Writing About 12 Years a Slave
12 Years a Slave
This picture is from africana-studies.williams.edu.
A movie must be made with the mindset of educating people to be able to accomplish that feat. 12 Years a Slave was made into a movie with the intention of being historically accurate and poignant, and because of that simple truth it is not just possible but unavoidable that you learn about history from this movie. This is proven through a comparison between the movie and a slave narrative of the same time period, interviews with a member of the cast as well as the director, and a historical film critic's perspective of the movie.
It is made evident through the similarities between movie 12 Years a Slave and the Slave narrative Incidents in The Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Ann Jacobs, that a great deal of historical information can be taught from a movie. Harriet Jacobs experiences many of the same situations as Patsey and Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave. Similar to Solomon Harriet moved between different masters starting at one who treated her well and taught her to read just as Solomon knew how to read, “While I was with her, she taught me to read and spell; and for this privilege, which so rarely falls to the lot of a slave, I bless her memory.” Harriet also experienced the same dehumanization, as Solomon, as her owners detested her father for the fact that “ he had spoiled his children, by teaching them to feel that they were human beings.” In addition, just as Solomon was in danger of death for having been educated Harriet was in the same danger as she had learned how to feel like she was worth more than her masters told her she was. And just as Solomon was tricked out of his money by the white man working beside him in the field Harriet's grandmother was cheated out of her hard earned money by her mistress, “ The reader probably knows that no promise or writing given to a slave is legally binding; for, according to Southern laws, a slave, being property, can hold no property. When my grandmother lent her hard earnings to her mistress, she trusted solely to her honor. The honor of a slaveholder to a slave!” Harriet’s grandmother believed her mistress would pay her back and when her mistress did not she could do nothing because she was a slave and so had no legal rights. Harriett’s connection to Patsey can be seen through her encounter with the unwanted sexual attention from her master Dr. Flinch just as Patsey had unwanted attention from her master “When he told me that I was made for his use, made to obey his command in every thing; that I was nothing but a slave, whose will must and should surrender to his, never before had my puny arm felt half so strong.” And just as Patsey was abused by her mistress for her husband's attention Harriett was also abused by her mistress. Harriett stated that her mistress had blamed her for something she had not done and when Harriet claimed her innocence her mistress would not believe that she was telling the truth. These various connections between Harriet’s story and the experiences of the characters in 12 Years a Slave makes it obvious that the historical accuracy of this movie makes it possible for one to learn just as much from the movie as you would from reading a primary source from a slave.
It becomes obvious upon reading the interviews, on rotten tomatoes, of Steven Spielberg, the director of 12 Years a Slave, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, the actor that played Solomon Northup, that their intention of making this movie emotional and realistic serves to educate the reader as much as possible about slavery. Put into words most eloquently by Steve “...I wanted to tell the truth about that particular time in history. If we’d altered it I don’t think that would have been helpful. I mean, you have to look at things in the face sometimes, and that’s the way it was.” This quote reinforces the fact that this movie is brutally realistic and factual about what really happened to the slaves during this time period. And in cases such as this, you are more able to learn something by experiencing it with the character than reading it in a book. Chiwetel goes on to talk about the visual references in the movie “ Looking at the image, because it’s important... And this [film] is something that’s kind of gone through art history, in a way — the frame, the image; it’s what we’ve been dealing with for hundreds and hundreds of years.” What Chiwetel is saying is that the imagery the movie presents holds its significance because it communicates the weight of a certain time period or event that can only be truly absorbed through visual representation. Though Chiwetel and Spielberg aren't the only ones impressed with how 12 Years a Slave turned out, the historical film critic Dr. Emily West was also dazzled by this film.
Dr. Emily West’s interview at historyextra.com clearly proves that you are able to learn immense amounts of information from a movie. Dr. West continually makes remarks about the historical accuracy of the details in 12 Years a Slave. For example, “Enslaved people commonly described having ‘trees of scars’ on their backs – the result of brutal whippings they received from their masters or other people, and this film shockingly displayed the regularity of such treatment.” In addition, “Overall, I was pleased to see the highly realistic depictions of enslaved women’s lives in this film, especially the often-brutal sexual assaults they endured at the hands of white men.” Dr. West goes as far to say that this movie is the most realistic representation of slavery that she has ever seen. Dr. West also mentions that powerful use of symbolism that Spielberg employs to enhance the sense of deep sadness the story of Solomon induces,“Steve McQueen’s unique direction used lingering close ups and poignant imagery of rural Louisiana in the days of slavery, which only added to the great tragedy of Northup’s harrowing story.” The historical facts the movie brings to the table paired with the emotional response 12 Years a Slave pulls from the reader adds something to one's learning that cannot be duplicated.
Poignant, historical movies such as, 12 Years a Slave, educate the viewer in a way that is unequal to any other method of education. This movies ability to draw on true facts and events from history make it an unparalleled source of information. One cannot ever truly understand the gravity of a historical event until one experiences it themselves and a movie is the closest one can get to the events of the past. Through the use of movies, the viewer is able to learn about historical context as well as the real-life situations the people in these time periods had to go through. So through this essay, it is made evident that a great deal can be learned from a historical movie.
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