12
Years a Slave,
directed by Steve McQueen, is one of the more in-depth looks at what it was like
to be a slave. It’s based on the memoir of Solomon Northup, a free black living
in New York who was attracted by a fiddling job in Washington DC, only to be
drugged and wake up in a slave pen. He found himself transported along with
other kidnapped blacks (and a lot of slaves who were also abducted or were
being resold) to New Orleans. For the next 12 years (1841-1853) he served under
several masters, experiencing different degrees of slavery. Eventually he found
a sympathetic white Canadian, Samuel Bass, who got word of where he was to his
family, and Northup was freed. Understandably, he became a prominent
abolitionist.
There is actually a debate about the veracity of Northup’s memoir. The debate arises form several passages which seem to express white views of slavery and race and others which had uncanny similarities to other slave narratives. The explanation for these bits is that Northup wrote his memoir via dictation through a white writer. The white writer likely decided to make some alterations to make the book more sellable.
Otherwise, however, Northup’s
description of slavery lined up heavily with other sources, and his abduction
and passing from master to master is well documented by court records and other
paperwork. Since the movie follows the memoir closely, it is one of the more
accurate presentations of slave life. I want to add that this is actually the
second film adaptation. PBS produced a TV movie where Northup was portrayed by
none other than Avery Brooks (Captain Sisko from Star Trek!).
Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his family before his abduction.
There are a few historical changes to
address. Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is simply shown as a professional
violinist. In reality this was one of his many jobs, as he took on several, as
did his wife Anne, to make sure their children were well fed and clothed. He
also worked in construction, though the movie does heavily imply that he used
to have manual labor jobs before his musical career. Also, asshole carpenter
Tibeats (Paul Dano) is shown to be an employee of William Ford (Benedict
Cumberbatch) who only has authority over Northup as far as given by Ford. In
reality he became Northup’s master after Ford had to settle a debt, but
understandably the movie had to simplify things.
The most startling inaccuracy is during
the transport sequence. One of the sailors takes Eliza (a female slave played
by Adepero Oduye) for sexual pleasure and then kills one of the male slaves
when he tries to intervene. In real life this would have not been allowed, not
because of any ethical regard for the slaves, but because this was tampering
with and destroying property (forcing yourself on female slaves was okay if you
owned her).
Northup alongside other slaves who are to be shipped to New Orleans
With those mostly nibbling inaccuracies
out of the way, it’s time to look at how well the film tackles its subject. The
cinematography and use of extras is excellent. The whipping scenes are
horrifically violent, but director McQueen really emphasized the horror of
slavery though how mundane it's treated. Usually regardless of what’s happening with
the central characters, the whites and the other slaves in the background are going
about their business as usual. Even during the notably long shot of Northup
struggling in a noose while his feet barely hold onto the ground, we see extras
milling about, showing that cruel moments like this are not too uncommon. Hans Zimmer’s
score is very aggressive in the abduction stage of Northup’s story, but becomes
minimalist or not used at all for the majority of the film, just to drive in
the monotony and on-your-toes feeling of being a slave.
What made Northup’s memoir so helpful
was that he served under several types of masters. The movie has two in
particular which stand in stark contrast, but are both ripe for moral
criticism. William Ford is a decent man who tries (but fails) to buy Eliza and
her children together, and looks very glum when they’re separated from her. He
rewards slaves for their work and preaches the Bible (not even confining his
words to the passages that slave owners typically pulled out of context for
their own use). The real Northup wrote that Ford was as much a victim as the
slaves, too morally blinded by his culture to see he was participating in evil
(more on this in a tiny bit).
Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch) rewards Northup with a violin.
The other slave master is Edwin Epps
(Michael Fassbender), who is more of a Simon Legree type. He is quick to use
the whip, keeps his slaves up late dancing for his amusement, and has a
perverted crush on his female slave Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o) that manifests as
grape. His wife hates him for this and other things, but does not bond with
Patsey, instead taking out her anger on her with some harsh abuse. This
phenomenon was written in Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents
in the Life of a Slave Girl. Jacobs wrote how she and the plantation
mistress first shared outrage over the master’s adultery and grape. But the
mistress, unable to do anything to stop her husband, started taking her anger
out on Jacobs. I should mention that Epps was actually a “lower-class” kind of
slaveholder in real life, with the movie upgrading his shack-like dwelling to
the more familiar plantation house. Also, as cartoonishly evil as Epps is, the real figure was even more so, sometimes deciding he just wanted to chase all his slaves around with a whip for no reason.
In contrast to Northup himself, who
despised the more blatantly wicked Epps, McQueen has said that he found Ford
more troublesome as a slave master. As someone with a moral core, he would have
seen the dehumanizing nature of slavery, but still chosen to engage in it. It is
an interesting moral question. Who is worse, the absolutely wicked man who
commits evil because he thinks it’s just the natural way things are, or the man
who knows what is right, but commits evil anyways?
Like Ford, Epps uses religion to justify
slavery, though he only uses verses that seem to condone slaves’ obedience and
the punishments he uses. The movie’s handling of religion seems to be a result
of Hollywood’s largely anti-Christian attitude. The religion of the
slaveholders is emphasized, but outside of the “Roll, Jordan, Roll” song, we
don’t get much of how the slaves used Christianity for their own ends. The real
Northup was a heavily Christian man, which explains how he could feel
compassion for the men who kept him in bondage while still criticizing them.
Really, we don’t really see much
interaction between Northup and his fellow slaves. You’d think the filmmakers
would want to examine the culture of the slaves. On the other hand, since
Northup was a free northern black with a northern accent, he does feel out of
place. Perhaps McQueen wanted to emphasize his separation from his own family
by not showing him socializing too much with his fellow slaves. The exceptions
are Eliza, who is with him on the initial leg of slavery, and more prominently
Patsey. Patsey is effectively the female lead, and left quite an impression on
the real Northup. She was the most prominent victim of Epps, but also had an
inner strength that somehow kept her going despite her adversity.
Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o) tries to convince Northup to kill her and end her suffering. In real life Epps tried to bribe Northup into murdering her, further showing how bizarre his relationship with his favorite female slave was.
The movie’s ending drew some controversy
for invoking the White Savior trope. However, it was a white man who saved him
from enslavement in Louisiana, as most blacks didn't have a chance of successfully escaping by their own efforts unless they were in one of the "border" states. Samuel Bass was a Canadian construction worker who
somehow managed to work in the Deep South while still expressing abolitionist
views. Apparently he was such an interesting man to talk to that Southerners
let him get away with it while suppressing anti-slavery sentiments from others.
What’s really annoying about Bass’ inclusion in the last act is that he’s
played by Brad Pitt, who used his producer credit to give himself the most
noble white role. While we’re on the topic of the ending, I want so assure
readers that Patsey eventually got her freedom when Union Soldiers arrived at
the Epps plantation in 1863.
12
Years a Slave
is the best movie to directly tackle antebellum slavery. It’s for the most part
honest, historically accurate, and presents the horrors of slavery without
either whitewashing or overblown theatrics.
Rating: 8/10
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