mississippi. We see the younger agent really start to follow the rules and codes of the law in his investigation. He makes sure all of his procedures are accurate and thorough. When he runs into dead ends, which was a lot, he continues to call in for help and numbers from DC. It seemed like to me that all of the agents brought in were all these government robots trying to work this case. Anderson, the older guy, on the other hand, seems to have more of a sense of the people they need to be working with. Whether it was growing up in the south or being an ex-sheriff, he knows how to work people. He knows what people to talk to, and he knows how to get them to talk. His work is nothing like the younger agent's (along with the DC men). Anderson sticks much more to connecting with people and using his common knowledge to investigate rather than go law by law like the younger agent and the DC officials are doing. Meanwhile, during this part of the movie we are introduced to a lot more showings of the KKK. Though we have seen a lot of them, it has been a lot of the same stuff. They are overly violent and discriminate harshly against the blacks. The worst scene to watch so far was when the blacks were leaving church and the KKK was waiting outside to attack them. It was a very gruesome attack and all ages and sexes were attacked by these white men. Overall, this was a huge jump in developing so far in the movie. It will be interesting to see what happens to the KKK and the agents. I predict that the KKK will continue to be terrible towards blacks and though I am not completely sure, I hope that Anderson is the agent that solves the case and can somehow show the younger agent his way of solving the case.
This section of the documentary also includes lots of contrasts, such as evil versus innocent, strong versus weak, truth versus lies, police versus criminals, blacks versus whites, and how those contrasts play against each other. As Cailey notes, the younger FBI agent is contrasted with the older, wiser, and more experienced agent. Much of this story thus far seems to be about abusive bullying (on the part of the KKK) and about seeking truth (as in the FBI agents’ quest for answers.) I still don’t understand the KKK’s motivations. Of course their racism has most impact of their behavior but it seems like their violent behavior has a lot also to do with asserting their power within the small community and also pleasure in hurting others. It is hard to know what comes first, their satisfaction in brutally hurting others, or their belief that they are a superior race. The combination of their enjoyment in hurting others and their extreme prejudices makes for lethal behavior and the violent spread of hatred. The FBI agents on the other hand seem to have their own agendas. Three worlds are colliding: the world of the African Americans, the world of the violent KKK, and world of the FBI agents, who are seeking answers.
While watching the section of movie today, I was surprised to see a few things. One was the difference between how willing the women and men were to talk to Anderson about the situation in Mississippi. After only a few words in the Barber Shop, the men suspicious of him and his questions. Then he walked over to the women's hairdressers, and the women were joking with him and the deputy's wife was very nice. In the scene where Anderson walks into the illegal bar, his questions are shot down and he is majorly disrespected by the members of the KKK who are there. I don't know what he expected to get out of them, when they had made it so clear that they did not want him in their town, trying to act like he ran things. Then when he is in the Deputy's house asking the Deputy's wife about her husband's alibi, it was surprising how willing she was to speak with him without her husband there and how kind she was. The reaction was so different from how everyone else treated the outsiders. Another thing that surprised me today was, like everyone before me has said, the involvement in the situation of the KKK. From the documentary, it seemed as though they sat back after the event and let everyone scramble for clues they wouldn't be able to find. However, in the movie they are shown knocking on doors and beating people up, scaring them into keeping silent. This doesn't seem like a very smart idea because the more people that know the KKK was responsible, the more people there were that could turn them in. One more thing that surprised me and left me skeptical was the number of men they brought in to search the swamp for the bodies. It looked a little far-fetched that the FBI (who weren't very involved to begin with) would be able to get so many men involved in a search for bodies that weren't confirmed dead, and weren't confirmed as being anywhere near the swamp.
One of the first scenes that surprised me from the section of the movie we watched today was the scene where the men went to the house of the young black man who the younger FBI agent had attempted to question in the diner and beat him up. This was so surprising as the man had refused to say anything to the FBI agent when questioned, as he was scared of the KKK like most others were, and yet he was still followed to his house and beaten up in the middle of the night. Another thing I noticed from the part of the movie we watched today was the sequence where it switches between more men are being sent by the FBI to help with the search and various churches being burned to the ground. This scene displayed even more the symbol of the burning churches for the tension in Mississippi, since the FBI were only "starting a war," as the older agent said at one point in the movie, by brining more men down into Mississippi and raising more attention around the murder of the three men. Another interesting scene was where the two agents went to where the group of church members were gathering where their church had formerly been, before it was burned down. In this scene everyone disperses once they see the two agents as to avoid answering any questions. This scene was interesting as, although there were not any KKK members in sight, everyone was still unwilling to answer any questions because of the fear that the KKK might eventually find out and punish them.
