Jordan Short Film & Culture Midterm Essay Racial Diversity Through Film Our country has had

to overcome many hurdles to become the equal nation that we are today. African-Americans, specifically, have had a long uphill battle through racism, misplaced hatred and violence to achieve their civil rights and have every opportunity that white Americans enjoy. Many people may argue that they are still at a disadvantage, but the scale and scope of that discussion is beyond this essay. Two films, In the Heat of the Night and Do the Right Thing, portray two different time periods during which racial tensions were extremely high and African-Americans were struggling to find a firm place in society. While both films share many similarities in the way the relationship between whites and blacks was at the time, their portrayal of African-Americans is very different. The purpose of this paper will be to discuss those main similarities and differences and how the film makers were able to convey their message. Both films do an excellent job of showing how difficult it was for African-Americans during the respective eras when the films were taking place. In The Heat of the Night, the creators of the film chose the town of Sparta as the setting. Sparta was a small town in the South which was full of racist rednecks which really added tension to the film. With the story taking place in this bigoted Mississippi town, one can sense that no matter how perfect the hero of the story is, because he is black he will never gain the respect or appreciation of the

townspeople. The one person that maybe has a change of heart is the police chief, who very well may have been out of a job if it werent for Mr. Tebbs coming to his aid. The setting of the film Do the Right Thing was also vital in telling the story of how difficult it was for young African-Americans to make any real progress in life. The way the film was shot, and the idea that the entire film takes place on one street, the block, really gives an impression that it is impossible to leave or make it out of the neighborhood and onto better things. Everything from the way the buildings were painted to how crowded the scenes seemed to be in the film added to the tension that was building in this neighborhood. Contrasting this neighborhood to the town setting in In the Heat of the Night, there was really no direct persecution of the African-American people in the neighborhood. A large reason for this is the fact that the neighborhood in Do the Right Thing was comprised of mostly AfricanAmericans. One way the two films really differ is in the portrayal of their lead African-American actors. Virgil Tebbs and Mookie could not be any more different people. Mr. Tebbs character was developed to be refined, intelligent, hard working and composed. This was very opposite to the perception that many white southerners had of black people at the time this film was made. To them, black people were somehow lesser human beings and the film makers intentionally broke that misconception with Mr. Tebbss character. They then showed how bothered the townspeople were with this black man walking around acting as if he were every bit as good as a white man. In fact, the nobility of his character really gave the impression that

many of the townspeople were the ones who were ignorant, lazy and completely underqualified for their jobs, specifically the police chief and his staff. Mookies character truly was the opposite representation of an African-American. Throughout the film Do the Right Thing, Mookie was lazy, disinterested, barely able to hold down his job, had an illegitimate child, was not interested in working hard or setting goals. In fact, it seemed he only cared about getting paid, regardless of whether or not he had earned it. He also seemed to care more about being fashionable and wearing the latest style of Air Jordans than whether or not his sons basic needs were being cared for. Mookie embodied perfectly the stereotype that many people may have had of young African-American men at the time. It is hard to say why Spike Lee designed Mookies character this way, but it may have been to demonstrate how much progress young African-American males needed to make if they were to ever be taken seriously in life and make something of themselves. Roger Ebert, in his review of the film, argued that Mookies character was neither meant to be the hero or a bad guy, There are really no heroes or villains in the film. Mookie is a character we're meant to like. Spike Lee didn't draw lines or take sides but simply looked with sadness at one racial flashpoint that stood for many others. However different their characters may have been, both men struggled when it came to their relationship with white people. In Do the Right Thing, Mookie faced bad treatment from Pino, his bosss son, who constantly harassed him by calling him names and trying to get him fired and telling him how worthless he was. While this may seem petty, one can imagine how frustrating life would be facing a constant barrage of ridicule.

The type of persecution that Mr. Tebbs faced in In the Heat of the Night was quite a bit more extreme. It seemed that at every turn of the film Tebbs was being threatened, verbally abused, and even physically harassed to a certain degree. He was barely allowed to speak by some of the townspeople with extreme prejudice. Of the prejudice displayed, Bosley Crowther in his New York Times review of the film said, this juxtaposition of resentments between whites and blacks is vividly and forcefully illustrated one of the awful dilemmas of our times. There were two scenes where the relationship between Mr. Tebbs and the white townspeople hit a real climax. The first was the scene where Mr. Tebbs was slapped by a white plantation owner who was clearly in the habit of treating African-Americans this way. Tebbs promptly slapped him back which took the plantation owner by complete surprise. Tebbs contempt for white people had finally boiled over. That one scene of the film likely represented how many young African-Americans were feeling at the time the film was made. Here, they had a smart successful African-American hero, who did not allow himself to be treated any less equally than a white man, to the point of even physically striking back at his oppressors. This was an obvious theme of the film, that despite current prejudice in the country, African-Americans were every bit as intelligent and hard working as white Americans. The film makers did an excellent job from the music used during the scene to the camera angles and dialogue in setting the level of intensity and importance for what happened between them. This altercation led to four men pursuing Tebbs and cornering him in some kind of abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere intent on getting rid of him permanently. Using this warehouse in the middle of nowhere really gave you the feeling of being isolated and in danger with no one nearby to help you. This feeling of loneliness is probably something that

Tebbs felt throughout the film, and this scene allowed the viewers to feel that with Tebbs. Of the loneliness that can be brought on through the racism displayed in this film, Matthew Cale said, the film dares suggest that loneliness as an affliction, a condition, an inescapable identity is deeper than shared interests, political attitudes, or even race. So while both men had difficult relationships with whites, their own situations were really quite different. An obvious reason for the different relationships between blacks and whites in the two movies is the fact that In the Heat of the Night is based in the 1960 s before the civil rights movement had really taken hold in the south, whereas Do the Right Thing took place in the late 1980s, once civil rights for blacks had essentially been won but they were still struggling to find complete equality. Both films take a hard look at racism and discuss uncomfortable topics regarding the way that African-Americans have been treated, even long after slavery had been abolished. Both films seem to indicate that while progress may be made, the subject of racism may continue as a scourge of our culture for a much longer period of time.

Works Cited
Cale, M. (2006, July 1). In the Heat of The Night. Retrieved October 17, 2013, from Ruthless Reviews: http://www.ruthlessreviews.com/1116/in-the-heat-of-the-night/ Crowther, B. (1967, August 3). Movie Review, In the Heat of the Night. Retrieved October 17, 2013, from New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF1738E76ABC4B53DFBE66838C679EDE Ebert, R. (2001, May 27). Great Movie- Do the Right Thing. Retrieved October 17, 2013, from Roger Ebert: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-do-the-right-thing-1989