Movie Review: 12 years a Slave

  It was a time of love, it was a time of hate. It was the age of reformation, it was the age of stagnation. It was a struggle for civil liberty, it was a struggle for cultural legacy. It was religion that brought hope, it was religion that brought despair. People were free men, people were slaves. It was the year of our Lord 1841.

Yet in 2014, we witness this history on the big, silver screen. In the movie “12 years a slave”.

Did I just mirrored Charles Dicken's opening lines from A Tale of Two Cities, to describe this movie?

Yes, I did.

In my feeble mind, where words constantly desert me, these are the most fitting words I can come up with, to capture the essence of this movie. Have I grabbed your interest? If so, please feel free to read on (no major spoiler ahead)

Synopsis:

12 years a slave is based on the extra-ordinary story of Solomon Northup. In 1841, Solomon was a free African American living in New York. As a husband, a father, and a musician, Solomon enjoyed a life as a free person, in a world where slavery was the norm in the society.

His life changed dramatically, when two fellow musicians offered him a temporary job as a musician. Solmon took this job, not knowing that this decision would change his life forever.

Solomon accompanied these 2 musicians to Washington, where Solomon was drugged, kidnapped and subsequently sold into slavery. Solomon and other slaves were shipped to New Orleans, and purchased by slave owners to work on plantations.

Thus began one man's unusual experience, living under 12 years of injustice, captivity, suffering, pain, and despair. 12 years as a slave...

What I think about this film:

12 years a slave is a very good movie. It will most likely be a strong contender for many awards in Oscar 2014. This movie succeed in many areas; from cinematography, story, acting, direction, to music. It is a powerful film, Solomon's story is tragic yet hopeful, depicting the full extent of injustice, exploring how deeply people can hurt each other and be hurt. It shows the tragic consequence felt by human ignorance, when one party insists on his/her own ideals without listening to the inner sense of universal truth, i.e. the sense of right and wrong.

It is impossible to talk about 12 years a slave, without talking about religion. I call myself a Christian, so naturally, I was grabbed by the constant presence of Christianity in this film. Where Christianity is portrayed both truthfully and beautifully. It is portrayed as reflections of what different people used to believe. The slave owner quoted Biblical scriptures to support slavery, while the same Christian faith sustained the suffering slaves with promises of hope and freedom.

It's a shocking contrast, how two different groups of people, can believe in the same God, the same holy scripture, yet arrive at completely different worldviews. i.e. While slave owners sincerely believe the Bible justifies their views to enforce racial/social/cultural constructs, controls and orders, the slaves believed Christianity promised hope, change, and freedom.

The question is, where do you stand? In this movie, the slave owner quoted some verses in the Bible to justify owning slaves. While his theology is appalling to our modern sensibilities, but if we look at this from his perspective. If we were transported back in time, lived in that environment, absorbed that culture, and raised on that belief, can we seriously say we could have done better than him?

Please do not misunderstand, I am not saying the slave owner’s belief can be justified or excused. What I am asking is, how can we know when our worldviews are wrong, if our minds are filled with religious certainties? Because you see, the fact is there are numerous verses in the Bible that outline how a slave should be treated, and some of them do clash heavily with our modern way of thinking. For example, the scripture says it's fine to beat your slave, as long as you don't kill him/her (Exodus 21:20-21), and in this movie, the God-fearing slave owner observed this law. It never occurred to him, the notion of slavery is evil and wrong, because he was so certain that Biblical instructions provide a guideline on how to establish orders in a society, which includes slavery.

Yes, one might argue, the famous story in Exodus is an assurance that the Bible condemns slavery, because God delivered Israelite from slavery in Egypt. The problem is, if you continue reading the Bible, after the Israelite escaped from slavery in Egypt, they went on to conquer other nations, and scriptural laws said they could buy slaves from nations around them (Leviticus 25:44-46), is the Bible really anti-slavery? 

Other than Bible verses about beating slaves, you can find many other difficult verses about slavery in the Bible. The important thing is, if you are a Christian, what do you think about all this? My opinion is, to struggle with Bible verses about slavery, then feeling uncomfortable about them, is the very sign that you, are not denying the very faith you are proclaiming to believe. Why? Because you leave rooms for uncertainties, questions and doubts. In other words, these are signs of humility, and it is always accompanied by change, growth and improvement. Not only is this good for ourselves, but it is also good for those around us.

Having watched 12 years a slave, one wonders if the biggest evil in this story, is not the act of slavery, but human ignorance, the pride that overcomes the humility to do something as simple as doubting our beliefs, then reconsideration and change. If so, and I have to ask this question:

Should the Bible be used as a guideline to social and cultural constructs? Or is Christianity supposed to inspire transformation, bringing hope, love, freedom and salvation?

This is how I see this movie, and the most brilliant thing about this film is, it didn't answer this question for me. It put the opportunities in my hand to question, probe, think, and decide for myself where I should stand.

In turn, I ask you a question. In 200 years' time, how will future generations perceive the way Christians handling today's controversial issues on civil liberty? (i.e. same sex marriage, gender roles at church etc..). Will they speak of 21^th century Christians with words of admiration and inspiration? Or, will they also describe 21^th century Christians using words similar to the opening lines of my review?

Thank you for reading this review.