The Middle Passage Sparknotes

The central argument being made by the filmmaker is the hardship of the Middle Passage. It gives accounts from history professors about the suffering of African Americans during this time period in their lives, as well as, quotes from the slaves who endured the Middle Passage. I do detect some bias in this documentary. For example, there are only two professors that speak in this documentary, which is interesting to me, because the creator of the documentary is usually the one who accounts the events. There is a bias in how the director, Steve Spielberg, might view the Middle Passage, being that he was not there nor do I believe that he could really relate to how African Americans could have felt during this time; except it being a horrible thing done to them which is why I feel he had to get professors to discuss the Middle Passage. The filmmaker offers support of the horrific event of the Middle Passage, by using images to show how slaves were depicted in the ships, the type of ships slaves were transported on, and the living conditions within those slave ships. The evidence seems to be
accurately and truthfully represented, however, the documentary could have went into more detail of how Africans went from being peacefully with one another to turning their back and selling each other into slavery. The documentary could have expanded the detailing about the slave ships and how slaves would starve themselves to avoid slavery, on top of throwing themselves into the ocean. As well as, elaborated on the sexual abuse of the male and female slaves on the slave ships, because while women were raped, sometimes the men were as well. Images and quotes from enslaved African Americans were the elements used to connect with the audience.
I think these stylistic elements were chosen because with images they paint and the emotions they tend to cause, based on what the picture may be. Also, the quotes might have been used to show to the audience that the Middle Passage was something that actually happened and the accounts of that, further bring out the heartbreak the viewers may feel and the injustice the African Americans endured. I think that if the director of this document choose other elements the message would definitely be different. Images and first-hand accounts tend to be the strongest supporting evidence a documentary can have since these events are being discussed from the past and some of the things that happened people cannot see in their head being that they have not experienced such
things. I think the filmmaker wanted to audience to respond in a way that was emotional and angered at slavery as a whole and more specifically the forced endurance of the horrific journey of the Middle Passage. I responded in this way because slavery is wrong. I had an emotion reaction to the documentary because I could imagine myself being there. More importantly, I believe that Africans should have been left alone and if white Americans at the time wanted work done, they should have done it themselves. Also, I couldn’t imagine being separated from my family, not knowing if I would ever see them again; let alone being stored in a ship for months chained with no fresh air, feces, and blood everywhere. After my post-viewing research, I did not find any evidence that could prove the filmmaker wrong. However, there could have been more details that could have been added to the documentary that really discussed the unmentioned details about the slave trades. Also, providing a source to the accounts of the slaves that were used to ensure that the viewers could verify that these were real quotes and not made up for the sake of the documentary.