Jordan Loftin

9/11/14

         “What’s the point in telling a story if we could not actually tell the story?” Chiwetel Ejiofor said this after being the main character of Solomon during the movie 12 Years a Slave. I understand where you are coming from when you say certain movies will not teach you historical events, but if you choose the right ones with historical accuracy and brutal truths, it is possible. Children are able to develop great analytical skills and explore real events, circumstances, and attitudes just by watching movies in a critical way, and doing some research. 

         Have you ever seen the movies 12 Years a Slave, or Glory? If not, that may be why you do not believe in learning through movies. With the amount of historical accuracy behind these movies, it can break your heart but at the same time teach you lessons on slavery. According to the critical website of Robert Ebert’s, both movies received ratings of three and a half stars out of four. Robert Ebert was known to have his standards high and these ratings were rare. I am confident that if you watched the movies, you would have the same ratings, if not higher.

         Both filmmakers of each movie had the same intentions, to tell a story about African American life style and not to sugar coat it. They felt the stories needed to be told, and by stories they meant the true stories. In History texts today the Civil War sections often ignore the nearly two hundred thousands of African Americans fighting for the North, the movie didn’t. Like in the movie, the south issued a declaration that any black man taken prisoner in a uniform would be killed. They had a regiment made of all African Americans, some being ex slaves like in the movie, and did you know at first they planned on the black soldiers only being used for manual labor? I didn’t know any of this until I watched the movie Glory.

         Sometimes texts often forget to mention there were free black men, and some of those free black men were kidnapped and sold into slavery. A New York free man was a slave for twelve years after being kidnapped. He was raised under many different owners. How do you think it would feel to be free and then wake up one day and be looked at as less than a human? The man was nothing but confused as to why this was happening to him, and for a long period of time he would look down on other slaves because he still believed he was not one of them.  This did not just happen to one innocent man, but to many. I did not know of situations similar to this until I watched the movie 12 Years a Slave.

         Slaves were not only beaten, but sexually assaulted, and began to wish for their own death. Movies do so much more for visualizing what actually happened to slaves. Both of these movies won many different awards, including Oscars, grammy’s, golden globes, and many more huge awards. 12 Years a Slave made one hundred and eighty seven million dollars around the world, and Glory made twenty seven million dollars throughout the 1900’s. Keep in mind that twenty seven million would be more than doubled nowadays.  I was not surprised to see such good ratings and good rewards towards these movies.

         In conclusion, if you choose the RIGHT movies with historical accuracy and brutal truths, you will not be disappointed with what your children learn. Watching the movie does not have to be the end of it, they can also explore the real events, circumstances, and attitudes by doing some research towards the end. I would give the rating of three and three fourths of a star out of four stars for both of these movies, just because there is always room to improve. I strongly advise both of these movies for your history class, and I am confident in saying your students will learn just as much as I have, if not more.