One of the things that struck me in the film was the tension that still existed between the North and the South. It was reminiscent of the Civil War. In the South, as a man in the barbershop said, people did not want northerners to interfere with their way of life. The man claimed, "Our negroes are happy. We don't want others to tell us how to live our lives". On the other hand, the Northerners viewed the Southern culture as crude and backward. Perhaps this regional tension was also a major obstacle to the civil rights movement, as the Southerners were parochial and refused to change the status quo. It was shocking to see how blatant people could be with their racist views in the South as the news reporters interviewed ordinary people. A businessman openly told the media that he did not accept Jews, blacks, or Mongols in the South, and he strove to preserve an Anglo-Saxon democracy. An ordinary Southerner openly stated that the blacks were inferior in front of the media and claimed that the incident of three missing persons was merely a hoax to draw national attention. When the black kid next to whom the young FBI agent sat in the restaurant were thrown off a car after beaten, the local police and federal agents both stepped in. Tensions between the federal government and the state government were manifested when the local sheriff told the FBI to back off. They were hostile toward the FBI agents who claimed to have come to help them. This was also shown when a member of the Mississippi police department told Mr. Anderson that Washington could change nothing except over his dead body. In addition, angered by the FBI agents' presence in Mississippi, the Southern white supremacists took revenge on black people for whom the FBI agents had come. While KKK bombed and burned houses of innocent black people, it was especially disturbing to see how the KKK members surrounded a black Church and attacked the black people who had just come out of the Church. Considering the heavy religious influence in the South, I found such crime both hypocritical and particularly horrifying. One more thing, which Heather has pointed out, is how the young FBI agent was able to summon so many men to search the bodies. When Mr. Anderson told him "this would start a war", I feel that his action would cause more serious consequences than provoking a few incidents of burning.
As I didn’t see part of the movie, I didn’t really know who the agents were. I didn’t really know the FBI agents’ names, so that was something that prevented me from fully understanding what was going on in the movie. However, I could see how much the South hated the FBI agents coming in to investigate what happened to the three civil rights workers. It was interesting to see how as more FBI agents came to investigate the area, the director would often show the KKK acting more violent, destroying the churches and homes of other black families. The two scenes really showed how people weren’t happy with the FBI agents coming in. I really liked the contrast between the young FBI agent and the old agent. It shows some of the problems the FBI had during the investigation. Some were ridiculous though. The young agent seems to not really know how to act when problems arises. For example, when the motel manager starts having problems with the FBI agents in the motel, the young agent decides that buying the motel is the best way to solve it. I though that really showed how inexperienced he was as a person can’t just buy a motel just for the purpose of an investigation. I though that was really stupid of him as I thought the FBI would have taught him something better than to buy a business just for a couple of weeks. Another thing the really surprised me was how different women and men treated the older FBI agent. I noticed that the women tended to treat him nicer and were more willing to tell him their opinions about the three boys. The women also seemed more sympathetic towards the two white boys, asking whether or not they’ll find their bodies. The men were the opposite of the women. They didn’t care about the men. When the older agent went to visit the bar, he was interrogated by the local men, and was told that the FBI weren’t going to be able to find the three civil rights activists regardless of how hard they searched. I found that really surprising as I though they would at least show some sympathy for the white boys. Overall, I really like this movie, and I think the contrasts between the two FBI agents will be an interesting thing to watch for.
There are two key points to the scenes in this part of movie: The relationship between the agents, and the involvement of the KKK. Another important mention is the interviews with the townspeople on TV.
The relationship between the agents, as everyone else has mentioned, is an interesting one. At first, I thought that Agent Anderson would not take the case seriously as he was raised in the south and would not be able to work with the Black people; however, he shows a friendly attitude towards both the black and white people of the town, and knows how to interact with them. His more casual and flexible attitude can be seen when he talks to the black boy and man in the burnt down church, his talks with Mrs Pell, and his visit to the bar. In contrast, Agent Ward plays by the rules, often reporting back to HQ and blunt with his questions. Many people who are questioned get nervous in front of him and tend to clam up. He is easily irritated, shown by his attitude in how he asks for men to comb the swamp.
The involvement and influence of the KKK was another key part of this part of these scenes. In the Movie, the KKK regularly assaulted witnesses and people who helped the FBI to make them stay silent. However, in reality the KKK seemed to have stayed quiet during these times, I assume from the documentary.
The interviews directly show the attitude that the white townspeople had towards the black people. They did not consider them unfairly treated and said that the people who were assaulted got what they deserved.
