In the Heat of the Night Reflection

 In the Heat of the Night 

The movie, “In the Heat of the Night” by Norman Jewison, is about an African American police detective in Sparta, Mississippi named Virgil Tibbs He is arrested because the racist police chief, Bill Gillespie, was suspicious of him relating to a murder they are currently investigating. Tibbs is able to prove his own innocence. When he does this, he and Gillespie put racism to the side and joined forces with one another to track down the real killer. When they work together, they are a power duo. They go through every part of the town. Tibbs is making enemies as he fights and hunts for the truth and to find the real killer. This film is an Oscar winning award. It won this award in 1967. 

Virgil Tibbs

They could not have solved the murder without detective Tibbs and his knowledge. He led the investigation and made it have the outcome it did. He shows white people that a black person can be a detective also. He gets paid a lot more than a white detective and is highly ranked because of his good work. 

Compared to “Gone with the Wind” and “Band of Angels” 

In all three of these movies, we see the power the men had back in the day and how the women had to be their puppets. They had no say or choice in anything they did. In Gone with the Wind, we see a woman who is sending her husband off to war. She has to look pretty and proper no matter what. In Band of Angels, we see a woman who gets sold when her father dies to another slave owner to pay his debt. Lastly, in In the Heat of the Night, we see a naked woman trying to seduce the police chief. All three of these movies show the power men have over women because of their higher social ranking. Although these movies all have different plots, they deliver the same message to the audience. 

Feminism

At the film's beginning, we see the police chief pass a naked woman looking for him to come inside. She was looking at him through her window. I felt that scene was completely unneeded and shows nothing in relation to the movie. I feel this violates a woman although she agreed to do this scene.

Sources

- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061811/plotsummary 

- https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/in-the-heat-of-the-night/cast/1030201217/