In one of my English classes this semester, we are reading a lot of literature that takes place in the 19th Century/Civil War era. We read one of my favorite short stories, An Occurrence at Outcreek Bridge, and currently, we are reading Kindred by Octavia Butler.
Kindred is a sci-fi/slave narrative piece that has the protagonist has the ability to go back in time to the 19th century. There she has to protect her ancestors to ensure her survival in the present. While discussing the book in class, my professor asked if any of us had watched "Twelve Years A Slave" (2013). I and about half the class did not raise their hands and I thought to myself. "Why haven't I seen it?" I felt motivated to rent the movie that night on YouTube and to watch it. The next day I sat down and it was a pretty good film. I want to take the time with this article to discuss not the film itself but why it is important for filmmakers to create films like these. Films that make people wince and hang their head in shame at humanity.
If you have never seen "Twelve Years a Slave" (2013) it is based on the true story of Solomon Northup, a violinist and a free man who was tricked by slave traffickers into performing in Washington DC. Little did Solomon know that he would be intoxicated, kidnapped and shipped off to the South. There he would spend the next twelve years working on several plantations, dealing with both amicable and hellish slave masters. And if you are someone who is not desensitized by violence it might be a little much. But I believe that's necessary. Before the internet, before everyone had access to a camera, a lot of the abuse minority groups faced went unknown, undocumented, lost with history. Not everyone back in the day was capable or even allowed to write their stories and share them with the world. Reveal the truth.
The Civil War was over one hundred years ago. Slavery has been outlawed for over one hundred years. Every living soul, white or black, that was alive during that era are gone. So it may be difficult for people of today to truly grasp the atrocities that once occurred. Sure in school, children learned about slavery. They learn how slave masters would whip the African-Americans, "their property". And maybe there's a drawing of it back in the day of a generic plantation owner whipping a random African-American. But nothing is more powerful than actually seeing that action take place.
"Twelve Years a Slave" (2013) Directed by: Steven McQueen media1.giphy.com
In "Twelve Years a Slave" (2013) there is a scene where the character named Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o) is violently whipped by Michael Fassbender's character. And kudos to the special effects makeup artist and the special effects editors, they managed to show just how severe the slashes were. And Lupita Nyong'o does an excellent job acting as well. I believe this scene alone made the film win the best picture from the Academy. But like I said earlier a scene like this might turn people away. In my opinion, there are people out there who say we should honor things like Black History Month or Spanish Heritage month, but then they don't seem to want to acknowledge the true hardships this country has faced. America hasn't always been perfect and people in power right now what to make it seem like it always has. When in actuality, we as a nation did terrible things to one another.
Having films like "Twelve Years a Slave" (2013) are important because it doesn't let the history of those events die. It also creates a viewing experience that more people are willing to sit down and watch. I bet not a lot of people would've sat down and actually took the time to read Solomon Northup's book. We need to see the good and the bad of our countries, of our histories, so we don't repeat them. I usually have a saying for myself: "I need to see the bad before I see the good in the world." Because the world is a terrible place filled with death and corruption that's leading up to a point where the little guys (us) has to pay. But after I take in all the bad. I look at how far we've come as a society. The younger generation of the world is starting to take a stand and call out those in power. They are the ones taking the necessary steps to a brighter future.
So while I don't want to see a man separated from his family, characters being hanged, or people getting whipped to monstrous degrees… I have to. Because we need to know our past so we can shape our future.