Examples of the KKK's violent involvement include: the attack on the boy whom Agent Ward talked to in the diner, the attack on the black boy and the church group who talked with the FBI, and the attack on Agent Ward and Anderson themselves at the Hotel. The Movie portrays an immensely active KKK who do not care for the Laws of the country, but only enforces their own ideas in their county.
There were a few details in today’s showing of “Mississippi Burning” that proved to have great significance in understanding segregation in the South at the time of the three civil rights activists’ disappearances. The first of these, as Tina and Craig have already touched upon, was the relationship between the two FBI agents, Ward and Anderson. It is quite apparent that they have different ways of uncovering the truth. Ward is strictly by the book and even sends orders to Washington saying that he needs more men. Anderson, on the other hand believes that this was a bad idea because of the uproar that it would create in the town. As soon as the streets of Jessup were flooded with more and more agents, it appeared that the directors showed more and more attacks by the Ku Klux Klan. This gave me the idea that attacks were becoming more prevalent than they already had been. I think that this was a wise choice by the directors because it shows the audience that the KKK and FBI were almost in a competition for who would survive the longest in Mississippi. (The KKK, by burning churches and torturing and killing African Americans as they pleased, proved to the town and the FBI that they were currently the ones in control.) Agent Anderson, with knowledge of the inner workings of small towns, reached out to those, who may not be seen as essential to the case to those who come from a nationally based organization. An example of this was Anderson’s conversations with the sheriff’s assistant’s wife. By getting close to her, Anderson could uncover small truths that may later play a large role in discovering where the bodies were buried. I also think that it was a wise choice for the directors to set up a scene where Anderson walks in on “casual conversation” between the police officers. Here, it was easy to notice the tension in the room. I got the idea that the meeting was between KKK members. If so, this was a subtle indication towards their involvement in illegal actions. The producer’s decision to not make this clear keeps the audience intrigued. I certainly want to continue watching the movie. Lastly, the scene with the African American boy on his hands and knees praying when the KKK ambush his church, proved to me that there were some people who were willing to make a stand. They were not going to run (or show fear). This could occur in a person of any age. Each of these shocking event helps the audience to understand another unjust quality of life. “Mississippi Burning” also certainly helps to understand the perspectives of many different types (and aged) of characters. I look forward to seeing how these relationships continue to unfold.
I enjoyed this segment of the movie as well. I think this part was important because it showed the role of the KKK in Mississippi at this time period. For example, a lot of black people were in church at night, and when they were leaving they were raided by the KKK. Several black people were beaten, including a little kid. I think the fact that the little kid was beaten was the most important part because it shows that the KKK has no mercy. The KKK member that beat the kid threatened to kill him, which signifies that the KKK refuses to ever change their ways. Also, we learned that the KKK members in town did not openly discuss that they were in the KKK, but people knew who they were. They seemed like the "big shots" in town, partly because most people in that town were against the blacks.
Also, it was interesting how when the two FBI agents showed up to the gathering of the black people that they all dispersed. It shows how scared they are to talk to white people, even if they're FBI agents. For example, when that one kid was talked to in the diner by Willem Defoe, he was later beaten up and thrown out of a moving car. The black people in the town are victims of the white people, and they are scared to even talk to them.
I think that there is definitely an upward curve of intensity happening as we move through "Mississippi Burning". Like Shelbie said, it's clear at this point that the struggle is now between the KKK and the FBI. Ward seems to hope that by bringing more FBI agents and Sailors into town, he will either scare off the KKK or find the bodies quicker. Looking at the Jessup County community, it seems clear that because the Klan has been "in power" for a long time, and the FBI just showed up, the people of the county are more likely to do as the Klan tells them in order to remain safe. Even the African Americans, for whom the college kids came to the south for, know to stay back when the Klan poses them a threat. I'm slightly confused by the way Anderson makes the FBI present in the community. Buying a local theater to use as a command center, and then buying a local motel for FBI agents to stay seems intense. For one thing, the movie theater is in the center of the town. If the people of the town were to decide on what they think the most invasive thing the FBI did was, I think they'd agree that taking over a large building in the center of their town was it. I thought the scene with the boy kneeling outside the church was important for the audience to see, just like the burning church at the beginning of the movie. I think it stands to remind the audience that the KKK wasn't attacking these African Americans because they were doing something wrong. They were attacking the African Americans simply because they were African Americans. The boy, kneeling, unarmed, and not a threat to the KKK, was still whacked with a stick. I think the relationship between Anderson and the Deputy's wife is interesting. At the moment, I can't say for certain what the purpose of it is. I can't tell whether Anderson actually has feelings for the Deputy's wife, being a single man whose wife left him, or if he's just trying to be nice to her in order to gain information. Finally, I point to the last scene we saw, with Anderson in the meeting room with the men who I assume are all Klansmen. One man openly said that he'd kill over African American voting rights. At the end of the scene, its clear Anderson doesn't play by any rules, and that he isn't concerned about getting in trouble, when he grabs (the Deputy?) in a place where men don't like to be grabbed. I think this makes it even clearer what the difference is between Ward and Anderson.
