12 Years A Slave

Directed by Steve McQueen and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, the 2013 movie 12 Years a Slave won many awards for the best-adapted screenplay, the best picture, and the best actor, including The Academy Award (the Oscar). The film is an adaptation of the autobiographical book of the same name which is hard to watch in terms of its plot that is about an African American Solomon Northup, a free man, and a violinist until he was captive in 1841 and kept captive as a slave until 1853. The movie, which is a true story, can be examined under two main headings: racism and violence.

The main point of the movie is slavery, which is an indelible stain on American history and racism which we see in every scene. Even the movie starts with a white man giving duties to black slaves standing in a sugarcane field, in other words, racism. We see that this group of people looking towards the camera (that is, us) will tell us something. Meanwhile, we see flashbacks of Solomon's life before he was captive. He lives freely in New York with his wife and children and makes a living by playing the violin, goes to Washington for a business meeting with his two musician friends, whom he met and trusted. There he is sold to slave traders by them. Solomon's life suddenly changes, he is "Platt" now, and he finds himself in a world where pain, violence, and humiliation are high. He begins to struggle to get rid of this painful and violent world.

The suffering of slaves in various jobs offer no hope in their life without escape, but no reason to live. However, Solomon Northup has always been looking for a way out and thinking about how to ask for help from the moment he was working as a slave. Unlike other slaves, he behaves like them even though he can read and write. Slave traders put up for sale a group of slaves, some of whom included small children, naked, and some while displaying their talents. First bought by Ford, Solomon is then given to the owner named Edwin. Edwin, who does not hesitate to display humiliating attitudes towards the slaves, believing that religion requires them to guide and use the slaves as he wishes, argues that blacks are slaves because they are evil-spirited disgusting creatures, and slams them in the face by expressing it every time.

Based on the character of Edwin, the subject of violence in the movie can also be examined. We see the sexual assault, physical, and psychological violence against female slaves in the story of Patsey, who was born a slave in a cotton field and was raped and tortured by the farm owner, or in the story of Eliza, the slave who was forcibly taken from her two children in tears. Patsey also suffers from Edwin's irrational anger. In one scene, disgusted by her own stench, Patsey goes to a nearby farm to buy soap. When she returns, Edwin is furious with her and accuses her of having an affair with the white master of that farm. He strips her naked, ties her to the stake, and forces Solomon to a brutal whip. In the end, Solomon can do no more and Edwin takes the whip and continues to beat Patsey in an unnatural fury until he is too exhausted to beat her anymore.

Moreover, slaves are punished by hanging by their throats for any act of disobedience or controvert, and many scenes show deep whiplash and agony on their backs. In fact, it is conveyed so well to the audience that it is almost as if the audience suffers together with them. Additionally, slaves are forced to pick cotton, and those who pick little cotton are punished by whipping. In fact, in a cotton-picking scene, a slave faints and dies because of working under harsh conditions.

In conclusion, the film, in which racism and violence are intertwined, from my point of view is hard to watch till the end, shows how a slave lives, dies, and is tortured. Another factor that makes the movie impressive is that it is a true story, and the character of Solomon Northup is a real person who lived in the past and made an impact on slavery by writing the book "12 Years a Slave".