thepepperlanders Review of 12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave (2013)

The Book is great......... The movie ? ...so ...so

[5/10 · 11 March 2014]

If you want to watch how modern day Hollywood elites view slavery then by all means watch the movie. The visuals are outstanding. If you prefer historical accuracy, you should read the book (free online since the copyright has long since expired. In the movie, Soloman Northrup is kidnapped and taken aboard a slave ship with other blacks (and of course with evil white sailors) and sold into slavery. In the book he is kidnapped and held by a decent crew. One crewman even sends a letter to his family in New York letting them know about the kidnapping. His family contacts the governor of New York and all decide that it's best to wait until he is purchased to better find him. In the movie his decent owner doesn't want to hear about any kidnapping. In the book Soloman Northup's biggest regret is not telling his decent owner of the kidnapping because he later realized it's likely he would have been released from bondage. The book is an outstanding read about slavery from an very observant and wise man. He sees the world in shades of grey. Some southern whites are good and some are bad, just like up North. He is consistent in finding slavery as a terrible institution but also understands how a persons environment shapes their beliefs. An interesting tidbit is that the original asking price for Soloman Northrup is $1500. In the book, he gets smallpox and gets very sick soon after arriving and is sent to the hospital where he says he is treated decently. After a few weeks he comes back pockmarked and is sold for $1000. One should note that most people couldn't own slaves and that there were even a few wealthy blacks that owned slaves. The price of slaves ran from several hundred dollars all the way up to several thousand (not surprisingly) for a beautiful & female slave. The average income of a printer in 1850 (a well paid profession at that time) was over a bit $300 year. The majority of whites in the south didn't make enough money to even own one slave. The dialogue of the whites and blacks in the movie is a terrible interpretation of a wonderful book that should be required reading in all American middle school classes. Unfortunately Americans don't read and the movie will become part of our "official" history. My advice, read the book instead and you will get a much better understanding of what he went though and the institution of slavery.