Mississippi Burning: Still Makes My Blood Boil (And a Theory!)

Okay, wow. Just finished watching "Mississippi Burning" and I'm still feeling all kinds of messed up. This movie... it just gets under your skin, you know? Like, the pure hatred and casual racism is so blatant, it's hard to believe it was real, but then you remember it WAS real and it just makes you want to scream. The scene where they find the bombed-out bus... ugh, I had to pause it. It was just too much. But here's what I was thinking, and maybe some of you picked up on this too. The whole movie centers around these two FBI agents, Anderson and Ward. Now, Ward, played by Dafoe, he's all about following the rules, the law, whatever. But Anderson, played by Gene Hackman, he's more of a… pragmatist, I guess? He's willing to bend the rules to get the job done. My theory is, isn't Anderson's character a reflection of the whole frustration of the Civil Rights movement itself? Like, sometimes doing what's right means not always doing what's legal, especially when the legal system is stacked against you. Think about it. The FBI weren't exactly heroes in this. They come in, but their initial methods are pretty ineffective. They are up against the solid wall of the sheriff and his KKK buddies. It's only when Anderson starts playing dirty, using the same tactics as the racists, that they start to get anywhere. He turns the tables, using their own methods against them. Is that necessarily good? Morally grey, for sure! But was it the only way things could actually get done? I'm not saying violence is the answer, but the movie definitely made me think about the line between justice and revenge, and whether sometimes you have to fight fire with fire, even if it leaves you burned in the process. Did anyone else see it that way? What did you think of Anderson's character and the FBI's tactics? Let me know!