 |
| A group of enslaved men [including Solomon Northrup] waiting for work instructions |
Over the weekend, I went to see the film, 12 Years a Slave, starring Chiwetel
Ejiofor as Solomon Northrup. Overall,
I thought that it was a great film. In fact, it was unlike any other film that
I have ever seen depicting the lives of enslaved Africans in the United
States. Solomon Northrup’s narrative
does what so many have tried to convey through fiction; it took an educated,
talented, free, family man and placed him into the chains of slavery. However, Northrup
didn't have to jump into any time machine or fall into a trance just to find
himself in the middle of the antebellum south. Instead, he was an educated
African American family man living in the North during one of America’s darkest
times in history – Slavery. In an instant, Solomon Northrup was betrayed and
found himself in chains. It didn't matter whether he was educated or a family
man, but that he was a strong, able-bodied black man who could fetch a good
price on the New Orleans slave market.
I will not delve too far into the story line, but I will say,
again, that it is narrative based on true events. In Summary, Solomon Northrup
was kidnapped and taken into slavery against his will. It was the result of a
business deal with two white men who took him to Washington, D.C. to be part of
a show. Northrup was an accomplished violinist. After talking business with
these men and socializing, it is thought that the men poisoned/drugged him and
during Northrup’s unconsciousness, he was sold to slavers. After he regained
consciousness, he didn't have proper paperwork or documentation to defend his
name or status as a freeman, so it was his word against those who had already
purchased him. As a result, Solomon Northrup was taken from the slave pens of
our nation’s capital to the slave auctions of New Orleans where he was sold to
a planter in Louisiana. There, he would remain a slave for the next 12 years.
Solomon Northrup’s narrative resonated with me in different
ways, but the most compelling reason was seeing an educated, free man
diminished to a slave. The director did a great job of showing how Northrup
goes from being a dignified family man to demoralized chattel. For example,
there are many instances during the film when the camera just focuses on
Northrup’s eyes and facial expression. It shows the inevitable decline in his
posture as his spirit becomes more and more broken. He went from standing proud
and upright to becoming slumped over with eyes to the dirt. It was upsetting.
It was upsetting because I am connected to that enslaved past. It was also
upsetting because I am connected to the human experience, and it saddens me
that we are capable of such atrocities. Nevertheless, it is a story that must
be told. There are too many people – especially new immigrants – who are
unaware of America’s past. We have to teach them and tell them the entire story
… everything.
