An Atrocious Reality

Rating: 9/10 (22 December 2014)

McQueen did an excellent job at demonstrating the true horrors of slavery. Based on a true story written by the protagonist, many appalling truths unknown to the world about slavery were uncovered in the movie. The protagonist, Solomon Northup, was a free man living in Saratoga, NY with his wife, Anne, and two children, Margaret and Alonzo. Defrauded by two travelers who invites him to go to Washington D.C, he is drugged and sold into slavery. Solomon wakes up in a cell and is told he is Platt, a runaway slave from Georgia. Despite his protests of being a free man, he doesn't have any papers to prove it. The movie then shows his first brutal beating. Along with him, there are numerous others sold into slavery from the North into the South. Eliza, a mother, was separated from her children. Solomon was first bought by Ford, a southerner that was kind to some extent compared to other slave owners. Although Ford was sympathetic, Platt still didn't escape being sold to another plantation owner. His new owners get worst and worst with increasing cruelness. His last stop was Edwin Epps, a plantation owner known for his cruel and brutal whippings and physical punishments. Rape, whippings, and lynchings were frequent appearances in the show. After being a slave for 12 years, he eventually regained his freedom through the help of a abolitionist.
Slavery has and always will be the stigma of American history. Although America was established as the nation of liberty and happiness, African Americans received anything but those. Being discriminated against due to the sole reason of their skin color, African Americans were ripped of their rights as human and even the bare minimum of food, shelter and life. The movie showed that the evils are everywhere and even under the eyes of the government in the north right at the capital. There are slave cells right in sight of the White House. Solomon represented the unforgotten hope that will always cling to the least bit of opportunity to freedom. During the 12 years of slavery, there was not one moment he didn't want yearn for liberty. How could one country declare themselves the land of the free when people are oppressed under the name of slavery? How could they enjoy the natural right to property when they are considered property themselves? How could one country fight for representation to taxation when their own people are stripped of the privilege to earn money and be taxed?
Two extremely compelling scenes that affected me the most were Patsey's beating and when Solomon finally reunited with his family 12 years later he was kidnapped. As much as Epps favored Patsey, he still didn't respect her at all to give her the basic right to explain and believe her or not beat her like any other slave. He declared whole right to her and treated her a strong possessive that exploded when she did anything with another guy. The struggle of Solomon whipping her himself was portrayed effectively and the image of her back just kind of shoved in my face how strong the pain was. Everyone can talk about slavery and all the horrors but until something's displayed, it's hard to imagine the clear image of human brutality. When Solomon saw his family again, the look was of disbelieve. He couldn't believe he actually saw them again after all the experiences he's gone through. That face he had when he had to ask his daughter about their lives that he missed out. He was stolen the precious time that he had from two fraudulent greedy men. Due to their selfishness and desire, Solomon loss 4,383 days from his priceless life and suffered an enormous amount of brutal and inhumane conditions.