12 Years a Slave

Unutterably powerful performances in a film of equal weight. I did find myself wondering, about an hour or so into it, if I would be able to endure the entire thing. More than once I had to willingly unsuspend disbelief and remind myself that these were actors and it was all special effects and make-up. Every major character was full-rounded -- even the minor characters were more than two-dimensional -- so much so that, at the end, I felt ashamed and guilty for being relieved and happy that Northrup was rescued. What about all of the others?

What struck me most, living here in Louisiana now, is how slavery not only privileged, but normalized sadism, dehumanization and violence -- and how the effects of that normalization are still felt in southern society. How slavery pitted working-class whites against enslaved blacks in a competition that continues today, and how the oligarchic control of the planters is reflected in the stranglehold that the oil and gas industry has on southern society, and the almost-worshipful attitude of so many toward that industry. It is an attitude that incorporates a great deal of fear as well as envy.

More than half of the large-for-the-early-show audience was African-American, primarily women, which made watching the film an experience in itself. Their reactions were much more personal and also more cultural, providing a Greek chorus of murmured, "Uh-huhs,"  "Lord have mercies," and "Yes, indeeds" to loud exclamations of, "Oh, no, she did not!" and "Oh, yes, she did." And numerous calls to "Give it to him -- give it to him now!" "Someone shoot that man. Just shoot him."

We bought the book a few years ago when the Dr. Sue Eakin spoke about her work in authenticating the narrative at the Louisiana Book Festival, but haven't read it yet. I was astonished to learn that this work, which was so well-known in its day, was all-but-forgotten in the 20th century, but admit that even I have been put off from starting it due to the 19th century phraseology.