September 11, 2014
H Block
Film Essay
In my US History class, we watched the movies Glory and 12 Years a Slave. From this, we were able to see the effects of slavery in US History within the context of attitudes towards slaves and slavery. This was all done because the filmmakers in both movies wanted to portray slavery in the most accurate way possible, but also make it entertaining so that the audience will stay engaged in the movie.
In the movie Glory, the filmmaker’s original goal was to depict a part of
history that had never before been explored. People always speak of the
hardships that the white soldiers in the Civil War faced, but how many of these
storytellers speak of the regiments of black soldiers. Before watching the
movie, I only knew that there were black soldiers who wanted to fight, but I
thought that was due to the negative view of slaves and colored men throughout
the US. I felt that the white soldiers felt no empathy or sympathy towards the
slaves, and instead would rather they die for their freedom instead of the
white soldiers. At the time, slaves were only viewed as part of person. While
watching the movie, I was shocked during the scene when Colonel Shaw reads out
the rule that black soldiers will not be allowed to fight and they would be
breaking the rules if the regiment continued. I was impressed with how the
filmmaker presented the scene as well. In an interview, the Filmmaker stated
that his main goal for the movie was to get a message across in an interesting
and engaging way. I felt that he did this accurately by showing the actions
throughout the movie without any commentary; it was told from a first person’s
point of view. In any piece of non-fiction, the best information and emotions
can be conveyed through showing the scene and describing the scene, instead of
telling the events of the scene. By doing this, the audience feels empathetic
towards the black soldiers of the 54th regiment instead of not
understanding their feelings. Though there were minor discrepancies between
history and the film, the message that these slaves fought for what they
believed in was conveyed, so the minor inaccuracies are not relevant. One other
thing that was amazing was how much Colonel Shaw, a white officer, supported
the black soldiers of the 54th regiment. He stood up for the humane
rights of the men and did not treat them like they were parts of people. The
scene when he walks into the building and announces that his men will receive
shoes is crucial to the development of the story. In that scene, it showed
Colonel Shaw leaning away from the stereotypes that the black soldiers were
allowed to suffer and did not need the right clothes and training equipment to
fight safely. Both the black soldiers and the white soldiers of the Union were
fighting for the same purpose, slaves should be free. Colonel Shaw realizes
that they should be treated the same if they are fighting for the same purpose.
By standing up for his soldiers, the director conveys that this is not only a
time in which the soldiers are fighting for their beliefs, but also that there
were some commonalities between the blacks and the whites and that this was not
a movie about racial stereotypes and teaching what those were, but showing how
the 54th regiment overcame those. The filmmaker made the movie
entertaining using the intense actions scenes and the music during each of the
battles. I believe that it was the action scenes that made me more engaged in
the movie. When the scenes got intense in the movie, I found my heart racing
and anxious, wondering what was going to happen next: such as in the attack
scene on Fort Wagner.
In 12 Years a Slave, the filmmaker’s goal was to depict the cruelty of
slavery. In the movie, the director Steve McQueen bases the storyline on the
autobiography of Solomon Northrup. By doing this, the history of the story is
completely accurate. McQueen’s goal of the movie was to depict the daily life
of a slave and the harsh treatment they went through. I feel like I understood
the drastic change more because Solomon was a free man before and it shows how
happy he was before becoming a slave. Then, almost suddenly, it goes straight
to the scene where he is being abused for stating that he is a freeman. Some
film critics believe that the freedom Solomon had in New York before he was
kidnapped was overemphasized. I disagree because I believe that this shows the
extreme of the change. The movie was made in 2013, and the freedom that people
had in time period would not relate to any audience. By portraying Solomon’s
life in New York as he did, it seemed almost relatable to the audience, since
our lives are somewhat similar: we go out, our families go out of town to help
friends with planning a party, and we come back. Then, when it immediately
switches scenes to the harshness and cruelty of the slave, many of us, as the
audience, are shocked and horrified. One thing that was shocking to me was that
this was a free black man from America that was kidnapped and sold into
slavery. This was interesting because I had always thought that they brought
the slaves from Africa and those that escaped to the North were free forever.
As I watched an interview with Steve McQueen, I was impressed with how quickly
he was able to convey this idea, given that it was one of his goals. I think
the film also portrayed the views of slaves in a very accurate way. The scene
where the attitude was most evident was when the first owner of Solomon sells
him to his friend because he believes that the overseer is going to kill him.
At first, my first reaction was to think that he had some signs of humanity
inside of him. Then, the owner mentions needing to repay a debt to someone.
This immediately indicated to me that Solomon was more of financial importance
than labor importance. It was also horrifying to see Mrs. Epp’s reaction to
seeing her husband take please in raping one of the slaves. Instead of lashing
out at her husband, Mrs. Epp’s decides to beat the slave. In modern day, if one
woman is being sexually abused, most women will defend the women and help her
get to a better state. In this case, it seemed as if Mrs. Epp’s was blaming the
slave for seducing Mr. Epps because she wanted to believe that her husband was
perfect. Also, showing that her husband was taking a liking to slave over a
white women was socially inacceptable to her and wanted to ensure that the
relationship would not be viewed that way. The slave owners can see what is the
right course of action, and that is evident on their faces, but they chose to
act another way so that society will not think that they are not as high class
as they think they are. The reality of the movie and the ability to understand
the viewpoints of the slaves comes from the sights and the sound effects of the
movie. For example, the scene where the kidnapper was whipping Solomon for
claiming that he was a free man was difficult to watch. Even when I had to
close by eyes for a second because of the horror, I could escape from the
intensity of the scene and how terrible Solomon’s situation was.
I think that watching movies can
help students learn the effects of slavery in US History. It provides a visual
and auditory aid, such as pictures, colors, and sounds, instead of a textbook
that is not as appealing to students. One thing that is important in learning
US History is being able to understand each person’s perspective to a situation
which can help to understand why someone reacted one way. By studying this, I
can learn the psychology behind actions and help prevent it from happening
again. In the case of these two movies, the slave owners acted a certain way
due to mob mentality. The movies did accomplish their goal of keeping people
involved in the movie because both movies came out with significant profits. The
historical accuracy of the movie was precise because the minor changes the
movie made were all related to sound effects and wanting to keep people
entertained. Nothing major relating to facts was changed and I still came out
having understood all of the filmmaker’s and historian’s messages.
Sources:
Glory (G)
12 Years a Slave (12YAS)
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