Disturbing, thought-provoking, heartrending, and
powerful … that’s how I would describe the movie, 12 Years a Slave.
I recently sat down to the watch the film—after it
reached box office success and won Oscars and Golden Globes. I’m not sure why
it took me so long to view the movie, but I’m glad I finally did.
The story is based on the validated autobiography of
Solomon Northup. He was a free black man who was abducted in New York State and
sold into slavery in the mid-1800s—before the Civil War. Solomon was forced to
work on plantations in Louisiana for twelve years before meeting a Canadian
abolitionist who came to his rescue.
Solomon experienced kindness from several plantation
owners, but he also suffered severe cruelty from others. I think what was most unsettling for me were
the men who professed to be Christians
and preached the Gospel to their slaves, but felt justified in raping
women and whipping to shreds anyone who
even just looked at them wrong.
Their actions reminded me of the Pharisees and Jesus being
struck until bleeding for doing nothing wrong …
Yet, these slaves who were held against their will
and made to suffer such atrocities still clung to their faith and sang songs of
praise to the Lord. Amazing.
I don’t understand—and I will never understand—how
those who profess to be Christians have over the course of history been so evil
and violent—torturing and killing their fellowman. The Crusades. The
Holocaust.
But I guess the truth is that they’re not who they
claim to be. They’re not led by Christ but by those evil entities in the
spiritual realm who want to do humankind harm.
I’m thankful for movies like 12 Years a Slave because they remind us of the realities of what
people have endured and continue to endure around the world today.
Perhaps we can’t physically help those in other
countries who are being enslaved and treated with brutality. But we can raise
our voices. We can refuse to close our eyes to what is happening. We can refuse to participate. And we pray …
Have you seen 12
Years a Slave? What were your thoughts? If you haven’t seen this film, do
you think you’d like to?
Dawn
I saw the movie in theaters, and thought first how much the story needed told. Then I began to see moments of utter brilliance in storytelling. When he was hanging, barely able to touch the ground with his toe, while others went about their chores after a bit...heartrending.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Peter! The scene of him hanging, struggling to breathe ... and how long he had to endure really tugged at my heartstrings.
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