Good morning/afternoon ladies and gentlemen, today I am here to speak about the representation and treatment of the issue of Human Trafficking in a variety of different texts. Human Trafficking, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, is the act of ‘recruitment, transportation, transfer or harbouring of people’ by abduction or deception for the means of sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery or organ removal. The three texts that I will be analysing will be Taken, a film by Pierre Morel. A New York Times magazine article by American filmmaker and journalist, Peter Landesman and a memoir by Solomon Northup, 12 Years A Slave. All three texts tackle the idea of human trafficking in its many forms such as sex trafficking,
…show more content…
It involves the forced prostitution of women and children through means of violence, threats, lies and other kinds of coercion. Taken is a film directed by Pierre Morel and revolves around Bryan Mills, an ex-government agent with “a very particular set of skills”. He is portrayed by Liam Neeson, who travels to Paris to find his daughter who is abducted by an Albanian trafficking ring. The film does raise awareness of human trafficking. However, Taken does propagate several critical misunderstandings about trafficking. Firstly, the film depicts the American as the hero and foreigners as the villains, therefore creating bias and reinforcing stereotypes of like the Arabs being the regular bad guys and Americans coming in to save the day. The audience might be misled into thinking that trafficking is a foreign problem, when in fact, it is estimated that between 14,500 to 17,500 are trafficked into the US annually. Finally, as expected from Hollywood, rescue represents the end of the story. However, for most victims of sex trafficking there rarely is a happy ending. The 200 Missing Nigerian Schoolgirls, abducted by Boko Haram, are still missing and have not returned to their homes. In reality, there is no Bryan Mills to rescue these girls, nor has their government attempted to recover …show more content…
The novel conveys the author’s life story as a free African-American man from the North; he was kidnapped and traded into slavery in the pre-Civil War South. Northup’s autobiography presents a startlingly accurate and verifiable account of the common slave labour in the United States in the antebellum South. Literary techniques the author uses are; Firstly, Diction, the word choices he uses helps the reader fully understand his intended purpose for writing. Secondly, the author uses Imagery to appeal to the reader’s senses. For example, "The crimson and golden fruit hung half hidden amidst the younger and older blossoms of the peach, the orange, the plum and the pomegranate; for in that region of almost perpetual warmth, the leaves are falling and the buds bursting into bloom the whole year long”. Third, the author uses a fair amount of detail when telling his ordeal, for example, Northup’s descriptions of the abuses he suffered and those he was made to inflict was written with extreme detail for example, “The lash was wet with blood, which flowed down her sides and dropped on the ground… She no longer writhed and shrank beneath the lash when it bit out small pieces of her flesh”. Lastly, the type of language that the author uses helps the reader gain insight into that time period and the types of people. The memoir serves as a timeless indictment of the
It involves the forced prostitution of women and children through means of violence, threats, lies and other kinds of coercion. Taken is a film directed by Pierre Morel and revolves around Bryan Mills, an ex-government agent with “a very particular set of skills”. He is portrayed by Liam Neeson, who travels to Paris to find his daughter who is abducted by an Albanian trafficking ring. The film does raise awareness of human trafficking. However, Taken does propagate several critical misunderstandings about trafficking. Firstly, the film depicts the American as the hero and foreigners as the villains, therefore creating bias and reinforcing stereotypes of like the Arabs being the regular bad guys and Americans coming in to save the day. The audience might be misled into thinking that trafficking is a foreign problem, when in fact, it is estimated that between 14,500 to 17,500 are trafficked into the US annually. Finally, as expected from Hollywood, rescue represents the end of the story. However, for most victims of sex trafficking there rarely is a happy ending. The 200 Missing Nigerian Schoolgirls, abducted by Boko Haram, are still missing and have not returned to their homes. In reality, there is no Bryan Mills to rescue these girls, nor has their government attempted to recover …show more content…
The novel conveys the author’s life story as a free African-American man from the North; he was kidnapped and traded into slavery in the pre-Civil War South. Northup’s autobiography presents a startlingly accurate and verifiable account of the common slave labour in the United States in the antebellum South. Literary techniques the author uses are; Firstly, Diction, the word choices he uses helps the reader fully understand his intended purpose for writing. Secondly, the author uses Imagery to appeal to the reader’s senses. For example, "The crimson and golden fruit hung half hidden amidst the younger and older blossoms of the peach, the orange, the plum and the pomegranate; for in that region of almost perpetual warmth, the leaves are falling and the buds bursting into bloom the whole year long”. Third, the author uses a fair amount of detail when telling his ordeal, for example, Northup’s descriptions of the abuses he suffered and those he was made to inflict was written with extreme detail for example, “The lash was wet with blood, which flowed down her sides and dropped on the ground… She no longer writhed and shrank beneath the lash when it bit out small pieces of her flesh”. Lastly, the type of language that the author uses helps the reader gain insight into that time period and the types of people. The memoir serves as a timeless indictment of the