Product: Chiefs [Region 2] (1983)
Rating: 5.0
Old South Gives Way to the New South
This film is set in a small Georgia town, involves a little kid who grows up to be Governor of the State, and develops a social conscience that takes him away from the segregationist ways that prevailed during his childhood. Remind you of anyone? Jimmy Carter comes to mind. The parallels are not exact, but I think they are there.In one tiny respect, the mini-series mischaracterizes the old Southern society. Near the beginning, a white teenager is being flogged by the Klan to teach him not to "inbreed with niggers." Racially speaking, they have it backwards. No one cared what white men did with black girls; it was the fear of black men having sex with white girls that people got excited about back then.But the young man is part of the larger plot and is one of those who are mysteriously murdered. The effort to investigate those murders is what leads two of the police chiefs to their deaths. In that respect, the mini-series is fascinating, because it shows the interplay of the old Southern society, the struggle to overcome injustice (both racial and otherwise), and eventually succeed. So, despite the minor historical error, I will give it five stars. It is well worth watching.