US History Paraphrase Activity
Review Summary:
12 Years a Slave has been regarded as the best movie that has ever been made about American
slavery. This film is so highly regarded because films like this are disappearing and no more are being
created that actually depict pure truth. Although 12 Years a Slave is a gathering of accounts from a free African American from New York, who was kidnapped and sold down in Louisiana, it gives the viewer a true depiction of American slavery. This idea of a slaves survival in the south was also shown in the movie Django, which is aimed in the satisfaction of the viewer rather than being based from more truth. Along with Django is the even more fictional film, The Birth of a Nation, in which the Klu Klux Klan is respected and African Americans are shown incorrectly. These two films do not compare to the realism that 12 Years a Slave possesses in which tells an inspiring story, while keeping the truth. This movie deserves to be regarded as the truth and as a "masterpiece" in the world of film making.
But Griffiths’ film has almost no truth in it — and it is monstrously, numbingly racist. Its black characters are drunks and rapists, played by gurning white actors in blackface, while the Ku Klux Klan are shown to be savior knights of the new republic. Think again of that strange lack of films about American slavery, and wonder how long it will take for cinema to exorcise these demons. In that light, 12 Years a Slave isn’t simply a masterpiece, it’s a milestone. This, at last, really is history written with lightning.
12 Years a Slave has become the epitome of movies that attempt to tell the truth of the past. Compared to the movie The Birth of Nations, that has almost no factual evidence from the past that supports it's ideas, 12 Years a Slave is full of truth and background evidence while telling a strong story. The Birth of Nations displays pure racism and idealizes the Ku Klux Klan, these ideas destroy the truth behind the history of American slavery.
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ReplyDelete1) I thought it was interesting how you described that the movies helped you to sympathize with characters more.
ReplyDelete2) I was wondering in a classroom setting what was the actual difference maker for movies versus books?
3) I feel you answered the prompt, but sometimes you got sidetracked to other topics. This also helped because explaining the movies supported your claim.