One theme that was emphasized during today’s viewing is the prominence and violence of the KKK during the time of the Civil Rights Movement. One scene that absolutely shocked me was when the KKK attacked a group of black people who were leaving their church. One little boy, about ten years old, got onto his knees and prayed while this event happened. Then, one member of the Klan came up to him and beat this ten year old boy. Also, one part of the movie showed a burning cross. I think that the burning of the religious places and object symbolize how much the whites are trying to get rid of the blacks’ freedom and way of life; religion was a major part of many African Americans’ lives. Although I think that some of the burning is a little dramatic, these dramatic effects further portray the message of the KKK violence towards blacks. Another scene that I found to be noteworthy is when one of the FBI agents is asking questions to a woman whose husband was attacked by the KKK. Since the woman did not report this incident to the police, it shows that even the people of authority were racist and the blacks did not trust them. One aspect of the movie that I find interesting is that the two FBI agents, the younger on more so than the older one, seem dedicated to finding these three civil rights workers and cracking the case. In reality, the FBI was racist and only became involved in the case because they were forced to; it was mostly the blacks doing the work in this search. I do not like that the director does this, because unlike a minor fictionalization, it is a major twist of the truth. However, I think that the director chooses to use the two FBI agents as the center of the search because in the end the FBI agents are the ones searching for the civil rights workers. Parker had to show dedication in order to move the plot along. Further reasons for Parker making this decision may be revealed later in the movie. In addition, during the media coverage that this part entailed, the white people thought that both races were treated equal. The white people thought the story of the three civil rights’ workers disappearing was a hoax. This shows that the whites in the South thought that their own people were not doing anything wrong to the blacks. One last scene of today’s viewing includes the young boy that was later beaten saying to one of the FBI agents that it should not be the colored that he should be talking to; he should be talking to the white people, starting with the sheriff’s office. This scene shows that the whites were the ones who committed these murders, so they would more likely know who, personally, was responsible.
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ReplyDeleteThe most significant thing I took away from the part of the movie that we watched today was how involved the KKK was with the situation that evolved in Mississippi. The scene where the KK chases the boy out of the house into the pigpen and then when they dumped him in the middle of the town was very surprising. I think it shows how brutal the KKK was to the blacks in Mississippi. As if beating up and dumping a kid in the street was not brutal enough, the KKK also raided a church because of one boy. The scene where the black people come out of their church and try to run away but the KKK chases everyone and attacks them was horrifying. These people were American citizens, and their skin color was what meant the difference between a broken limb and breaking another person’s limb. There are also signs that the KKK is corrupting the local police department too, which shows an even greater sign of KKK involvement. With the power to use the law to root out people the KKK has almost no limits as to what it can and cannot do. Just as a side note, the KKK member who hit the little black boy who talked to the FBI agents had the same voice as the man who the older FBI agent grabbed at the groin and threw to the ground. The amount of corruption is astonishing in this small town in Mississippi and the missing three people helped to expose this. The only goodness that I can see coming out of the boys’ deaths is a sort of martyrdom, where their deaths helped expose Mississippians for who they really were. The interviews of random people that said that blacks and whites were equal were again a sort of revealing to us as viewers that Civil Rights in the south were far from equal. The white people even refused to acknowledge what life was really like in Mississippi. Overall this part of the film was shocking, eye opening, and I can’t wait to see what happens next in Hollywood’s version of the triple homicide and missing persons case we are watching.
ReplyDeleteBrad, I agree with you that this part of the movie really highlighted the KKK's involvement. It was really terrible to see the way that white citizens treated other humans beings only based on their skin color. One of the other things that this part of the movie showed was the FBI's involvement, and how powerless they were against the KKK. Because the KKK is a secret society, it is impossible to tell for sure who is a part of it, and what exactly they are responsible for. Acts of violence throughout the town could be organized KKK crime, or it could simply be one angry white citizen who decided to target a black. Even if it was identified as an act of the KKK, it would be impossible to tell who exactly in the KKK was responsible. This part of the movie is showing that even with hundreds of men in Mississippi, the FBI cannot overpower the KKK. The FBI will have to find a different strategy if they want to beat the KKK.
