This will be another movie I can admire, but not really force myself to see. I will get too angry and worked up, and there is no slave owner's house to burn down to give it direction. Would if there were, though...
Escape to the Movies: 12 Years a Slave
- Thread starter MovieBob
- Start date
Just seems like there are certain topics that Hollywood will go back to again and again because a horrible event impacted millions. We see a good number of Holocaust films but when you get thinking about how many stories there would be about the people involved it's easy to see why someone would think they have a take on it worth a movie.sjwho2 said:
Plus it's just in the nature of Hollywood to go back to something they think would either sell tickets or win awards. Someone could say well we've seen a character with powers and a costume save the world before so why do we need more superhero movies? We've seen teenagers killed by something supernatural so why do we need more horror films? We had three good Star Wars films so why do we need more science fiction films?
Although I would agree that it is a bit odd that films with a large African American cast tend to either be dramas about slavery, dramas about racism in the middle to late 20th century, or comedies usually with the Madea character.
I'm glad Americans are finally willing to talk about slavery in this fashion. Portraying it as something absolutely horrifying. Maybe Native Americans will get their turn next.
...james.sponge said:
Seriously, what are you even talking about? Do you really think there aren't any movies with black main characters that aren't about discrimination and slavery? Do you even think there are all that many movies that ARE about discrimination or slavery? The fact that we've got two major movies involving slavery this year is more "rule of two" than average results.
Do any of the following names ring a bell? Tyler Perry, Denzel Washington, Samuel Jackson, Wesley Snipes? Do you think all of their movies are about slavery and discrimination? (Some of them, okay. ALL of them? Snake on a Plane, even?)
How about Bad Boys or Bad Boys 2? Those were about Will Smith and Martin Lawrence?james.sponge said:
OK, seriously, what do you mean "about Afro-american character"? Do you just mean a film with a black lead? Well as I pointed out, there's PLENTY of those. Or do you mean a movie which is ABOUT the fact that the guy is black? Well what's the REAL difference, historically speaking, between whites and blacks? Racism. You can't make a film "about" black people that's really about anything OTHER than racism because that's really the only difference between them and white people. It's the idea that blacks are somehow "different" to whites that was the SOURCE of racism in the first place.
And if all you're looking for is a Jobs-style biopic of a specific black individual, I have two films for you- Ali and Ray. There you go.
You know,
I might get a little uppity being a history major.
I find it tiresome when someone talks about exposing slavery to the masses.
I wasn't shocked once at Django while watching it.
I don't expect the cruelty in this movie to cover new ground. Am I taking for granted that people are forgetting about slavery or are sleeping through history class? (likely that last one). Yeah I probably am.
But I loved and still love history. I think it's an amazing thing.
Which is why i never needed bob to tell gone with the wind is garbage,
and sometimes you can truly judge a book (that movie) by it's cover.
What i saw that bob talked about was a free man put into slavery is a fresh idea,
or at least a fresher idea.
I can appreciate if some film goers are sick of feeling guilty about slavery,
Which i am not sense my lineage wasn't even hear till after ww1 on my mothers side, and not my fathers side only goes back 3 generations.
I don't feel guilty about slavery, cause I've literally had nothing to do with it.
that's not to say I don't care. It is after all history and I love history.
I am sick to death of reviewers saying "this is eye opening."
Maybe if you slept through history class ^ ~, but than again i didn't.
it's not to say I didn't have my off subjects, and we all have our strong points.
(Feel free to point out all my grammatical errors case in point).
I might get a little uppity being a history major.
I find it tiresome when someone talks about exposing slavery to the masses.
I wasn't shocked once at Django while watching it.
I don't expect the cruelty in this movie to cover new ground. Am I taking for granted that people are forgetting about slavery or are sleeping through history class? (likely that last one). Yeah I probably am.
But I loved and still love history. I think it's an amazing thing.
Which is why i never needed bob to tell gone with the wind is garbage,
and sometimes you can truly judge a book (that movie) by it's cover.
What i saw that bob talked about was a free man put into slavery is a fresh idea,
or at least a fresher idea.
I can appreciate if some film goers are sick of feeling guilty about slavery,
Which i am not sense my lineage wasn't even hear till after ww1 on my mothers side, and not my fathers side only goes back 3 generations.
I don't feel guilty about slavery, cause I've literally had nothing to do with it.
that's not to say I don't care. It is after all history and I love history.
I am sick to death of reviewers saying "this is eye opening."
Maybe if you slept through history class ^ ~, but than again i didn't.
it's not to say I didn't have my off subjects, and we all have our strong points.
(Feel free to point out all my grammatical errors case in point).
As a person of color, I'm looking forward to seeing this film.
@RJ17
I'm afraid that yes, we DO need films like this, to keep the ignorant racist far right nut jobs at bay. Its easy to brush off slavery if you've never experienced it, but many minorities experienced this kind of treatment. Yes, indeed back in the day of the Romans etc, they really didn't care where you were from, so many people regardless of skin color or origin, ended up as slaves, white peeps included. If you want a dose of white slavery, go and watch the awesome of Spartacus tv series.
However, such slavery as portrayed in the film didn't happen that long ago and just like Rome and Egypt, the U.S was largely built on the back of slaves. The U.S.A is still a very young nation too, so its good not to forget where things went wrong. If you feel uncomfortable with the content of this film, that's a good thing because its moved some part of you in a good way and you know deep down, that any kind of slavery is wrong and you'd not like to be a slave at all. The kind of stuff that went on for this guy was way wrong, so before you sound off ask yourself one question.
Just what would you do in that situation? Every viewer should walk away with that in their head somehow.
