MovieChat Forums > Mississippi Burning (1989) Discussion > best line in the film...

best line in the film...

posted 19 years ago by HapppinessAZ
82 replies | jump to latest

"He didn't realize that being poor was what was killing him."

In other words all the racism from the poor whites was simply misdirected anger at a group of people (blacks) who had nothing to do with their situation. The wealthy Southern white establishment had always used that to maintain the social order of the South. Its no wonder in the last weeks and months of the Civil War, disillusioned confederate soldiers were talking about the conflict as a "rich man's war but a poor man's fight", for it was in those last days they finally realized they were being used as pawns by cotton kings and other wealthy elites who didn't want their ante-bellum plantation "eden" to disappear forever.

Great film...

[–] whygohome725 17 years ago

The way Dafoe says, "Whats wrong with these people?" when he holds the black kid in his arms.

[–] amiller92 17 years ago

absolutely, and hackman's look of disgust is so perfect there too.

i love this exchange. i am so glad IMDB had it because i would have gotten something wrong.

Ward: Just don't lose sight of whose rights are being violated!

Anderson: Don't put me on your perch, Mr. Ward.

Ward: Don't drag me into your gutter, Mr. Anderson!

Anderson: These people are crawling out of the SEWER, MR. WARD! Maybe the gutter's where we outta be!

My DVD Collection: http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=larrywhigham

[–] bigdays99-1 17 years ago

You're gonna have to get used to my boots on your chin.

[–] len_watson 17 years ago

A few different ones, virtually every one of them by Hackman, who was outstanding:

"Thanks for the beer."

"Make no mistake about it, Deputy, I'll cut your f*kn head clean off and won't give a sh!t how it reads in the report sheet."

"Oooooh, Lester, you need a TOILET!"

I like the confrontation between him and Defaoe, where he initially manhandles the smaller man and slams him down onto a car, but in a flash Defaoe reverses their positions and draws his gun to Hackman's head in the process. Seconds later, Hackman asks a nerdy looking subordinate, "You think he'd have shot me?" to which the subordinate instantly replies, "Oh, yes sir!" Hackman murmurs with a new found respect, "Ballsy little b@stard, isn't he?"

[–] shoelessthunder 17 years ago

Do you know how much you bleed when someone cuts off your balls?

[–] sparshparimoo 16 years ago

"You think he would have shot me?"
"Oh yes sir"

[–] rebanex 16 years ago

- Let's get this straight. I haven't had a pimple in years. I shave every morning. I even go to the bathroom by myself. So you can quit this "boss" stuff.
- Birmingham? Montgomery?
- Oxford. I was with Meredith at Old Miss.
- Oh. You got hit in the head with a brick, so they gave you a promotion, right? *chuckling*
- No. Shot in the shoulder.
*stops chuckling*

:D haha

[–] stfud 9 years ago

"Ballsy little bastard isn't he?"

[–] Neuronhead 9 years ago

"You think he would have shot me?"
"Oh yes sir"

Yep

I choose to believe what I was programmed to believe

[–] moviehawg59 16 years ago

I agree, "AMiller92"! Classic lines ...
Anderson: Don't put me on your perch, Mr. Ward!
Ward: Don't drag me into your gutter, Mr. Anderson! ....
Excellent!

"... well, why don't ya put her in charge"?

[–] kornbread2000 16 years ago

"Bureau Procedure Mr. Anderson"

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[–] kornbread2000 15 years ago

deputy pell: you have to be a member to drink here...

mr. anderson (looking around)... a member? a member of what?!

[–] Pearl_Jade 15 years ago

"You know how these small towns are. A girl spends her entire time in high school looking for the guy she's going to marry, then spends the rest of her life trying to figure out why."

[–] imdblovers 15 years ago

Funny, I've read until this last post and still there is no one mention my best line :), I'm happy to post it :D

"Hatred isn't something you're born with. It gets taught. At school, they said segregation what's said in the Bible... Genesis 9, Verse 27. At 7 years of age, you get told it enough times, you believe it. You believe the hatred. You live it... you breathe it. You marry it."

[–] Soulnd 15 years ago

"Anger is not something u r born with..."

PS: Be good or be bad...your choice!

[–] imdblovers 15 years ago

not anger, but hatred :)

[–] Pearl_Jade 15 years ago

Mayor to reporters: "This state's as dry as a martini... and we've got the alcoholics to prove it."

[–] pe81171 15 years ago

I agree. Bob Dylan stated this same sentiment so eloquently in the song 'Only A Pawn In Their Game' about the killing of Medgar Evers.

http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/only-pawn-their-game

What was so incredible in 1964 was the stupidity in the killing of the three Civil Rights workers bringing intense FBI and media attention to Philadelphia, Mississippi and helping quicken and resolve the Civil Rights movement with these awful acts of violence.

Frank: Just a man.
Harmonica: An ancient race.