"In the Heat of the Night" Reaction

 In "In the Heat of the Night", we are shown a black Philadelphia police detective who was suspected of murder. Virgil Tibbs, the black detective, was taken to the police station because of his race and nothing else. In this movie, we see the hostility of a town in Mississippi on the subject of racism. 

Virgil is judged the moment he came into this town. He was forced to work with the racist police station in order to figure out who the killer was. Over time in the movie, he is constantly looked down upon and even attacked by men from the town. However, the police chief ends up changing, as he is working with Virgil. 

The police chief ends up protecting Virgil, and he even begins to follow and listen to what he has to say. I believe this movie perfectly portrays that even in the worst places, you can find good people. In the movie, the police chief goes from extremely racist to the exact opposite. The chief is even questioned by people in the town when he begins to take Virgil's side in disputes. 

As the movie continues, Virgil begins to be respected by a small amount of people, but because this movie is set in the South, most of the people in the town still reject and hate him. 

I really liked the ending of this movie. Virgil puts the pieces of this case together and gets attacked by a mob of people from the town. The killer was one of the men's friend, who also impregnated his 16 year old sister. There ends up being a shootout between the men and the case is solved. 

Overall, The movie perfectly displays the racist South and how people can change. The emotions of the chief and Virgil were both brought out and the case was solved in a neat and interesting way.