For this assignment, I chose to watch 12 Years a Slave because it filled headlines back when it was released in 2013, and I feel that it is relevant to the time period that we are studying this unit. The main cast include Chiwetel Ejiofor as Soloman, Michael Fassbender as Epps, Benedict Cumberbatch as Ford, Paul Dano as Tibeats, Paul Giamatti as Freeman, Lupita Nyong 'o as Patsey, Sarah Paulson as Mistress Epps, and, of course, Brad Pitt as the good guy Bass. Initially living in the free state of New York, Soloman is given the offer to travel to Washington D.C. to play music for pay. However, once there, the two who accompany Soloman trick him into slavery. He is moved further south and is given the new name of Platt while fabricating his story as one of a runaway slave from Georgia. This is used to sell the
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That makes this account a primary source, so I must remember to not judge the movie for its plot since it is not really something Soloman could control. The book is generally viewed as accurate. Even Epps confirmed that what Soloman said was true after reading his autobiography. Furthermore, accounts of free black men accused of being runaway slaves was quite common. However, some complaints have come about over how accurate the film was in portraying Soloman’s account. For example, the first death in the movie was about a man who wanted to stop a white sailor from hurting a female prisoner. The sailor stabbed him, but it was not in the book. In fact, killing the slave would be foolish since they are expensive since they often work for no pay for the rest of their hard lives. Even so, many critics and historians have praised the film for accurately portraying slavery. The cotton fields and conditions the slaves underwent were believable, and the producers did not hold back from showing the most brutal aspects of
That makes this account a primary source, so I must remember to not judge the movie for its plot since it is not really something Soloman could control. The book is generally viewed as accurate. Even Epps confirmed that what Soloman said was true after reading his autobiography. Furthermore, accounts of free black men accused of being runaway slaves was quite common. However, some complaints have come about over how accurate the film was in portraying Soloman’s account. For example, the first death in the movie was about a man who wanted to stop a white sailor from hurting a female prisoner. The sailor stabbed him, but it was not in the book. In fact, killing the slave would be foolish since they are expensive since they often work for no pay for the rest of their hard lives. Even so, many critics and historians have praised the film for accurately portraying slavery. The cotton fields and conditions the slaves underwent were believable, and the producers did not hold back from showing the most brutal aspects of