“12 Years A Slave” A Review by Scott Holleran (scottholleran/tag/solomon-northrup {October 4, 2013} ) is well worth the read. “Overwhelming,” “impressive,” “devastating,” “dynamic,” “extraordinary.” Finally, the first film since “Beloved” and Alex Haley’s “Roots” about the mechanism of inhumanity that dominated” and still dominates RACISM against African americans’ lives. “Not just one person’s crime against another, but a “widespread ACCEPTED insanity.” The backdrop of the white house as Solomon cries out for help from a dungeon at the inception of his vile enslavement, is brilliant directing. The unforgettable piercing scene of Solomon left dangling from a tree with barely any breath for life, his toes clutching at the mud - all that supports his life -- while no one – black or white, slave or master – dares to break tradition, speak, step forward and liberate the man from bondage. – is unmatched in cinematic depiction. The insidiousness of slavery, lynching through to the present-day systemic assaults on African americans screams out of every frame of this film: “you are not in charge of yourself; you are owned yet you are human so you cannot in reality be owned.” “12 Years” is a tribute to the millions of African americans who endured enslavement with an until-death—or--freedom courage and dignity; those who “refused to submit to” psychological, intellectual or physical “death.” “Patsy’s” (Lupita Nyong’o) “air of loftiness” that neither labor nor lash could rid her of,” (Solomon Northrup’s words) Is stunning and mesmerizing!! “Solomon and “Patsy” give us “real heroes who express emotion based on reason;” no caricatures or minstrelry. “You will know why the caged bird sings, to paraphrase poet Maya Angelou, after seeing this movie.” ….. The filmmakers (have) made a movie which honors its freethinking author and should be seen by any one who’s free to think.” 12 Years .. is a profound commentary that is as applicable to understanding and challenging RACISM today as it was between the mid-17th century and the1960s. A vile (metaphor) for the universality of incessantly being pre-judged for the color of our skin, envied and resented and hated for being intelligent, for being good; and also for the Mass Incarceration of African americans and Other People of Color since the Reagan era.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 22:16:47 +0000
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