Was slavery that bad?

This week’s movie of the week is… 12 Years a Slave!

I just watched12 Years a Slave tonight with Joy and it was just as powerful as I expected it to be. I have heard movies like 12YAS referred to as “Oscar bait.” They say that if a movie involves certain topics (namely WWII, the Holocaust and the African slave trade) and certain actors/actresses (Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, etc.) then it fits in this category. I really don’t care for this phrase. It takes away from the performers for starters. The reason these actors and actresses have multiple awards and nominations is simple: they’re that good. But more than that, I hate this phrase for what it steals from the stories. The reason that these topics are so popular in movies is also simple: they matter to us. Deeply.

I have three vivid memories concerning slavery. First was seeing a preview on tv of a show that would air brand new that fall called Roots. I watched as a white man viciously beat a black man in order to force him to reject his name, Kunta Kinte, and accept his new one, Toby. I couldn’t sleep that night.

The second memory happened when I was a 20-something and met for the first time someone who didn’t like “Hollywood’s portrayal” of the African slave trade. “I don’t think a white master on a horse cracking a whip at black slaves picking cotton is an accurate depiction of what was reality at the time,” he said. “I am definitely against slavery, but I think it was much more common for slaves to have good relationships with their masters and were treated well.” I made a point to try and see this from his perspective. I wasn’t sure why, if this was true, it would bother someone. I figured anyone would be happy that such a terrible things have come to an end as well as the whole practice of people not having freedom nor basic human rights. On top of that, aren’t there enough first hand stories, court documents, and witness testimonies to put such a person at east?

This brings me to the third memory. In a seminary class I attended in Kentucky a teacher shared with all of us his first-hand experiences with racism, prejudice, and a history of slavery in his own family line. The next day the topic came up and a fellow student had appeared to have enough. “I am tired of being made to feel guilty for being white!” It’s hard to imagine why even now, more than two centuries after abolition (not to mention more than 140 years since the 5th Amendment in the US and more than 50 years since the civil rights movement) that there are still those who have a hard time coming to terms with what happened. Like most of you reading this I’m sure you can relate to a frustration with such individuals for their sympathy for oppressors as and angst towards the oppressed.

This is one of the many reasons why I love the movies. I love movies and even TV at times for the same reason: they make us ponder. They make us feel. 12 Years a Slave is another movie–and one of the greatest–that compel us to think and feel about this terrible atrocity. At one point in the movie there is almost 90 seconds of a single shot of a character thinking. That’s it. We see him from shoulders up and he’s looking around and thinking. For 15 painful seconds during that time he looks right at you. To watch this movie you must face the reality and do something with it. I don’t think movies like this are asking us to go and “do” something physical necessarily. It simply invites us to stare this issue in the face and allow it to challenge, maybe even change, us.

Congratulations 12 Years a Slave. This is your week.

And the Oscar goes to…Best actress: Maybe I’m just still under her spell, but I definitely think Lupita Nyong’o gets this week’s award. Remarkable and unforgetable! Best actor: Ummmmm… ok I admit I’m just still flying high from watching this movie. Best actor is Chiwetel Ejiofor. At least I’m not giving it to Brad Pitt. He was awesome in this one, not surprisingly. Best quote: “Thanks for stopping by and for the, uh, the breast-hat…” — Hiccup (from How to Train Your Dragon)

Many times in my life I’ve heard people who lived in the 50’s or 60’s being asked, “How could people do that?” And I’ve seen them answer honestly with subtle incredulity, sometimes saying things like, “That’s just the way things were.” So here’s a question for you: In 25 years what will people ask you this question about? Maybe you could answer it now.