12 Years A Slave Religion

The film accurately depicts the institution of slavery and the attitudes towards race in the United States at the time. Steve McQueen does not shy away from showing gruesome beatings, murder, rape and the general anguish of slavery (Dargis, 2013). Families are split apart at auction, slaves fall over dead in the fields from backbreaking labour, and masters mutilate there their slaves for the slightest offense. The character of Edwin Epps is a cruel slave owner, constantly suspicious of his slaves to the point of insanity, which reflects the deep suspicions and fears of slave rebellions commonly held by southern plantation owners at the time (Zinn, 2013). Solomon’s first owner, Mr. Ford, is a pastor / plantation owner, who uses his strongly held religious views to justify ownership of people. Such use of religion by Mr. Ford and to a latter extent Edwin Epps strongly echoes the opinions of Fredrick Douglass in his famous narrative, “That the religion of the south is a… dark shelter under, which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection” (Douglass, 1845) The film accurately depicts the general differences in attitudes towards race between the northern and southern states. Many plantation owners and

It features powerful and moving performances, and characters with a depth and realism so often lacking in period dramas. McQueen’s film stays true to the real Solomon Northup’s account and the historical era that account is based in, while also challenging racial stereotypes, and including elements of black resistance to oppression and diversity within the African American population. “12 Years a Slave” is to American slavery, what Spindler’s List was to the Holocaust. This film is a must see for American audience of all ethnic backgrounds, for it provides a heart-wrenching look into a less talked about period of our