Mississippi Burning (1988) Tubi TV

[ItsjustMe]

2 hr 6 min

Starring Gene Hackman, Willem Defoe, Frances McDormand, Brad Dourif.

Based on the true story, two FBI agents investigate the disappearance of three Mississippi civil rights activists in 1964.

https://tubitv.com/movies/358575/mississippi-burning

[Faux pas]

1. It's

one of my favorites

[Doc Sportello]

2. Well made but totally inaccurate portrayal

Tough guy FBI cop Hackman bullies Klansmen into cooperating with the feds. False depiction of the investigation. Worse is the portrayal of the FBI under Hoover, who had to be forced by LBJ into doing a full-on investigation, as the good guys. Hoover's previous inaction regarding the white supremacists and focus on MLK and the civil rights movement as the "real enemies" made the murders inevitable. I believe only two did jail time, and those were short sentences.

[thucythucy]

3. There's a lot of that in American movies.

"Sully" is another example of a fine movie with a totally bogus interpretation of the history.

The shame is that such a huge percentage of Americans get their "history" from Hollywood.

I saw a recent on-line argument about the origins of the Civil War, with people citing "Gods and Generals" as their "source material."

One reason among many why so much of this nation is so addled and deluded about its actual history.

[Doc Sportello]

4. Unfortunately, that is very true

I understand that filmmakers take liberties for reasons such as narrative and limited time, but this one didn't have to be this wrong. The facts were known and it is a technically sound and well-acted movie. But the FBI under Hoover were part of the problem in the summer of 1964, not some avenging angels.

Yeah, Gods and Generals was not only bad history but a really bad movie overall. They were just trying to make a buck off the success of Gettysburg. Another is Braveheart, which I think is a great movie, but the Battle of Stirling Bridge was reconstructed supposedly because they didn't have the money to build a bridge. Only the Scottish and historians probably care, but that's like having the battle of Little Roundtop fought in the wheat field.

And, yes, unfortunately this country is sorely ignorant of history, along with government, economics, and on and on. Thanks to the cons.

[XanaDUer2]

5. Is Sully the one that's starts Tom Hanks? Nt

[thucythucy]

6. Yup, that's the one.

It was directed by Clint Eastwood whose politics are pretty right wing. And so he invented this whole absurd plot line with federal government "bureaucrats" trying for some reason to blame Sully for the crash.

That entire scene with the review board was made up. Eastwood even had to change the names of the characters, since the actual people who reviewed the crash threatened to sue for libel if he went forward with the film as originally planned. The whole notion of the review board going after Sully, that whole computer simulation scene, never happened.

So, again, people who saw the movie and take it as truth come away pissed off at evil federal regulators who tried to frame this genuine all-American hero. Which was what Eastwood no doubt wanted all along. Like his debating the empty chair at the Republican National Convention--pretending it was President Obama--he set up a straw man to further his conservative agenda.

The fact that the movie was actually quite entertaining makes what he did all the more sinister.

[appalachiablue]

7. Thanks, I'm didn't know all this, what a shame & sham about the board, etc. I'd read

Eastwood was a libertarian but not this extreme.

[thucythucy]

8. He's been pretty extreme all along.

The whole premise of the Dirty Harry movies was that cops, to be effective, have to break the law and trample on civil liberties in order to punish the bad guys. How many cops, I wonder, took that to heart, and fantasize about telling some "scum" they have at their mercy, "Make my day?"

Then too there's the anti-feminist sub plot, where when he's partnered with a female dectective there's scene after scene where this wimpy feminist liberal has to be rescued by alpha male Harry.

His politics have always been transparent, and dispicable.

[appalachiablue]

9. Good to know, I never saw Dirty Harry or was around others who favored

many tough guy - hero, rogue cop films, TG. I'm sure his roles made a negative impact as you say. An ancestor of mine who was an authentic, tough LE officer would have chuckled at movie portrayals like these I think.

The last movie I saw Eastwood in was because of Meryl Streep - The Bridges of Madison County which had its good moments. Clint shouldn't have taken his shirt off that much cuz those days were long gone from Rawhide.

That CE, as producer could get away with twisting the Sully film so much with his anti gov politics is foul.

Another one, John Voight went whacked years go I believe, and probably others I'm not tuned into. V. was at a small event for Hilary I attended c. 2007.

I saw him briefly at the end when he was leaving. He looked serious, rushed and said 'I want to see what Hillary's doing' and quickly headed for the door. She was outside getting into a car.

At the time I thought it strange, but I wasn't aware of his views. My bad.