Film Essay
History is a vast subject, that at times can be extremely difficult to portray. Since history is in the past, the challenge of experiencing the events becomes present. How can I know what the people were feeling? One common method that many history teachers use to help their students learn is through movies. Some argue that movies cannot properly portray the historical events, but I disagree. Movies give the viewers an indirect experience of the past events, that can then develop great analytical skills, and the ability to empathize with the historical figures.
Two great examples of movies that are able to show the viewer the effects of slavery in the United States are Glory and Twelve Years a Slave. The two movies portray almost two completely different experiences of slavery, but both portray them well.
Glory gives off the sense of overcoming discrimination, and the theme of coming together for a bigger cause. This film was more uplifting, and it showed me the more positive aspect of slavery. Glory tells the story of the 54th regiment in the Civil War. This is a great story, and it is widely known throughout United States history. This is a story that has been discussed and argued over for years. With the familiarity of the story in the nation’s mind, it was known to the director, Edward Zwick, that his film was to be critiqued heavily; In an interview Zwick was asked why he made the movie, he answered, “I did it because I felt it need to be told (...)” (MIT University).
The historical accuracy, and representation of this story has been looked at under a microscope, and no flaw has been unseen. Even though there are some misrepresentation in the film, like the fact that the actual regiment did not include runaway slaves, but that it was made up of well-educated, freed black men. This historical inaccuracy was intentional. Zwick wanted to show the adversity of overcoming discrimination, and how much freedom meant to the men. In the movie the men are made aware that if found by the enemy, while fighting for the Union, they were to be killed on the spot along with their general commander. This falsity layers on more emotions, and gives the viewer a more personal inside view on slavery. I feel like in history we tend to focus more on the negative side of slavery, for us to “learn from our mistakes,” but in this film I was shown how people were to come together for bigger ideas. Another film that portrayed American slavery, but almost in a completely opposite feeling, was Twelve Years A Slave.
Twelve Years A Slave is movie based upon a true story of Solomon Northup. The movie is about a Northern freed black man that is kidnapped, and sent into Southern slavery. It is an unbelievable story that is almost too awful to be true. Unlike Glory, Twelve Years A Slave focuses on all of the harsh hardships of the slaves, and how brutal they were to be treated. It shows how irrelevant it could be for a slave to try to escape slavery, because no matter how hard they tried, the result would almost inclusively be that they stayed in slavery.
Because the film was also based on a true story McQueen, the director, was given the difficult task of staying true to the story, while creating a film that would move the viewers in a way that would leave them with more understanding of slavery. Like Glory, there are some historical facts that are not completely true in the movie, but these are only small details that are changed to give a deeper emotion. For example, in the film one of the female character, Patsey, come to Solomon’s character and begs him to kill her. In Solomon Northup’s autobiography, it is actually the master’s wife that asks Solomon to kill Patsey, but by changing this small detail, it shows how desperate and miserable slavery was, and how many slaves got to a point that living in slavery was worse than living at all.
I can say that while watching the movie I cringed throughout the whole thing; watching the character being beaten was almost too cruel for me to watch. The film tugged at my heart in an awful way. I could not even imagine having to go through what the slaves were put through. A teacher may argue that a student could learn just as well by reading about the slaves’ experiences in a textbook, but that cannot be more false. Even though I hated watching the pain and suffering that the characters went through in the film, I would not have the deeper understanding that I now have. I felt as if I was experiencing it with them, and that is something a textbook cannot give.
These two movies gave me two different insights into slavery, one showing the uplifting, overcoming of discrimination together, and the other showing the horrific brutality that was put upon slaves. The movies were completely different, but both had the same effect that gave me a deeper understanding and knowledge. The movie allowed me to feel with the characters, indirectly experience the stories, and empathize further with American slavery.
