Lincoln's Memory

Rating: 5/10 (3 February 2013)

"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. Those who think themselves the masters of others are indeed greater slaves than they." ⎯Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract, or Principles of Political Right, 1762. Spielberg's Lincoln, loosely based on historical events and the people who actually lived those lives rather than the actors representing them is more about our present slavery than the American civil war and the 13th amendment for the abolishment of slavery: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Perhaps I'm too cynical or just paranoid about the motives behind Hollywood's entertainment as part of the leisure industry and capitalism but when spectators like me and my friend pay for the so called privilege of being entertained during our free time by those who are forced to provide entertainment for the indentured masses, I'm not interested in dramatic propaganda. Nowhere is it more blatantly obvious than in Spielberg's films, which are hyped-up to be something they are not: That is to say, worthy of these ridiculous awards we laud upon the well-paid slaves of this film: Daniel-Day Lewis - the best slave-actor in the world; Sally Fields the best slave-feminist and interior designer of the white house; Spielberg – the best boy in the world because they all care so much about telling the truth. If the film's intention is self- parody I applaud its success. However, if they are so naïve as to think people are going to be duped into believing that Lincoln or any other man or woman, whether he or she be black or white, president of the United States or God really will free us from bondage, think again! These shadowy images on the cave wall we now call a cinema screen are relatively well photographed but this film is a poor and somewhat sad reflection on humanity's willingness to remain in a state of ignorant self-serving bliss. "The first man who, having fenced in a piece of land, said "This is mine," and found people naïve enough to believe him, that man was the true founder of civil society. From how many crimes, wars, and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not any one have saved mankind, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch, and crying to his fellows: Beware of listening to this impostor; you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody." ⎯Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on Inequality, 1754