Its always good to remember your failures and successes as a nation. Glad McQueen made this film, especially when there's many places that racism and prejudice still infect the world.
Lastly, as for promotion of The King Speech etc, those film got loads of Oscar pushing ads. The King Speech was a U.K film so it really got plenty of exposure in the U.K, but maybe less elsewhere.
@RJ17
I'm afraid that yes, we DO need films like this, to keep the ignorant racist far right nut jobs at bay. Its easy to brush off slavery if you've never experienced it, but many minorities experienced this kind of treatment. Yes, indeed back in the day of the Romans etc, they really didn't care where you were from, so many people regardless of skin color or origin, ended up as slaves, white peeps included. If you want a dose of white slavery, go and watch the awesome of Spartacus tv series.
However, such slavery as portrayed in the film didn't happen that long ago and just like Rome and Egypt, the U.S was largely built on the back of slaves. The U.S.A is still a very young nation too, so its good not to forget where things went wrong. If you feel uncomfortable with the content of this film, that's a good thing because its moved some part of you in a good way and you know deep down, that any kind of slavery is wrong and you'd not like to be a slave at all. The kind of stuff that went on for this guy was way wrong, so before you sound off ask yourself one question.
Just what would you do in that situation? Every viewer should walk away with that in their head somehow.
Its always good to remember your failures and successes as a nation. Glad McQueen made this film, especially when there's many places that racism and prejudice still infect the world.
Lastly, as for promotion of The King Speech etc, those film got loads of Oscar pushing ads. The King Speech was a U.K film so it really got plenty of exposure in the U.K, but maybe less elsewhere.
Chiwetel Ejiofor is one under-rated actor.
Even in over-the-top silly movies like 2012 he brought a sense of realism and heart to his character. In fact, if they EVER considered making a 'Black James Bond' (which will likely NEVER happen) I would put Chiwetel as my 1st choice to play him! He has the charm, charisma and I would imagine he could pull of action quite well!
Even in over-the-top silly movies like 2012 he brought a sense of realism and heart to his character. In fact, if they EVER considered making a 'Black James Bond' (which will likely NEVER happen) I would put Chiwetel as my 1st choice to play him! He has the charm, charisma and I would imagine he could pull of action quite well!
12 Years a Cynic? Slave to the Audience? Critic Unchained? 12 Years a Shit-Slinger? There were so many choices.
While I am a bit tired of Moviebob's GTA bashing (especially since it's clear how hard he's trying to dislike it), I have realised now that I really want a Michael's family heist DLC.
"Alright, I'll do all the shooting. Amanda, you go have sex with the guards while Jimmy hacks the vault door open. You know how to hack shit, right? Tracey, you can...ummm...I dunno, what do you do again? Can you drive yet? Alright, you can drive the getaway car, I guess."
While I am a bit tired of Moviebob's GTA bashing (especially since it's clear how hard he's trying to dislike it), I have realised now that I really want a Michael's family heist DLC.
"Alright, I'll do all the shooting. Amanda, you go have sex with the guards while Jimmy hacks the vault door open. You know how to hack shit, right? Tracey, you can...ummm...I dunno, what do you do again? Can you drive yet? Alright, you can drive the getaway car, I guess."
There have been quite a few movies, staring prominent black actors. If you want historical movies, how about, have you not heard of, Malcolm X, Ali, Red Tails, Glory or even this year The Jackie Robinson Story/42 and The Butler?james.sponge said:
Many stories are repeated, but different angles, this is a new story about people during a hard time in American History. I see many movies, but this seems like a new take on it that does seem interesting. We've had numerous movies about WWII, Vietnam (5ish years for each war), but this was 100+ years of history we'd probably wished didn't happen, and even if a new movie comes out, it keeps us remembering our mistakes. Yes it's heavy, but guess what there are 10 SuperHero movies coming out in the next 12 months. So there we go...jecht35 said:
I'm saying what I see, from the perspective of non-american person. I'm impressed with how American cinema could reconcile with hot topics like Vietnam War, counter culture of the 60s, red scare and other controversial themes yet slavery is omnipresent and returns every god damn year just to make everybody feel bad about themselves. Don't you think it's appalling?Pyrian said:
Eh, I wouldn't watch this movie for the exact same reason I don't watch the Saw films or the Passion of the Christ.
They're all highly unpleasant (in that they make me physically sick to my stomach) films aimed just about being provoking strong emotions from the audience through the act of people being total monsters to one another.
Which is why I thought the GTA bit at the very end suits this well. ^^
They're all highly unpleasant (in that they make me physically sick to my stomach) films aimed just about being provoking strong emotions from the audience through the act of people being total monsters to one another.
Which is why I thought the GTA bit at the very end suits this well. ^^
If you've ever seen fox news or read any thing about that massive **** Rupert Murdoch, you'll know that ignorant, racist shitheads exist. A film like this punches them in the face and when they complain about their sensibilities being hurt, they look like twats.RJ 17 said:
On a lighter note, I'm seeing the film and buying the DVD when it comes out in Australia.
And in this case, it's a real story. Solomon Northup was a free black man who lived in New York and was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Unlike some "based on a true story" films, the majority of the film is basically what really happened.lacktheknack said:
In my honest opinion? Yeah, we do.RJ 17 said:
As long as we have people who treat others like shit for being born differently than them? Yeah we do.
As long as there are people who still look to that era with rose-projecting goggles as some golden age for the South? Yeah, we do.
As long as people have the potential to think Slavery (anywhere, not just the United States) is "Not so bad"? Yeah, we do.
As long as there is the chance of this happening, now or ever again? Yeah, we damn sure do.
