Title
12 Years a Slave
Creator
Steve McQueen
Description
12 Years a Slave (2013) tells the story of Solomon Northup, a free black man of New York, and his abduction and sale into slavery in 1841. After his return from slavery, Northup told his story to David Wilson, a white lawyer from New York. Published in 1853, less than a year after Northup’s rescue, the book entitled Twelve Years A Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841 and Rescued in 1853, From a Cotton Plantation Near the Red River in Louisiana sold over thirty thousand copies. Director, Steve McQueen, and writer, John Ridley, based the movie on Northup’s narrative, originally published in 1853. The film’s release in 2013 came at a time of rising racial tensions connected to the killing of unarmed black men. The film won three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The film’s director, Steve McQueen, knew he wanted to tell the story of slavery. “I just felt there was a hole in the canon of cinema. Also, I sometimes feel that slavery has disappeared from the discussion, that it’s not looked at in a way that it is deemed important.... I had an idea of a free man—a free African American who gets kidnapped into slavery.” McQueen found Solomon Northup’s narrative and knew that “I had to make this into a film.” McQueen attributed the interest of his production company in his idea for a film on slavery to the election of Barack Obama as the nation’s first African American president. “Well, previously, people wanted to make these stories, but maybe now they thought they had the authority to. Also, now studios realized that they could make some money telling these stories. The fact that he’s the president can never be underestimated when it comes to the influence he’s had on culture, and particularly in film.”
12 Years a Slave’s unapologetic portrayals of white violence have led some historians and literary critics to characterize the movie as “torture porn,” arguing that it “privileges sadism over realism.” The filmmakers object to this critique, noting that the most graphic scenes derive directly from Northup’s own first-hand account. Other historians have noted that while the film accurately portrays the horrors and complexities of the slave regime, it may have over-emphasized Northup’s standing as a free person of color in the North in 1841. The film casts Northup before his abduction as a wealthy, successful individual, making a good living as a carpenter and musician in New York. He wears smart clothes and appears to live in a tolerant, racially integrated community. While such a stark contrast between slavery and freedom no doubt increases cinematic appeal, a more historically accurate portrayal might have noted that free persons of color were continuously exposed to racism and discrimination in the North. Northup’s autobiography, Twelve Years a Slave (1853), confirms this observation with Northup’s description of the everyday “obstacle of color” he experienced prior to his kidnapping.
The film’s director, Steve McQueen, knew he wanted to tell the story of slavery. “I just felt there was a hole in the canon of cinema. Also, I sometimes feel that slavery has disappeared from the discussion, that it’s not looked at in a way that it is deemed important.... I had an idea of a free man—a free African American who gets kidnapped into slavery.” McQueen found Solomon Northup’s narrative and knew that “I had to make this into a film.” McQueen attributed the interest of his production company in his idea for a film on slavery to the election of Barack Obama as the nation’s first African American president. “Well, previously, people wanted to make these stories, but maybe now they thought they had the authority to. Also, now studios realized that they could make some money telling these stories. The fact that he’s the president can never be underestimated when it comes to the influence he’s had on culture, and particularly in film.”
12 Years a Slave’s unapologetic portrayals of white violence have led some historians and literary critics to characterize the movie as “torture porn,” arguing that it “privileges sadism over realism.” The filmmakers object to this critique, noting that the most graphic scenes derive directly from Northup’s own first-hand account. Other historians have noted that while the film accurately portrays the horrors and complexities of the slave regime, it may have over-emphasized Northup’s standing as a free person of color in the North in 1841. The film casts Northup before his abduction as a wealthy, successful individual, making a good living as a carpenter and musician in New York. He wears smart clothes and appears to live in a tolerant, racially integrated community. While such a stark contrast between slavery and freedom no doubt increases cinematic appeal, a more historically accurate portrayal might have noted that free persons of color were continuously exposed to racism and discrimination in the North. Northup’s autobiography, Twelve Years a Slave (1853), confirms this observation with Northup’s description of the everyday “obstacle of color” he experienced prior to his kidnapping.
Source
Fox Searchlight Pictures, accessed October 25, 2016, http://www.foxsearchlight.com/12yearsaslave/.
Date
2013