Drew Ferrara
Film Essay
9/12/14
Watching
movies is a beloved pastime for people all across the globe. There is a wide
variety of different genres and styles of movies, which can compliment ones
personality. Whether you enjoy documentaries or comedies, there are thousands
of movies to choose from. I, and I’m sure I’m not the only one, enjoy movies
because it allows me to obtain a mass amount of information or entertainment
without having to perform research to find what I’m looking for. The two very
graphic movies that our class watched were 12
Years a Slave and Glory, which
allowed the audience to understand and empathize with slaves by allowing the
audience to experience the life of a slave by showing vivid examples of the
hardships in which slaves went through.
The
first movie watched by our class was Glory, which portrayed the 54th
Regiment and their desire to win their freedom. In the movie, the members of
the 54th Regiment, consisting of mostly runaway slaves, went through
intense physical training and often were abused by the white superior officers,
but they still persevered in order to reach freedom after many years of
neglect. Even though the war is long over and segregation among races is almost
vanished, I still learn from this movie that the slaves were people too and not
property, and were willing to be tortured and even killed in order to obtain
equality. The second movie we watched was 12 Years a Slave, which is an
adaptation of an autobiography written by the main character, Solomon Northup.
This graphic movie allowed me to fully understand the terrifying circumstances
and events in which African Americans went through. Solomon, who was one of
many free African Americans who were kidnapped, tortured and eventually forced
into slavery. The filmmaker’s objective of this movie was to captivate the
audience and show them how African Americans were treated like dogs, being
swept of the street and sold even if they were free or belonged to another
plantation. Since this movie is based on true first person experiences, it
allowed me to experience, not only read about, mistreating of human beings for
no acceptable reason.
By
watching both of these movies, the audience is able to develop an understanding
of the actual events and situations that the slaves went through. As well as
being very informative and life changing, this movie was also very enjoyable
and allowed me to learn and feel empathy for the slaves, while also being
entertaining.
Sources, Film Research – Glory & 12 Years a Slave