DeleteIn my last comment I ended it with saying it will be interesting how these two different FBI agents will work together. I think that the relationship they develop is really interesting. In the beginning, it is tough to tell if Mr. Anderson truly believes that integration is the right path for America. He seems to somewhat side with the people in the South because that was where he was raised. However, by the end of the section we just watched it is clear that Anderson does believe in the cause and that he will do whatever it takes to find the three boys and prosecute the members of the team who organized the killings of the three boys and the various violent and vicious attacks following the deaths of the three boys. Anderson goes about finding these three boys in a very different but still effective way from Proctor. Proctor goes directly by the book and wholeheartedly believes in Civil Rights and the two often butt heads. The progress they both make is substantial but very different from one another. It will be interesting to see if the two become good partners by the end of the film.
ReplyDeleteLike Tina has said before me, I was interested in seeing how the relationship between the two FBI agents would develop and also their relationship with the town they are in. There seems to be some tension rising between the two agents as both have two different ideas on how to deal with this situation. The younger one wants to do everything by the book while the older one has lived in a town much like this and has a better understanding of how to get things done. The older agent realizes that the wife of one of the KKK is not happy with her husband and could be convinced to help them. He goes after this and spends time with her to try and figure this which is unconventional as the agent who does everything by the book only talks to husband and gets no where while he starts to get information from her. Since the older agent is the one who seems to be getting somewhere with the investigation we are meant to start to like him more and see him as someone who knows what he is doing and what to do to solve the investigation. This means that we are led to not like the other agent as much as he ignores the advice he is given and only does what he believes is right. I am interested to see whose investigation techniques lead to success.
ReplyDeleteI think there were two significant ideas that were exposed in today's section of the movie. The first is the way the two FBI agents are developing and the other is the significant role the KKK plays in Mississippi. We see the younger agent really start to follow the rules and codes of the law in his investigation. He makes sure all of his procedures are accurate and thorough. When he runs into dead ends, which was a lot, he continues to call in for help and numbers from DC. It seemed like to me that all of the agents brought in were all these government robots trying to work this case. Anderson, the older guy, on the other hand, seems to have more of a sense of the people they need to be working with. Whether it was growing up in the south or being an ex-sheriff, he knows how to work people. He knows what people to talk to, and he knows how to get them to talk. His work is nothing like the younger agent's (along with the DC men). Anderson sticks much more to connecting with people and using his common knowledge to investigate rather than go law by law like the younger agent and the DC officials are doing. Meanwhile, during this part of the movie we are introduced to a lot more showings of the KKK. Though we have seen a lot of them, it has been a lot of the same stuff. They are overly violent and discriminate harshly against the blacks. The worst scene to watch so far was when the blacks were leaving church and the KKK was waiting outside to attack them. It was a very gruesome attack and all ages and sexes were attacked by these white men. Overall, this was a huge jump in developing so far in the movie. It will be interesting to see what happens to the KKK and the agents. I predict that the KKK will continue to be terrible towards blacks and though I am not completely sure, I hope that Anderson is the agent that solves the case and can somehow show the younger agent his way of solving the case.
ReplyDeleteThis section of the documentary also includes lots of contrasts, such as evil versus innocent, strong versus weak, truth versus lies, police versus criminals, blacks versus whites, and how those contrasts play against each other. As Cailey notes, the younger FBI agent is contrasted with the older, wiser, and more experienced agent. Much of this story thus far seems to be about abusive bullying (on the part of the KKK) and about seeking truth (as in the FBI agents’ quest for answers.) I still don’t understand the KKK’s motivations. Of course their racism has most impact of their behavior but it seems like their violent behavior has a lot also to do with asserting their power within the small community and also pleasure in hurting others. It is hard to know what comes first, their satisfaction in brutally hurting others, or their belief that they are a superior race. The combination of their enjoyment in hurting others and their extreme prejudices makes for lethal behavior and the violent spread of hatred. The FBI agents on the other hand seem to have their own agendas. Three worlds are colliding: the world of the African Americans, the world of the violent KKK, and world of the FBI agents, who are seeking answers.
