September 12, 2014
Film Essay
USH
Glory & Twelve Years a Slave
Books are often times thought to be the only good way to learn about history, but this quarter I have learned watching films are just as good. If the films are historically accurate, they can help depict very clearly what life was like in those times. A film can supply the same information as a book, while keeping the audience interested, which I feel they will learn much more if they are actually interested in the topic. Glory and Twelve Years a Slave are the two films we have watched so far in class. The two films have really helped me understand more what life and events were like for African-Americans throughout America’s history by keeping my attention, which most textbooks can not do, and being historically accurate in the process.
In these films, a main theme is how poorly African-Americans have been treated in the past. In Twelve Years a Slave, it shows a different look at slavery than I have learned about in my years in school. The director really depicts how brutal some of the slave-owners were to their slaves, and how hard it was for the slaves to live under those conditions. I think what the director does is shows the audience a different side to slavery, how a free black man could get kidnapped and thrown into slavery like that. The director also shows how harsh and brutally the slave got punished. He did not try to dance around the subject, or even show less, which really helped me feel compassion for slaves and get a sense of understanding about what they had to endure.
Glory was based off of the same theory, how African-Americans were treated in history. This film really shows the experience of African-Americans in the Civil War, and how they overcame so much adversity to fight for something they believed in. There was never really a film concerning black people fighting in the Civil War before this one, so this was a particularly popular film. It shows the point of view from a black man in that situation. It helped me understand how they felt, risking their life for their country, but still being discriminated against even though they were equally talented fighters. Their unit really bonded and became a very strong force, and later led to the recruitment of 180,000 men. The story of these amazing men later was described as being the event that turned the tide of the war.
Jackson Grelier
Sources, Film Research- Glory & 12 Years a Slave
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