Page Two

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Wednesday, September 16, 19700

Pose Two " THE MICHIGAN DAILY Wednesday, September 16, 1 970w


cinema
On the unreality of 'Tibbs'

AGREEMENT NEAR:
New 'U' judiciary may include
all student jury in some cases

w
f r - -,

By NEAL GABLER
What doyou expect from a
film entitled They Call Me
MISTER Tibbs, with the mister
spelled out in those big bold
capitals? Most likely you expect
Stanley Kramer liberalism -
Hollywood's answer to Hubert
Humphrey - and the defini-
tive film on black dignity.
Something like this: There's a
black detective who, can out-
smart, out-fight, out-dress and
out-moralize any white cop on
the force. But he has to prove
himself before he can be ac-
cepted as a Man, not a black
man, you understand, but a
regular, red-blooded, All-Amer-
ican, criminal-killing Many
Right?
Wrong. They Call Me MISTER
Tibbs isn't even a stale bit of
Kramerian 'race relations par-
ading as gutsy social drama.
Rather, it's a modest little de-
tective story, the kind you see
on TV, parading in a semi-
gutsy title, vintage 1964. Maybe
that's progress. At least we don't
have to sit through two hours
of tired cliches topped off by the
patented exchange of smiles.
"You aren't such a dumb nig-
ger after all. You know, I act-
ually like blacks." "You aren't
such a dumb cracker after all.
You know, I actually like whit-
es." The problem is solved.
This is the kind of junk black
people have had to sit through
at the Bijou for the last ten
years if they wanted to see a
black man whose mouth wasn't
all agape. As most of you know,
the forties gave film-goers the
happy Nigro. They tap-danced
and sang and shuffled and made
bug-eyes and even turned white
when they saw a ghost, w h i c h
wasn't a ghost at all but just
somebody- running around in
a sheet. (No wonder blacks were
scared.) The civil rights agitation
7f the late forties and e a r ly
fifties gave rise to black melo-
dramas like Lost Boundaries,
Home of the Brave, Pinky and
Intruder in the Dust. With al-
lowances made for the time
and place in which these pic-
tures were made, they were fair-
ly decent, and if they didn't
tackle the problem head on at
least they gave a shove in the
right direction.
Then came Montgomery and
Little Rock and freedom rides
and lunch counter sit-in's and
Martin Luther King and the lib-
eral conscience and Sidney Poit-
ier. In movies the message was:
Black. people are as good as
white people. Correction: They

are better than white people be-
cause only if they are better
than white people will you dul-
lards out in the audience real-
ize that they're as good as white
folks. Poitier became the em-
bodiment of this new view. He
was compassionate, virile, wise,
elegant, thrifty, brave, clean, re-
verent and middle-class. And
if he didn't understand white
racism as well as he did he
could kick your white'ass. Smile
Sidney. Smile Rod. THE END.
Of course, just to have a full-
fledged boffo box-office, black
star was something of an ac-
complishment. Poitier fit the
bill nicely, though it's possible
that if Poitier didn't exist it
would be necessary for us to in-
vent him. Once established,
however, he didn't grow' with
.the sixties, and while his name
up there on the marquee might
have attracted patrons to an
honest film about his race,' he
settled for roles as super-sleuths
and super-teachers and super-
itinerant laborers. Not that
Poitier should have becone the
Rap Brown of filmdom. I'm
merely saying that he squand-
ered his power on trash rather
than make truthful films for
and about blacks, the kind of
film that is in short supply. In-
stead, it has devolved upon him
to be THE black star, the col-
ored Heston ministering to the,
savage white soul on Saturday
nights so Joe can go to work
on Monday and tell his co-
workers, "I'm not a racist. Now
you take this guy Poitier . .."
This time around Poitier is
once again Lt. Virgil Tibbs, the
protagonist of In the Heat of
the Night. His Job is to track
down the killer of a prostitute.
There are three suspects: her
landlord and employer, a fan of
her work, and a crusading
preacher (Martin Landau). The
preacher isn't just your garden
variety, slightly promiscuous,
civil rights crusader; he also
happens to be a boyhood chum
of Virgil's, which raises all sorts
of issues like 'where does duty
lie' and 'what is honesty.'
Doesn't it?"
That is not the whole story.
We also get a glimpse of Virgil
as family man. These are rather
pedestrian little vignettes of
Virgil helping his daughter learn
to stand on her head; Virgil
sternly reprimanding his son;
Virgil munching on a piece of
toast; and Virgil downing a
bottle of Schlitz. (Garbo laughs.
Poitier drinks.) There- is also
the old if - you - like - cigaret-
tes than - have - a - cigar - and

