Racism is an act of hatred, discrimination, or prejudice against another race other than the individuals own, based on the belief that their race is superior to the other. Alan Parker uses a number of techniques to express the theme of racism in the 1988 film, Mississippi Burning, exploring the acts that white people in the state of Mississippi, 1964, committed against African Americans. These techniques include the use of scenes, dialogue, visuals and sound effects.
Parker introduces many important scenes into the film that stand out and demonstrate clearly the racist attitude and actions of the people of Mississippi, including issues such as segregation, erasure and mistreatment of African Americans, and the violent acts made towards them. …show more content…
Panning is shown, when scanning across the building of the church and then to the burning building, connecting the two ideas of violence and death with the burning of the church. A close up is seen in tense scenes, or to insinuate an event, such as the murder of the white activists early in the film, showing a close up of a gun on their head. This is one of the early signs of the racism apparent in this film. The erasure of blacks is first detailed once Anderson and Ward enter Mississippi, with a welcome sign showing a white family. Parker also uses close ups which leads the viewer to important details in scenes such as the close up of the file in the FBIs car, detailing the harm made towards black people. A montage of images can be seen near the end of the film, detailing the sentences of each of the members of the KKKs and the other people involved in the situation. There is a parallel of the church burning in the first scenes, to the last scene showing the congregation standing on the ruins of the church as a message of carrying on and not losing hope. Close ups of the faces can be seen, reinforcing that fact that there is a combination of black and white faces, this is also a message indicating the start of rights for black people and the end of segregation. The last scene shown is a close up on the …show more content…
Music and sound effects are almost always used in addition to scenes of injustice and racism to further evoke the audience’s emotions and to emphasise the scenes. Gospel Music can be heard at the start of the film, indicating the African American component, with the addition to the burning church. This alludes to the racism in this film as the fire can be heard clearly. Gospel music is heard at the start and end of the film, contrasting with the opening scene where the lyrics state ‘I am tired, I am weak, I am worn...’ The lyrics sung at the end include more hopeful lyrics of moving on and not giving up. Ominous beats are heard at the start of the film in the car scene with the activists, helping to foreshadow the danger to come and contrasting the audience’s emotions with the characters on
Parker introduces many important scenes into the film that stand out and demonstrate clearly the racist attitude and actions of the people of Mississippi, including issues such as segregation, erasure and mistreatment of African Americans, and the violent acts made towards them. …show more content…
Panning is shown, when scanning across the building of the church and then to the burning building, connecting the two ideas of violence and death with the burning of the church. A close up is seen in tense scenes, or to insinuate an event, such as the murder of the white activists early in the film, showing a close up of a gun on their head. This is one of the early signs of the racism apparent in this film. The erasure of blacks is first detailed once Anderson and Ward enter Mississippi, with a welcome sign showing a white family. Parker also uses close ups which leads the viewer to important details in scenes such as the close up of the file in the FBIs car, detailing the harm made towards black people. A montage of images can be seen near the end of the film, detailing the sentences of each of the members of the KKKs and the other people involved in the situation. There is a parallel of the church burning in the first scenes, to the last scene showing the congregation standing on the ruins of the church as a message of carrying on and not losing hope. Close ups of the faces can be seen, reinforcing that fact that there is a combination of black and white faces, this is also a message indicating the start of rights for black people and the end of segregation. The last scene shown is a close up on the …show more content…
Music and sound effects are almost always used in addition to scenes of injustice and racism to further evoke the audience’s emotions and to emphasise the scenes. Gospel Music can be heard at the start of the film, indicating the African American component, with the addition to the burning church. This alludes to the racism in this film as the fire can be heard clearly. Gospel music is heard at the start and end of the film, contrasting with the opening scene where the lyrics state ‘I am tired, I am weak, I am worn...’ The lyrics sung at the end include more hopeful lyrics of moving on and not giving up. Ominous beats are heard at the start of the film in the car scene with the activists, helping to foreshadow the danger to come and contrasting the audience’s emotions with the characters on