Sometimes
for us to understand what people went through we have to “experience” what they
did, movies are a great way for that to happen. With the movies “Glory” and “12
Years a Slave” I learned to understand a lot about the slaves and slave owners
back then. Watching movies is beneficial because you are put into someone
else’s shoes in a way, and get to see and be a part of the same things that
they were. I’ve learned more about the 1800s slave era by watching 2 movies
than I ever have before.
For a
filmmaker to make a successful and interesting movie, he needs to be able to
draw the audience in but still be historically accurate. A great example of
this is the movie “Glory.” According to reelamericanhistory.com,
Glory is one of the most historically accurate movies ever, but yet it was
still a very enticing and interesting movie that I enjoyed watching. Same goes
with “12 Years a Slave,” the movie followed the book almost perfectly, and it
still won numerous Academy Awards, including “Best Motion Picture of the Year.”
Edward Zwick (Glory) and Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) directed these movies
in a way where they were very accurate to the history, and still some of the
biggest hits ever, that is what sets these movies apart from some of the other
historical movies.
Movies
allow us to see things from many different points of view. With Glory, we got
to see things from the blacks, and the whites perspective. With that
opportunity, we can really analyze the movie and shape opinions that we
normally wouldn’t be able to obtain if we weren’t watching a movie. That is the
best part about movies; they make you form an opinion and spark conversation
among the viewers. An article on Steve
McQueen said that his intentions when making 12 Years a Slave were to “look
behind” the subjects people didn’t want to. That is exactly what he did, people
who didn’t want to really look at slavery were forced to after seeing this
movie and it started conversations about this topic among the viewers. None of
this is possible without the power of movies.
For us to
really understand the past, we have to see what they went through, with the
movies “Glory” and “12 Years a Slave,” the audience is put into the shoes of
black men and white men. Without being put into their positions I wouldn’t
understand nearly as much about that time period as I do now. I’ve learned more
about slavery by watching these movies than I think I ever could anywhere else.
Sources: http://goo.gl/8Vyra0 --- IMDb Website for Glory
http://goo.gl/CtznHk --- 12 Years a Slave Critics
http://goo.gl/U9xp3U --- Glory Box Office
http://goo.gl/Wky3M6 --- 12 Years a Slave Box Office
http://goo.gl/xdeI3d --- McQueen’s Intentions on making 12 Years a Slave
http://goo.gl/yHN7Lv --- Zwick’s Intentions on making Glory
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