DeleteWhile watching the section of movie today, I was surprised to see a few things. One was the difference between how willing the women and men were to talk to Anderson about the situation in Mississippi. After only a few words in the Barber Shop, the men suspicious of him and his questions. Then he walked over to the women's hairdressers, and the women were joking with him and the deputy's wife was very nice. In the scene where Anderson walks into the illegal bar, his questions are shot down and he is majorly disrespected by the members of the KKK who are there. I don't know what he expected to get out of them, when they had made it so clear that they did not want him in their town, trying to act like he ran things. Then when he is in the Deputy's house asking the Deputy's wife about her husband's alibi, it was surprising how willing she was to speak with him without her husband there and how kind she was. The reaction was so different from how everyone else treated the outsiders.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that surprised me today was, like everyone before me has said, the involvement in the situation of the KKK. From the documentary, it seemed as though they sat back after the event and let everyone scramble for clues they wouldn't be able to find. However, in the movie they are shown knocking on doors and beating people up, scaring them into keeping silent. This doesn't seem like a very smart idea because the more people that know the KKK was responsible, the more people there were that could turn them in.
One more thing that surprised me and left me skeptical was the number of men they brought in to search the swamp for the bodies. It looked a little far-fetched that the FBI (who weren't very involved to begin with) would be able to get so many men involved in a search for bodies that weren't confirmed dead, and weren't confirmed as being anywhere near the swamp.
One of the first scenes that surprised me from the section of the movie we watched today was the scene where the men went to the house of the young black man who the younger FBI agent had attempted to question in the diner and beat him up. This was so surprising as the man had refused to say anything to the FBI agent when questioned, as he was scared of the KKK like most others were, and yet he was still followed to his house and beaten up in the middle of the night.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I noticed from the part of the movie we watched today was the sequence where it switches between more men are being sent by the FBI to help with the search and various churches being burned to the ground. This scene displayed even more the symbol of the burning churches for the tension in Mississippi, since the FBI were only "starting a war," as the older agent said at one point in the movie, by brining more men down into Mississippi and raising more attention around the murder of the three men.
Another interesting scene was where the two agents went to where the group of church members were gathering where their church had formerly been, before it was burned down. In this scene everyone disperses once they see the two agents as to avoid answering any questions. This scene was interesting as, although there were not any KKK members in sight, everyone was still unwilling to answer any questions because of the fear that the KKK might eventually find out and punish them.
One of the things that struck me in the film was the tension that still existed between the North and the South. It was reminiscent of the Civil War. In the South, as a man in the barbershop said, people did not want northerners to interfere with their way of life. The man claimed, "Our negroes are happy. We don't want others to tell us how to live our lives". On the other hand, the Northerners viewed the Southern culture as crude and backward. Perhaps this regional tension was also a major obstacle to the civil rights movement, as the Southerners were parochial and refused to change the status quo. It was shocking to see how blatant people could be with their racist views in the South as the news reporters interviewed ordinary people. A businessman openly told the media that he did not accept Jews, blacks, or Mongols in the South, and he strove to preserve an Anglo-Saxon democracy. An ordinary Southerner openly stated that the blacks were inferior in front of the media and claimed that the incident of three missing persons was merely a hoax to draw national attention.
ReplyDeleteWhen the black kid next to whom the young FBI agent sat in the restaurant were thrown off a car after beaten, the local police and federal agents both stepped in. Tensions between the federal government and the state government were manifested when the local sheriff told the FBI to back off. They were hostile toward the FBI agents who claimed to have come to help them. This was also shown when a member of the Mississippi police department told Mr. Anderson that Washington could change nothing except over his dead body. In addition, angered by the FBI agents' presence in Mississippi, the Southern white supremacists took revenge on black people for whom the FBI agents had come. While KKK bombed and burned houses of innocent black people, it was especially disturbing to see how the KKK members surrounded a black Church and attacked the black people who had just come out of the Church. Considering the heavy religious influence in the South, I found such crime both hypocritical and particularly horrifying. One more thing, which Heather has pointed out, is how the young FBI agent was able to summon so many men to search the bodies. When Mr. Anderson told him "this would start a war", I feel that his action would cause more serious consequences than provoking a few incidents of burning.
As I didn’t see part of the movie, I didn’t really know who the agents were. I didn’t really know the FBI agents’ names, so that was something that prevented me from fully understanding what was going on in the movie. However, I could see how much the South hated the FBI agents coming in to investigate what happened to the three civil rights workers. It was interesting to see how as more FBI agents came to investigate the area, the director would often show the KKK acting more violent, destroying the churches and homes of other black families. The two scenes really showed how people weren’t happy with the FBI agents coming in.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the contrast between the young FBI agent and the old agent. It shows some of the problems the FBI had during the investigation. Some were ridiculous though. The young agent seems to not really know how to act when problems arises. For example, when the motel manager starts having problems with the FBI agents in the motel, the young agent decides that buying the motel is the best way to solve it. I though that really showed how inexperienced he was as a person can’t just buy a motel just for the purpose of an investigation. I though that was really stupid of him as I thought the FBI would have taught him something better than to buy a business just for a couple of weeks.
