12 Years A Slave

When I first heard that Steve Mcqueen was directing the interesting slave drama 12 Years a Slave, my initial thought was “Oh great, this will be the most erotic story of slavery ever told!” I was expecting there to be Eyes Wide Shut late night parties back in the slave quarters hosted by Michael Fassbender. This was always my fantasy/nightmare; if I was a slave I’d do everything within my power to be a house slave simply for the fact that I’d have easier access to white women. You know they had to get lonely out there on those plantations with only family members and dumb slave handlers to keep them company! Meanwhile the only two black women out there that actually read this blog are seething after reading that but I mean come on, it’s like Chappelle’s Tyrone said on Fear Factor “You gotta play to win baby!”

If you haven’t seen McQueen’s film Shame with Fassbender, it’s a no holds barred take on a sex addict living in New York. He takes you deep into his world and doesn’t sugarcoat anything about his lifestyle or his encounters. Well he brings that same style to Slave with his brutal approach, brutal honesty, and brutal presentation of the treatment of slaves in early America. It starts off with the abduction of Solomon Northup (Ejiofor), a free black man who was living New York until he was brought to Washington D.C. under false pretenses. Next thing he knows, he’s in chains and is being beaten mercilessly in an attempt to convince him that his previous life is over and that a life of slavery is all that lies ahead for him.

You see the humiliation of the slaves as they are literally treated like livestock while the cold hearted trader (played by Paul Giamatti) auctions them off to the highest bidder. They get little to no sympathy from their new owners who could care less if they are separated from their children and would instantly beat or kill them if they found out they were educated. This last part was particularly tough for Solomon as he was slow to learn that no matter how educated, well read or traveled he was, all it did was act as more fuel for the anger and hatred that existed in the South.

You slowly see him accept what has become his life, especially after he meets Fassbender’s favorite slave Patsey. She is by far the most interesting character in the movie and is played wonderfully by Lupita Nyong’o. There is a weird relationship that exists between her and her owner and it is one that is solely beneficial to Fassbender. She has the movie’s most chilling and depressing line as she asks Solomon to do something that is both unforgivable yet somewhat merciful considering the conditions.

Outside of Fassbender forgetting his Southern accent at times and Brad Pitt just enjoying his time away from his 1500 kids, there really isn’t a bad performance in this entire movie. I wouldn’t be surprised by any Oscar nominations that come from this and to this point this is probably the best film I have seen this  year. It is as brutal and memorable as Roots was and the score, while used sparingly, drives home whatever point McQueen is trying to make at the time. This movie will make you angry, sad, and depressed as you witness what kind of people we can become. Ejiofor completely owns his role and Fassbender is as evil as any slave owner I have seen and that includes Dicaprio’s role in Django. By the way, if you thought the scenes in that movie were brutal, and they were, then you may want to close your eyes during parts of Mcqueen’s take on slavery as he takes it up a notch.

I rate this movie as TIGHT as it was nearly flawless. And if you are white and there are black people in the theater with you, I suggest you do what the white people did in my theater; jumped up and speed walk your way out the second the credits start rolling. Because the second they stop crying, angry black women will start looking around trying to find someone to give the stink eye to. Heck, even I had to walk out of the theater sagging my pants while walking with a pimp limp just so I wasn’t confused for a half breed!