cough trick which Virgil springs
on his son when he catches him
puffing away in the garage. This
is the stuff film nostalgia is
made of. Any real kid who had
seen a few films would have
seen right through Virgil's ploy;
but these are only movie people
and moiie people don't go to
movies. But if you're looking for
something less pedestrian than
the things movie people usually
do, how about Virgil fondling
his wife in his daughter's bed-
room while the little tyke
snoozes?'
Now there's a Gordon Doug-
las touch. Douglas, if, you don't
know, is the director who has
distinguished himself mainly by
the fact that he is incredibly
prolific and incredibly mediocre
but has yet to be canonized by
French cineastes. He can make
any movie look like an ABC TV
show. His shots are all blandly
frontal, the way they used to
set up shots in 1910. And he's
terrible with actors; everyone is
a movie type-hard-guy, pimp,
prostitute, cop, janitor. Poitier
performs as usual but Landau
badly overacts. Only the late
Juan Hernandez survives Doug-
las" heavy hand, and Hernan-
dez shad long been one of those
actors who was able to portray
dereliction because he had you
suspecting that he'd be broken
down even when the director
yelled "Cut." I
And what about P o i t i e r?
When the director yells "Cut"
does he bee-line to the nearest
telephone booth, rip off his
shirt and emerge as Superblack?
That's w h a t Hollywood would
have us believe. Maybe Poitier's
heroics are their excuse for not
giving us real black drama. They
probably think these movies are
provocative and profitable as
well, but they're wrong. Even
Sidney Poitier and "mister" in
caps can't make a cheap detec-
tive story a good movie.

j
REGISTRATION FOR BEIT MIDRASH
PROGRAM OF JEWISH STUDIES
IS NOW TAKING PLACE
From: 9 :00 to 5:00
At: Hillel Foundation
1429 H ill Street
663-4129
"IT'S NEVER TOO LATE"

(continued from Page 1)
are quite important. "I don't see
very much difference substantial-
ly (between the three plans for
procedural decisions) just politic-
ally," acting literary college Dean
Alfred Sussman said.
"There are some political con-
siderations that you have a n d
some that we have," Nederlander
commented. "Hopefully we can
come up with some rational com-
promise."
Whether some compromise can
be reached between the students'
and the Regents' interests is the
key question. The Regents, from
their public statements, are loathe
to approve a judiciary system in-
volving an all-student option
while students are unwilling to
accept less.
"When the Regents learn that
the community affected by rules
and disciplinary procedures must
be the one that makes them, then
there will be agreement," SGC
Executive Vice President Jerry
DeGrieck said. "I am hopeful but
not confident that they have
learned this."
To prevent an impasse, commit-
DAILY OFFICIAL
BULLETIN
The Daily Official Bulletin is an
official publication of the Univer-
sity of Michigan. Notices should be
sent in TYPE WRITTEN f o r m to
Room 3528 L. S. A. Bldg., before
2 p.m., of the day preceding pub-
lication and by 2 p.m. Friday for
Saturday and Sunday. Items ap-
pear once only. Student organiza-
tion notices are not'accepted for
publication. For more information,
phone 7'64-9270.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
Day Calendar

tee members have asked to meet
with the Regents while they are
in town this week for their month-
ly meeting. Meanwhile, the com-
mittee will continue to work on
the details of the proposed ju-
dicial scheme.
According to t h e committee's
present outline, a charge against
a student, faculty member or ad-
ministrator would be filed with a
judicial ombudsman who would
help insure the rights of the ac-
cused.
If the ombudsman found there
was sufficient evidence for a trial#
the defendant would be allowed
to pick one of several judicial op-
tions.l
The case could be judged by
Central Student Judiciary - the
present judicial system of SGC in
which defendants are tried, and
sentenced by ten student judges-
if the defendant were a student
and both parties agreed.
If a student were charged by the
school in which he is enrolled and
both parties agree the student
could be judged by the judicial
unit of his school.
In a situation where the def end-

ant and the complaintant c o ul d
not agree on either of these two
already established methods, the
defendant could choose one of the
new options proposed by the com-
mittee.
One of these choices would be
judgment by an outside hearing
officer. The hearing officer would
probably be drawn from a pre-se-
lected list and not selected by
Fleming as is now the case under
the interim rules.
Another option would be a
mixed board of review if a stu-
dent wanted to be judged by fa-
culty members as well as fellow
students. The final alternative
would be the student jury proced-
ure.

-J

ENDS TODAY
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ENDING THURSDAY
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The Michigan Daily, edited and man- Anatomy Seminar: Dr. M. Berns, "Cell
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WHAT S THE,
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today "

-Michigan Daily

4

TRANSCENDENTIAL
MEDITATION
As Taught By
MAHARISHI
MAHESH
YOGI

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