The areas of representation I will be focusing on are the way black Americans are represented in 2-3 Hollywood crime films.

 For many, Mississippi is well known for its rejection of the civil rights movement. Firstly the long close up of the town sign, Sparta, Mississippi draws the audience’s attention to the films setting and makes them think about its importance to the story.

The establishing shot in “Beverly Hills Cop” which is in Detroit is that we are shown many people and it seems as they are in poverty most people seem to be working class citizens, buildings in the background are run down there are old factories and most of the population is black. The mise-en-scene of the opening shots introduces vandalized shops and cars, shops that have been shut down and the skyline is cloudy. All the characters shown are happy; the children playing barefoot, adult men drinking, factory workers. Altogether, this sums up that Detroit is a run-down area but its residents are happy enough with their lifestyle.

The location is very significant in terms of representation and race. Detroit is portrayed mainly as a black city and this representation reinforces the views that black people live in areas like these. Later on in the movie we are shown “Beverly Hills” and it’s represented as being very glamorous, wealthy and desirable. Importantly, most of the people shown are white and from the mise-en-scene we can tell they are from the upper social class. Overall Beverly Hills gets a far more positive representation than Detroit in this film.

        In “Beverly Hills Cop” we are introduced to Eddie Murphy wile he is in the back of a truck, which is parked down a darkened alley: this immediately suggests that there is something going on. The characters dialogue suggests an illegal cigarette deal is about to take place. But this is interpreted by a passing police officer. When the characters run there is a police chase, there is a lot of damage done to the city. When they get caught, the police find out that Axel Foley was involved. As he is a cop, he gets in trouble with his boss and all other police officers at the police station laugh at him. From just seeing this we know that Axel Foley is not good at following rules and he likes doing things his own way. This shows that his character is unconventional and highlighted by costume. Axel Foley is wearing casual clothes jeans and a shirt he looks scruffy. His dialogue is also important in suggesting that this character doesn’t fit in. Axel Foley swears a lot and talks slang even with his boos and his police friends. Later on in the movie, we meet Axel Foley’s friend we see how close they are when they meet each other. This scenes important because we learn that Foley had a criminal past this is a stereotypical view of black men. However Foley also proves that he is now completely into his job as a police officer. On the whole, Foley is represented in a positive way. Axel Foley’s interaction with the female character (a friend) he is very protective of her when they go to a factory to get some information about their friend. He tells her to go home while he goes in. This shows that he’s brave and loyal. He is typically masculine and independent.  

In “In The Heat Of The Night” we see MR. Tibbs get of a train in Mississippi they show his feet first his shoes are nice and shiny then we see his costume: he’s in a suit and carrying a briefcase. Unlike Axel Foley he speaks formally, no slang and he don’t swear even when the police chief is shouting at him.

        The similarities of the two films are that they were both successful in their own ways “Beverley Hills Cop” was a blockbuster it made Eddie Murphy more famous and boosted Jerry Bruckheimer’s name. “In The Heat Of The Night” won several Oscars it also reinforced Norman Jewison’s success. Another similarity is that in both films both main characters were presented in unfamiliar and unfriendly locations, while trying to solve a difficult murder case. Both main characters face racism as they were both arrested when they were innocent. The differences in the two films are that “Beverly Hills Cop” was a mainstream film that targeted a mainstream audience because of this, its representation are quite stereotypical. The producers needed to present ideas, people and places in a ay that the mainstream audience would understand. “In The Heat Of The Night” had low production values was therefore able to present a more complex way of its black characters.