Ben Justice
US History
Lawson
By watching movies, with at least
some historical accuracy, we can see much more easily the horrors and triumphs
of the past. In the case of Glory and
12 Years a Slave, these are based off
true, primary sources, Glory from
Captain Shaw’s letters, and 12 Years a
Slave from a book written by Solomon Northup, a true victim of kidnapping and
slavery. Reading about historical events is one thing, but seeing them, is a
whole different story, it can open your mind to truly seeing something, instead
of just making something up in your mind to match words on a page.
Glory and 12 Years a Slave have both received enormous amounts of awards, as
well as reviews stating that they are very historically accurate films. While
no, the movies aren’t word for word, they give you a very clear picture of the seriousness,
in some matters, such as slavery it gave me a whole different insight after
actually seeing only some of the horrors that back then, happened on the daily.
12 Years a Slave showed that although
not everyone was a bad guy, there weren’t really any good guys either, no hero
fighting for justice, just some men not quite as bad as others. 12 Years a Slave didn’t hold back on the
violence either, which for a classroom might make you think it is less
acceptable, but if you really want to show students the monstrosity, slavery,
you are going to have to show some violence, making this movie, more gruesome,
but also, more accurate. In Glory,
the filmmakers did loads of research on how large groups of blacks felt about
the Civil War and the controversial decisions made to let, or not let, blacks
fight in the war. The filmmakers of Glory
then displayed those stereotypes in the characters, leading to an amazing amount
of accurate opinions and views.
These movies aren’t only
historically accurate, because believe it or not, people now-a-days don’t always
like straight up documentaries. 12 Years
a Slave for example, had a 20 million dollar budget, then at the box office
alone, brought in 181 million dollars. These movies are also very enjoyable to
watch, they are Hollywood style movies, with historical aspects, too. The fact
that they are high quality movies will engage the students, making them want to
watch the movies, and by doing so, make them learn something! I’m not saying
that no one wants to learn, but I am saying that everyone loves a good movie,
and if there’s some learning in there too, what’s not to love. Considering the
success of the films, making them good movies, and the accuracy of the films,
making them appropriate for the classroom, it is, in my opinion, a good
valuable resource to use for research on certain topics.
Why did these directors, Edward
Zwick and Steve McQueen, tell these stories though, was it just for the money
or was it for a deeper meaning, if it was just for the money then the films may
not be as accurate because the filmmaker might not care, but in these movies
the directors actually put time and effort into making these movies enjoyable
to watch, and historically accurate. Edward Zwick said that he made this movie
because he liked the story and wanted others to hear it as well, he didn’t do
it for anyone else, he said, he just liked the story, and he liked making
movies, so he would make a movie about it.
Altogether I think some movies are
valid sources to get some, not all of course, information about historical
events that are more easily depicted on screen, rather than in a book, seeing
is much more powerful than hearing or reading something. Some movies can be
very useful aids in studying some subjects, making them a useful tool in the
classroom.
