"I hated it, walked out in 15 minutes"

Rating: 10/10 (11 March 2014)

Do tell, how can one hate a film if one does not see it to the end? It's not like this was Legally Blonde 2, you needed to get a bit involved. Like actually watch, soak up, ask questions and interpret, not be force fed the filmmakers intentions. This was not a kids movie, so why be simple?
Furthermore, how can one not see how this film was structured around fear and not hatred? It so clear how it was showcasing fear, but I guess some need narration.
Even more - why do white people today take slavery so personal? I'm white and not once did I familiarise myself with anybody but Solomon, because he was the main character, the one i was suppose to be involved with. Does his skin really mean we won't feel the same in similar situations?
This movie is impeccable to say the least. So after viewing I thought "If a reviewer hated this film, what were the reasons?" Needless to say I was disappointed in the response. There are many, non-personal, reasons to hate a film. The lack of thought in terms of film leads me to believe that the haters are actually just racist. Not because they would do similar stuff to a black person but because they needed to see white people not be SO evil. Their logic for hating it was not based on film, it just was not.
There is one long shot, where he hangs in the tree. He hangs for a while holding himself up with his neck and toes. The other workers slowly come out and carry on. This is because the film is about fear. His peers did not help him because of fear.
Mistress Eps only beat Patsy, why? Fear. Fear that Patsy meant more to her husband than she. Ford was too scared to help a man he knew should be helped. Edwin Eps was scared of loosing his power. And all the slaves are scared on the most basic principle - they could die.
The beating was relentless - but I believe it to be. If a person is going to strip a woman and lash her then why would he suddenly develop a moral compass and say "Only three lashes?" Im sure that compass was broken to begin with.
"It was difficult to sit through" well I am sure it was even more difficult to live through... my goodness, at least we only had to experience it for two hours, not twelve years - with a drink and snack no less.
"It was one sided, depicting black as good and white as evil" it did? I am pretty sure I witnessed Solomon loose it a few times although confined to his circumstances. When Solomon refused to take his shirt off for a beating and stood up for himself, he could have just taken the whip away instead he beat him. Inflicting that kind of pain is not being the better person.
And, from one reviewer's opinion to another - I believe this film is leaps and bounds better than "Citizen Kane", "Paths of Glory", "M", "Lawrence of Arabia", "Amadeus", "2001-A Space Odyssey", or "The Bridge on the River Kwai" but, an opinion of how great a film is can usually be explained by how old the viewer is when they first saw it. And all mentioned were screened before my birth, so excuse the lacklustre feeling towards the oldies.
It deserves accolade in the history books of film."12 Years a Slave" was relentless in making me feel, and I adore the film for taking me to such emotional depths - even if I probably won't sit through it again.