Another thing the really surprised me was how different women and men treated the older FBI agent. I noticed that the women tended to treat him nicer and were more willing to tell him their opinions about the three boys. The women also seemed more sympathetic towards the two white boys, asking whether or not they’ll find their bodies. The men were the opposite of the women. They didn’t care about the men. When the older agent went to visit the bar, he was interrogated by the local men, and was told that the FBI weren’t going to be able to find the three civil rights activists regardless of how hard they searched. I found that really surprising as I though they would at least show some sympathy for the white boys.
Overall, I really like this movie, and I think the contrasts between the two FBI agents will be an interesting thing to watch for.
There are two key points to the scenes in this part of movie: The relationship between the agents, and the involvement of the KKK. Another important mention is the interviews with the townspeople on TV.
ReplyDeleteThe relationship between the agents, as everyone else has mentioned, is an interesting one. At first, I thought that Agent Anderson would not take the case seriously as he was raised in the south and would not be able to work with the Black people; however, he shows a friendly attitude towards both the black and white people of the town, and knows how to interact with them. His more casual and flexible attitude can be seen when he talks to the black boy and man in the burnt down church, his talks with Mrs Pell, and his visit to the bar. In contrast, Agent Ward plays by the rules, often reporting back to HQ and blunt with his questions. Many people who are questioned get nervous in front of him and tend to clam up. He is easily irritated, shown by his attitude in how he asks for men to comb the swamp.
The involvement and influence of the KKK was another key part of this part of these scenes. In the Movie, the KKK regularly assaulted witnesses and people who helped the FBI to make them stay silent. However, in reality the KKK seemed to have stayed quiet during these times, I assume from the documentary.
The interviews directly show the attitude that the white townspeople had towards the black people. They did not consider them unfairly treated and said that the people who were assaulted got what they deserved.
Examples of the KKK's violent involvement include: the attack on the boy whom Agent Ward talked to in the diner, the attack on the black boy and the church group who talked with the FBI, and the attack on Agent Ward and Anderson themselves at the Hotel. The Movie portrays an immensely active KKK who do not care for the Laws of the country, but only enforces their own ideas in their county.
DeleteThere were a few details in today’s showing of “Mississippi Burning” that proved to have great significance in understanding segregation in the South at the time of the three civil rights activists’ disappearances. The first of these, as Tina and Craig have already touched upon, was the relationship between the two FBI agents, Ward and Anderson. It is quite apparent that they have different ways of uncovering the truth. Ward is strictly by the book and even sends orders to Washington saying that he needs more men. Anderson, on the other hand believes that this was a bad idea because of the uproar that it would create in the town. As soon as the streets of Jessup were flooded with more and more agents, it appeared that the directors showed more and more attacks by the Ku Klux Klan. This gave me the idea that attacks were becoming more prevalent than they already had been. I think that this was a wise choice by the directors because it shows the audience that the KKK and FBI were almost in a competition for who would survive the longest in Mississippi. (The KKK, by burning churches and torturing and killing African Americans as they pleased, proved to the town and the FBI that they were currently the ones in control.) Agent Anderson, with knowledge of the inner workings of small towns, reached out to those, who may not be seen as essential to the case to those who come from a nationally based organization. An example of this was Anderson’s conversations with the sheriff’s assistant’s wife. By getting close to her, Anderson could uncover small truths that may later play a large role in discovering where the bodies were buried.
ReplyDeleteI also think that it was a wise choice for the directors to set up a scene where Anderson walks in on “casual conversation” between the police officers. Here, it was easy to notice the tension in the room. I got the idea that the meeting was between KKK members. If so, this was a subtle indication towards their involvement in illegal actions. The producer’s decision to not make this clear keeps the audience intrigued. I certainly want to continue watching the movie.
Lastly, the scene with the African American boy on his hands and knees praying when the KKK ambush his church, proved to me that there were some people who were willing to make a stand. They were not going to run (or show fear). This could occur in a person of any age. Each of these shocking event helps the audience to understand another unjust quality of life. “Mississippi Burning” also certainly helps to understand the perspectives of many different types (and aged) of characters. I look forward to seeing how these relationships continue to unfold.
