Depiction Of 'De-Humanization In The Film 12 Years A Slave'

The historical implications that are levied by the film 12 Years a Slave are a daunting weight on the collective consciousness of the United States. The film depicts the extreme sides of humanity, both charitable and benevolent. They are vivid reminders of the horrors of slavery. The film inadvertently drew attention not only to the history of African slaves in the United States, but to the modern day problem of human trafficking and child labor violations. This essay will take a closer look at the depiction of de-humanization in the film, and the way that some Christians employed this tactic to justify their behavior. Second, we will examine the most powerful performances in the film, and finally, evaluate the use of graphic violence in certain scenes.
The De-humanizing of African American Slaves Human degradation was brought to the forefront of the Christian and American consciousnesses after this movie. By reducing the African slave to an animal, a largely Christian nation could justify the use of slaves because it did not qualify as harming your neighbor or harming your fellow man. They could equate the slave with livestock, to be used as a resource per the Old Testament (Kara).
They accomplished this in several ways. First, they separated African children from their mothers at a very early age, around 12 months, to cut any kind of maternal bond from forming, and degradation any sense of family structure (Kara). Another common method was feeding slaves in troughs, with no eating utensils. This equated the slaves with livestock, and forced animal-like competition among them, further proving the slave owners sickening hypothesis. Finally, the buying and selling of slaves was turned into the same process as buying and selling cattle, where slaves were not talked to, only examined for physical strengths, and led away (Bales, 9).
The Most Evocative Performance in 12 Years a Slave Lupita Nyong'o had the most evocative and riveting role in the film 12 Years A Slave. Her character, Patsey, was subjected to one of the most horrific beatings in the film, and at its close, we never truly learn of her fate. Nyong'o's character is so interesting for three main reasons: she was a child laborer, a victim of sexual abuse repeatedly, and how she ultimately met her demise is still unknown, just like many nameless African slaves (Bales, 9). Patsey is depicted as a young woman in the film, around the age of thirteen. The scene where Solomon is forced to beat her, before acquiescing to his master, is one of the hardest scenes to watch as the black flesh is peeled from her back by de-humanizing white owners. Perhaps the most incredible part about her character is that she took the beating in stride, and once again became the strongest woman on the Epps plantation. Nothing could rattle Patsey.
The people surrounding Patsey were presenting horrors at every turn.
Edwin Epps started raping her before the age of 10. He repeatedly referred to her as an animal, and his psychological and physical depravation led her to suicidal thoughts, which Solomon did his best to quell. Mary Epps also became a central figure in her life. Driven by jealousy, Mary was the driving factor behind Patsey's flaying in the middle of the movie. She wanted Patsey reduced to the level of an animal, and forbid her the use of soap. After getting caught smuggling the soap into the camp, she was almost killed. Patsey is the most powerful character because so many other powerful characters revolve around her life. Nyong'o was justified in winning the Best Supporting Actress award in 2013 (Bales,
9).
The Role of Violence in Story-Telling Director Steve McQueen used violence and nudity often in his film 12 Years a Slave. The violence is necessary because it portrays a realistic view of the South during the pre-civil-war era. The most graphic scenes were Patsey's flogging and Solomon's near-hanging. Both of the scenes were heavily criticized in the media, with several leading PTA organizations banning the movie from High School social science classes, and several movie theaters across the country refused to show the movie (Indrani)! The decision to show Patsey's flayed backside was a step in the direction of brutal realism. Instead of hearing a whip crack, your heard the more realistic "thud." The hanging scene was much more accurate as well; displaying the accurate time that it took most people to suffocate if their necks had not broke (Indrani). This essay supports the use of graphic violence as long as they depicted a more realistic picture of the antebellum south.