12 Years A Slave

(This post may have spoilers if you have not watched the movie yet!) Over break I re-watched the movie “12 Years A Slave” directed by Steve McQueen.  The first time I watched this movie was my freshman year of college, spring semester with my roommate.  This movie blew me away.  I had no idea what to expect (besides what the title implies) of the story of this movie.  Though I now know that this movie was based on a true story, and on a real man Solomon Northup, from Saratoga Springs, NY and his tragic and traumatic story.
What I noticed while watching this movie, were the obvious references to critical race and ethnicity studies.  I also noticed the obvious trauma that this man, Solomon Northup, endured after being captured and enslaved for so long.  The one essay from our anthology in particular that I would like to bring up is “The Social Construction of Race,” by Ian F. Haney López.
In this essay, the “problems of race” are defined and explained.  “Human fate still rides upon ancestry and appearance.  The characteristics of our hair, complexion, and facial features still influence whether we are figuratively free or enslaved.  Race dominates our personal lives.  It manifests itself in our speech, dance, neighbors and friends – ‘our very ways of talking, walking, eating and dreaming are ineluctably shaped by notions of race’” (López 965).  This section of the reading made me think of the section of the movie where Solomon is directed to retrieve Patsey.  Patsey, in this scene, is with a woman by the name of Mistress Shaw.  Mistress Shaw was able to elevate her status.  By elevating her status, she had a house to live in, even with slaves of her own.  She also mentions that she had not been beaten or whipped in years.  Even though she knew how other slaves were being treated, because she used to be one of them, she did not care.  She was looking out for herself and that is what she saw was best fit for her.
Another section of the essay that I want to bring up is from the section “Biological Race.”  The very first sentence in this section is: “There are no genetic characteristics possessed by all Blacks but not by non-Blacks; similarly, there is no gene or cluster of genes common to all Whites but not to non-Whites.  One’s race is not determined by a single gene or gene cluster, as is, for example, sickle-cell anemia” (López 967).  This proves that no matter what anyone says, we are all the same.  No one is lesser than anyone else, no matter what race or ethnicity; therefore they should not be treated as a lesser.  “12 Years A Slave” really showed the brutal and disturbing truth behind slavery, and what happens when people treat others as less than a human being.
Overall, this movie was extremely interesting.  I feel as though I was able to pick up so much more information watching it this time around.  Looking at this movie through race and ethnicity studies was very interesting, and it made me look deeper into the film than I did before.