Hatred isn't something you're born with ...

Rating: 10/10 (22 July 2011)

Based on the true story of three civil rights workers' murders, Alan Parker's "Mississippi Burning" is a fictionalized dramatization of the investigation, conducted by two opposite FBI agents, both remarkably played by Willem Dafoe and Gene Hackman.
Defoe is the young Ward, a bureau-procedure oriented 'Kennedy boy' while Hackman is the older Anderson, less direct, but wiser and subtler in his approach. A Southerner himself, he understands the necessity of charming and sweet-talking the close-mouthed people of Jessup County, whose mentalities echo the dustiness of their town. Their antagonism is North vs. South in microcosm in the sad historical and geographical context of two cultures coexisting in an atmosphere of segregation, fear, and violence, all of them, one-sided. This tension creates a constantly anxious feeling as to plunge us into the dark and swampy context of Mississippi, 1964  appearing on a black screen while gunshots are fired.
Through "Mississippi Burning", one of the best films of the 80's, Alan Parker delivers a profoundly humanistic message inviting people not to understand, but to be able to understand. And I can understand how white people would find some matter to criticize from the unsympathetic portrayal of the South as I can understand how black people would feel offended by their depiction as passive victims only saved by the providential intervention of the North. But this overlooks that the most touching character played by Frances McDormand is a Southerner, born in Jessup and not only she's sweet and loving but under the caring influence of Anderson, will give him crucial information. As it would be overseeing the part that black people played in the film, the anger expressed during the heart-breaking eyes-opening eulogy, the courage of Aaron, the little boy, and the people who defended their rights with what were at hands.
I wasn't even twelve when I watched "Mississipi Burning" for the first time with my Dad, a Sunday night, and something really affected me, I guess it was my first mature introduction to racism in movies. It touched something so deep inside me that I couldn't help but think "This is so wrong!" Besides innocence, there was also a sort of genuine rationality speaking, "how could even people do that?" But I guess I was also guilty of a patronizing attitude as if I was happy for the poor victims to be helped, denying the significant role they played in this historical fight for Civil Rights in 1964. And maybe this is why I always watched and re-watched that film whenever I had this opportunity, almost as if I needed to always 'get' more from it, and to appreciate in the 'right way', to be 'able to understand'.
And now, it's not the kid speaking but the young man, who 17 years after, learned –and I think it's an improvement- to put things into perspective. I watched the film again, and as you know how it happens, you have some particular scenes that get stuck in your memories, not the most impacting necessarily. I am not going to enumerate all of them, but there is one little moment particularly insightful. When Stephen Toboloswky as the leader of the Klan, was giving his speech about the Anglo-Saxon Christian Pride and the necessity of racial segregation to protect Mississippi's identity, this message full of hatred ignited the cheers of an illuminated audience. And the moment I remembered the most was this cute little blonde girl, applauding, with a sweet but creepy hypnotized look. She's like proud to belong to this people who're –in her mind- the best in the world.
Later, it's like a translation into words of that simple moment. Frances McDormand talks about the trivialization of hatred, the way it's taught from cradle to grave, based on a fallacious reading of the Bible. This is not an alibi for racism, not at all, but a powerful attempt to prevent the film from Manichaeism, it's not plain racism, it's about ignorance, bigotry and hatred, and how Ward and Anderson discover the roots of this hatred, incarnated by the heinous face of the most detestable racist, admirably portrayed by Michael Rooker, and the hypocritical sneaky eyes of Brad Dourif, as the Klan-connected Sheriff's Deputy. The casting is full of familiar faces including Gailard Startain as the Sheriff and R. Lee Ermey as the Mayor, another reason for me to re-watch the film, although Hackman's performance tops them all.
How the pride to belong to a group can be perverted by another corollary sentiment: to be superior. It's all a matter of perspective, and it's interesting that this comes from the director of a movie I truly admire and that I always defended, "Midnight Express" where the only way to overcome the racist simplification was to see things from each one's perspective. And "Mississippi Burning" is a remarkable hymn for peace and understanding driven by an extremely well-written script, and the dynamic between Ward and Anderson and the way the investigation will progress through the use of each one method. Ward believes in the law, Anderson, to get in the same level than your enemies, both are right and wrong in the same time, but their antagonism is mainly because of misunderstanding.
Misunderstanding  whether it's ignorance, or "being poor", some people need to believe in 'being better'. And while some others believe it's 'morally wrong', they don't change the situation either, maybe we're all part of a hypocrisy surrounding the theme of racism, maybe we all are, not against a racial community, but it could be against a social, sexual or any category etc. We need to have one to feel better than.
At the end, black and white sing in unison in a cemetery, a beautiful and positive note undermined by my vision of today's reality, and the way racism is still present, in so many other places in the world, that unlike 1964, are already being forgotten