“I don’t want to survive. I want to live.”
These are the powerful words of Solomon Northrup, the main
character in 12 Years a Slave. Solomon
is a free African American man who lives with his wife and two young children
in Saratoga, New York. He lives in the most comfortable circumstances that a
black man can hope for in the United States in 1841. However, his security is heartbreakingly
stolen from him when he is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Deep South. This film narrates Solomon’s twelve years spent in captivity and his
attempts to remain physically alive, mentally sane, and always hopeful that one
day he will be reunited with his family.
12 Years a Slave
was powerful, emotional, and extremely
difficult to watch. While I won’t discuss the film in too much depth, at the
risk of spoiling it for those who have not yet seen it (although, if you haven’t,
I suggest you go right now because it’s absolutely incredible), I want to talk
about the impact the movie had on me personally. I’ve said this before, and I always
feel an intense sense of guilt about it, but it has always been very difficult
for me to imagine slavery in a literal sense. The entire institution seems so
horrific and so unjust that I have a hard time accepting the fact that this
brutality and inhumanity happened every second of every day to actual human
beings in our not so distant past. This film thankfully managed to change my
outlook. First of all, there were multitudes of extremely graphic scenes in
which slaves were beaten, raped, and killed – several of which brought me to
tears. The film did not shy away from uncomfortable subjects, but instead highlighted them. Besides physical terrors, there were also heart-wrenching emotional
scenes, such as when Solomon first wakes up to find himself chained to the
cement floor, or when a mother and her small children are all sold to
separate owners. The children’s screams and begs for their mother had me bawling
in the middle of the theater, but the only thing her new master had to
say about it? “Oh, poor dear. Let’s get you something to eat, some rest, and
your children will soon be forgotten.”
So yes, the movie was mentally taxing to watch. However, I
feel that it is very important that we do so, because it carried such a critical
message. First, it opened my eyes to the very real, very awful circumstances
that African Americans were forced to endure during that time. Second, it
unapologetically and explicitly presented how inhumane and sadistic much of the
white population really was. And now, hopefully it will play a positive role in
erasing racial divisions we still experience to this day. By receiving a
glimpse of the past, we are forced to talk about it. Bringing subjects of
slavery and race out into the open, rather than sweeping it all under the rug, is
the only way that real improvement can be made.
I just saw 12 Years a Slave this afternoon and experienced emotions that were very similar to those that Taylor described. There is one scene that was particularly hard to watch in which Solomon's hands are bound, a noose is put around his neck, and he is hung from a tree with his toes barely able to touch the ground. The scene goes on for a minute or so with Solomon hanging from the tree and gasping for air. He is only inches from death and his suffering in the scene made me want to cry out for the rope to be cut. I found myself squirming uncomfortably in my seat and mumbling to myself for the atrocities occurring in the film to be stopped. Much of the movie is like this and ,as Taylor said, it does a masterful job of giving an accurate portrayal of the institution of slavery. The gut-wrenching feeling and struggle to hold back tears that I felt while watching 12 Years a Slave were the result of a very real part of history being put onto a film screen. I agree with Taylor in that it is important in our growth as human beings not to attempt to forget about the horrors of slavery in the United States, but to discuss it and learn from the past. Understanding were we as Americans came from is vital in moving forward.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this film was riveting. Steve McQueen did a fantastic job directing this film, his artistic background definitely shined through.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the most interesting element of the film is the director's juxtaposition of natural beauty and unnatural institutions. Throughout the film, the director places long camera shots of nature: the Mississippi River, distinct Southern landscapes, and sunsets. These pictures are beautiful, and remind the audience, particularly the Southern audience, how picturesque the South is. These shots, which illuminate the beauty of nature, serve to highlight the brutality of the unnatural institution of slavery. How can something so brutal, so unnatural, take place in such a beautiful place? How can something so unnatural exist in the natural world? McQueen beckons his audience to grapple with these questions of the natural world and the unnatural (created) institutions of humanity. These questions can certainly be applied to environmental issues today: what right do humans possess to enslave the natural world for their own benefit?
McQueen again utilizes these prolonged, silent shots to highlight the terror Soloman experience: for instance, towards the end of the film McQueen focuses the camera solely on Soloman's face for nearly three minutes, exposing the despair that Soloman feels after years slaving on a plantation. Shots like this exist throughout the film, serving to humanize and individualize an oppressed people which posterity can only seem to discuss in terms of their relationship to their white owners.
This film is relentless in its attempt to bring human qualities to a population which history has stripped of its humanity. After witnessing this film, these individuals are no longer "slaves," but humans tortured and abused by an unnatural institution.
Great flick. Go see it.
I saw this film myself not too long ago. The cinematography was incredible; it does the audience justice by showing slavery’s injustice completely and relentlessly. What I enjoyed most about the film however, was the wide spectrum of characters. First, you have the freeman and his family who were kidnapped and forced into slavery. Solomon understands the value of freedom, while others who were born into it don’t and probably never will. Then there were the white plantations owners, but there wasn’t just one flat character that defined all white plantation owners. Benjamin Cumberbatch was one of the plantation owners who was different from the rest. He felt sympathy for Solomon and his situation, and was not cruel to him like Michael Fassbender was. However, Benjamin does not free him, leaving him just as guilty as the other plantation owners. There was also a white slave, which I’m sure the majority of the audience never expected. A black woman was married to a rich plantation owner. A man from up North was working down South (Brad Pitt). All of these different perspectives in the film reshaped the image of slavery that modern Americans have in their minds. It isn’t cut and dry. Slavery wasn’t only the monstrous plantation owner and the scared, feeble slave. McQueen didn’t hold back any violence or cruelty. It was a very clear depiction of slavery that today’s society needs to see.
ReplyDelete