Anthony Reed spoke during the last seminar about slavery in cinema and how it affects history. Reed went on to discuss this topic further in the two movies, Amistad and Django. Before I discuss the movies, I quoted something that Reed wrote which is that "slavery is the art of keeping one alive who would rather die." This quote is very important because it is true in the sense that essentially it is an art form, while albeit a negative one, that studies human beings and their suffering. It is when people know what makes others suffer that they inflict that upon another and gain control. It is this control that is practiced for years and years that makes slavery almost like a painting or another art medium. Everyone has to use a paint brush, stroke the brushes the same way, use the same paint, put something on the canvas- so it is this repeated action that is practiced and studied that makes it artistic in a unique way. I just found this quote to be interesting because one never usually thinks of slavery from this angle.
Amistad was made in 1997, and the film touches upon slavery as well. Some critics referred to the film as the "end of history". The most important scene in the film which was discussed is the "Give us us free" scene. In the scene, an enslaved black man extends his chained hands out while in the courtroom begging for his freedom. A couple of things are important to make note of this scene. The first factor is the score during this shot. When the character is sitting down pondering his desire for freedom, African tribal music is playing. However when the character begs for freedom and the white men in the courtroom are outraged, an american score begins. The latter score seems to be so loud that the character cannot even hear his own thoughts. This symbolizes how african americans lose their identity and own thoughts through slavery. Another important factor is the enslaved man extending out his hands in chains. This symbol was very common all throughout America during the 1830's and on. This image represents the acceptance of slaves fates and them giving control to their masters.
Django is a recent film that just came out. Ultimately an enslaved man gains his freedom and after some training comes back to save his wife who is still a slave. The most important quote from the movie is when Leonardo DiCaprio, the white slave owner, says that he "grew up around all black faces, and [he] wondered why they didn't rise up." Basically his character is saying that it does not make sense that the blacks did not take back control since they outnumbered their white owners. While many people did fight back in their own way, I think a main reason why they didn't or didn't succeed is because slavery is a practiced form of one person submitting to another and giving that person control whether you choose to or not.
I think from the slave's perspective, they are filled with desire. Slaves have an unfulfilled longing for freedom, and this desire is suppressed from the slave. The slaves lust for freedom, but ultimately they cannot really define it for themselves. I think that this also relates to why slaves didn't "rise up". Anyone can have desire, but if it cannot be defined clearly and rationally in terms of one's life then it is essentially useless. Slaves desire for freedom was merely just a desire because they could not define it in terms that they could actually strive to achieve for in real life. Thus, they had to remain slaves and suppress their desire for real freedom.
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