The loss of the late legendary actor Gene Hackman sent shockwaves throughout the film-loving community, including those of us in Alabama, some 2,000 miles away from his hometown of San Bernardino, California.

The 2-time Oscar-winning actor, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 63, were found dead Wednesday afternoon in their home in New Mexico, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. One of their dogs also was found dead. The sheriff’s office said foul play was not suspected, but an investigation was ongoing.

Hackman’s storied career has more connections to Alabama than you might realize. The most obvious link came in Tony Scott’s 1995 submarine thriller “Crimson Tide,” wherein at one point Hackman’s hot-tempered commanding officer and his crew deliver a salute to the namesake of their beloved U.S.S. Alabama, including the cheer “Go Bama! Roll Tide!”

MORE: Gene Hackman’s 10 best movies ranked

But Hackman’s Alabama ties do not stop there. Just seven years prior, he starred in Alan Parker’s swelteringly intense Civil Rights Era “Mississippi Burning.”

The film (streaming now on Prime Video) follows two FBI agents with wildly different styles (Hackman and Willem Dafoe) who arrive in Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of some civil rights activists (based on James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner) in 1964, as the investigation is met with hostility and backlash by the town’s residents, local police and the Ku Klux Klan.

It received seven Oscar nominations including best picture, director, actor and supporting actress (Frances McDormand). Difficult to watch at times, it brings the best out of Hackman, who plays a former Mississippi sheriff who sniffs out the corruption his way.

The Alabama connection? After filming in Mississippi towns like Jackson and Vaiden, production moved to LaFayette, Alabama, standing in for the fictional Jessup County area.

While roundly criticized by many for its fictionalization of history and Black activists involved in the Civil Rights Movement, the brutal confrontation of the South’s ugly past might seem like a breath of fresh air compared to more schmaltzy modern efforts.

‘White savior’ movie?

Stylishly shot (with Oscar-winning cinematography), well-written by Chris Gerolmo, and aptly directed by accomplished English filmmaker Alan Parker, the film has since been pegged as a prime example of the “white savior” genre, which gained prominence during the 1960s when Hollywood built an assembly line of highly popular productions telling skewed stories about the Black experience.

The films frequently tell Southern-set stories, with white characters often rescuing non-white people from plight related to American slavery, the Jim Crow South and other inequities. They’ve made a lot of money at the box office, several earning big Oscar wins including best picture.

There’s 2009’s “The Blind Side,” wherein a wealthy white woman takes in a black teenager and redirects him on a path towards football. Sandra Bullock won best actress, and the movie made more than $300 million worldwide.

Remember 1996’s “A Time to Kill,” when Matthew McConaughey played a white lawyer appointed to defend a black man accused of murdering two white supremacists who raped his 10-year-old daughter? Or 2016’s “Free State of Jones,” where McConaughey plays a Rebel Army deserter who leads fellow deserters and freed slaves to fight against the Confederacy.

Other hits include “Django Unchained,” “Glory” and Alabama film staple “To Kill a Mockingbird,” or others set elsewhere like “Lawrence of Arabia,” “The Last Samurai” and “Avatar.” They all meet the “white savior” genre criteria.

The fundamental issue that gives them the distinction: They’re almost exclusively written and directed by white people, mostly told from a white perspective with the white characters playing the biggest role in helping to “fix” racism by the end.

In the case of “Mississippi Burning,” detractors make sound points about the fact that Hollywood could use fewer Civil Rights Era stories told exclusively from the perspective of white people.

Unlike so many Southern-set films, it certainly doesn’t lack authenticity. It features several actors actually born in the South including Michael Rooker (Alabama), Brad Dourif (West Virginia), Stephen Tobolowsky (Texas) and Frankie Faison (Virginia).

READ: 10 movies you didn’t know were filmed in Alabama

The cast is undeniably brilliant, with Hackman’s trademark intensity on full display, particularly during a confrontation in a private KKK member hangout with Dourif and Rooker. He and Dafoe spar in poignant scenes outlining their different approaches to rooting out racism. Hackman and McDormand share quiet chemistry in some rare tender moments.

But Black characters (portrayed by the likes of Faison and young Darius McCrary) are often relegated to silent background artists watching the drama unfold, even as they are directly impacted by the violence and other ramifications.

‘A valid question’

The creative license (admittedly taken by the filmmakers) fictionalizing the true events drew widespread criticism from civil rights figures like Alabama native Coretta Scott King, giving the film a complicated legacy that even Parker acknowledged.

“Our film cannot be the definitive film of the black civil rights struggle, our heroes were still white and, in truth, the film would probably have never been made if they weren’t,” Parker wrote in an essay on his website. “This is, perhaps, as much a sad reflection on present day society as it is on the film industry. But with all its possible flaws and shortcomings, I hope that our film can provoke thought and kindle the debate allowing other films to be made, because the struggle against racism continues.”

While promoting the film in a 1988 interview with WHYY film critic Patrick Stoner, Hackman discussed the racism and brutality depicted in “Mississippi Burning,” noting the younger audience who saw it might be appalled and in disbelief about the prejudice of the time, which he considered “vital” about making the film.

Stoner then asked Hackman how he would respond to critics pointing out the story is told from white people’s point of view. The actor cited Parker and Gerolmo’s choice to take a “less conventional” approach, but acknowledged the concerns.

“I think it’s a valid question, though, why there wasn’t a Black central figure in this,” Hackman added.

Despite that, the film was mostly celebrated at the time. It has a 79% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the Critics Consensus saying, “Mississippi Burning draws on real-life tragedy to impart a worthy message with the measured control of an intelligent drama and the hard-hitting impact of a thriller.”

No doubt, it’s a compelling Hollywood drama, a solid option for a Friday night at the movies, and one that forces audiences to reckon with a sinister chapter in the country’s history. But its legacy remains one that even its celebrated and now late lead actor wrestled with at the time, and one we must confront four decades later.