Antebellum Slavery
My introduction to the daily lives of slaves on plantations in the "old South" occurred when, as a teenager, I read Kyle Onstott's Mandingo. The novel lays bare the violence, cruelty, greed and lust that were daily conditions; much in the way Tarantino does in his film. That book, and this movie, "sure ain't ROOTS". I was lucky to meet Alex Haley in the Spring of the year he died, when he visited Seattle prior to shipping out to sea to work on his last book. I wonder what Alex would think of this film?
Spike Lee, reportedly, has "spiked" it; in what is becoming a media controversy. To see what all the fuss is about, I saw the film today. It's long, (2 hours and 45 minutes), fast paced, and it managed to keep the viewer engaged for the most part. There were very strong performances by Samuel L. Jackson and Leonardo Di Caprio. Jackson's performance makes it possible to understand why this country could produce both Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas.
I was born and raised in Missouri, a border slave state, 74 years after slavery formally ended. The movie starts in Texas, a pivotal state in the history of slavery in the United States. Bernard De Voto explains how Texas was proposed to be split into four slave states; yielding total political control to the slave states and extending chattel slavery to the Pacific Ocean. 2012 brought back a whiff of that dream for those Repoobs struggling to launch Mitt. Texas uniquely links old-South slavery in its Louisiana border region; Mexican legacy in its southern third; and law-less gun fighting in its northern and western regions. A gun-slinging Western, then, fits! Tarantino also "hints" that Europeans were somehow "better" than the slave-holder here in the U.S. In fact, Europe prospered more than the Americas from slavery. Check out David Brion Davis' accounts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Brion_Davis
The controversy expressed in the media centers on the use of the "N" word. In segregated Missouri during the first 20 years of my life, that word usage fits, by both black and white users. I'm sure it was used a lot more in the interior and deep South, 100 years earlier. I say "shame on those" who would seek to "sanitize" the violence, language, blood and gore, greed and lust, that was commonplace during that period by silencing it.
The movie is worth seeing by everyone who can stand a more credible depiction of chattel slavery.
It will definitely not be the "cup of tea" for those who are fans of "Gone With The Wind"!
Stay Vigilant!
Copyright © 2013: Williams LLC
All Rights Reserved: Williams LLC
No comments:
Post a Comment