I enjoyed this segment of the movie as well. I think this part was important because it showed the role of the KKK in Mississippi at this time period. For example, a lot of black people were in church at night, and when they were leaving they were raided by the KKK. Several black people were beaten, including a little kid. I think the fact that the little kid was beaten was the most important part because it shows that the KKK has no mercy. The KKK member that beat the kid threatened to kill him, which signifies that the KKK refuses to ever change their ways. Also, we learned that the KKK members in town did not openly discuss that they were in the KKK, but people knew who they were. They seemed like the "big shots" in town, partly because most people in that town were against the blacks.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it was interesting how when the two FBI agents showed up to the gathering of the black people that they all dispersed. It shows how scared they are to talk to white people, even if they're FBI agents. For example, when that one kid was talked to in the diner by Willem Defoe, he was later beaten up and thrown out of a moving car. The black people in the town are victims of the white people, and they are scared to even talk to them.
I think that there is definitely an upward curve of intensity happening as we move through "Mississippi Burning". Like Shelbie said, it's clear at this point that the struggle is now between the KKK and the FBI. Ward seems to hope that by bringing more FBI agents and Sailors into town, he will either scare off the KKK or find the bodies quicker. Looking at the Jessup County community, it seems clear that because the Klan has been "in power" for a long time, and the FBI just showed up, the people of the county are more likely to do as the Klan tells them in order to remain safe. Even the African Americans, for whom the college kids came to the south for, know to stay back when the Klan poses them a threat.
ReplyDeleteI'm slightly confused by the way Anderson makes the FBI present in the community. Buying a local theater to use as a command center, and then buying a local motel for FBI agents to stay seems intense. For one thing, the movie theater is in the center of the town. If the people of the town were to decide on what they think the most invasive thing the FBI did was, I think they'd agree that taking over a large building in the center of their town was it.
I thought the scene with the boy kneeling outside the church was important for the audience to see, just like the burning church at the beginning of the movie. I think it stands to remind the audience that the KKK wasn't attacking these African Americans because they were doing something wrong. They were attacking the African Americans simply because they were African Americans. The boy, kneeling, unarmed, and not a threat to the KKK, was still whacked with a stick.
I think the relationship between Anderson and the Deputy's wife is interesting. At the moment, I can't say for certain what the purpose of it is. I can't tell whether Anderson actually has feelings for the Deputy's wife, being a single man whose wife left him, or if he's just trying to be nice to her in order to gain information.
Finally, I point to the last scene we saw, with Anderson in the meeting room with the men who I assume are all Klansmen. One man openly said that he'd kill over African American voting rights. At the end of the scene, its clear Anderson doesn't play by any rules, and that he isn't concerned about getting in trouble, when he grabs (the Deputy?) in a place where men don't like to be grabbed. I think this makes it even clearer what the difference is between Ward and Anderson.
One theme that was emphasized during today’s viewing is the prominence and violence of the KKK during the time of the Civil Rights Movement. One scene that absolutely shocked me was when the KKK attacked a group of black people who were leaving their church. One little boy, about ten years old, got onto his knees and prayed while this event happened. Then, one member of the Klan came up to him and beat this ten year old boy. Also, one part of the movie showed a burning cross. I think that the burning of the religious places and object symbolize how much the whites are trying to get rid of the blacks’ freedom and way of life; religion was a major part of many African Americans’ lives. Although I think that some of the burning is a little dramatic, these dramatic effects further portray the message of the KKK violence towards blacks. Another scene that I found to be noteworthy is when one of the FBI agents is asking questions to a woman whose husband was attacked by the KKK. Since the woman did not report this incident to the police, it shows that even the people of authority were racist and the blacks did not trust them. One aspect of the movie that I find interesting is that the two FBI agents, the younger on more so than the older one, seem dedicated to finding these three civil rights workers and cracking the case. In reality, the FBI was racist and only became involved in the case because they were forced to; it was mostly the blacks doing the work in this search. I do not like that the director does this, because unlike a minor fictionalization, it is a major twist of the truth. However, I think that the director chooses to use the two FBI agents as the center of the search because in the end the FBI agents are the ones searching for the civil rights workers. Parker had to show dedication in order to move the plot along. Further reasons for Parker making this decision may be revealed later in the movie. In addition, during the media coverage that this part entailed, the white people thought that both races were treated equal. The white people thought the story of the three civil rights’ workers disappearing was a hoax. This shows that the whites in the South thought that their own people were not doing anything wrong to the blacks. One last scene of today’s viewing includes the young boy that was later beaten saying to one of the FBI agents that it should not be the colored that he should be talking to; he should be talking to the white people, starting with the sheriff’s office. This scene shows that the whites were the ones who committed these murders, so they would more likely know who, personally, was responsible.
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