"12 Years a Slave" Essay

While watching the film 12 Years a Slave, I spent a good deal of time wondering how accurate the film was to the real historical events that took place. Turns out, they were very accurate, and some parts were taken directly from Solomon Northup’s own words. After watching this movie and learning about the history behind it, I came to the conclusion that history can be learned from film if the time and effort is put into making sure the tools used to make the movie engaging do not compromise the accuracy of the story.

Soloman Northup and Epps in "12 Years a Slave"

The movie “12 Years a Slave” is a moving film about Solomon Northup’s story. However, it is also a film about the overall treatment of slaves. The New York Times has a review of the movie that references this idea, writing about how the story becomes more deep and then proceeds to become more compact once on Epp’s plantation. Epp’s plantation is also where the truth about being a slave for hours, decades, and generations is shown, sometimes through scenes of the slaves that are Epp’s property being whipped, one example being Epp’s “brutalized favorite”, Patsey, who is played by Lupita Nyong’o. (NY Times Movie Review) The New York Times considers this film accurate to the history, but so do the people that were a part of the making of it. In an interview for Vanity Fair, Lupita Nyong’o said, “Because it’s not about getting it right, it’s about getting it true.” (Vanity Fair Interview) Nyong’o says that while filming the movie the main focus was the accuracy of the history, not the accuracy of the acting. The director wanted the movie to be more true to the history instead of being a perfect Hollywood production that lost all of the realness to the story.

The movie is based off of Solomon Northup's personal narrative of his time as a slave. Having never read his narrative, I spent the entirety of the movie wondering if some of the scenes were based off of real life situations or if they were added to make the film more interesting to watch. I was very happy to find out that important parts of the film were completely real and accurate. Solomon writes in his narrative that Patsey’s back was covered in nearly a thousand scars from a whip. These were not because she was not working diligently or because she was careless and defiant; they were because she had an amoral master and an envious mistress. She was small in the “lustful eye” of her master, and at risk of death at the hands of her mistress, and she was “accursed” between the bother of them. There were loud arguments in the great house for days at time where she was the reason without having done anything. The mistress was happiest when she was suffering. On more than one occasion, Patsey attempted to bribe Solomon to kill her in secret and bury her body in a secluded area of the swamp when Epps denied his wife’s wishes to sell Patsey. (Solomon Northup’s Narrative) Not only was Patsey’s situation in the film accurate to her real life experience, but it provides insight into how other slaves were treated similarly. Harriet Jacobs, another slave, spoke about how a mistress would mistreat slaves whom their husbands were treating their slaves in a similar way Patsey was treated. Harriet said, “The mistress, who ought to protect the helpless victim, has no other feelings towards her but those of jealously and rage.” (Harriet Jacobs' Narrative) The film provides the viewer with an accurate representation of how Patsey was treated, and also of how other slaves were treated who weren’t parts of Solomon's story.

Time and effort was certainly put into the creation of “12 Year a Slave” to make it a film that was both engaging for the viewer, but also true to history. The scenes in the movie can be fact checked by looking through Solomon Northup’s narrative, and they are portrayed accurately based on his descriptions. Some of the scenes and lines are taken directly verbatim from Solomon’s book. After watching this movie and doing the research on slave narratives, I think that history can most definitely be learned through film. It is certainly easy to alter the story to make it more interesting, but that is not always the case. I believe that as long as the movie is made accurately and stays completely true to the history, then film is a fantastic way for people to learn about past events.

Citations:

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai/enslavement/text6/masterslavesexualabuse.pdf

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/movies/12-years-a-slave-holds-nothing-back-in-show-of-suffering.html

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/01/lupita-nyongo-12-years-a-slave-interview