When most students think of watching a movie in class, they think of it as an easy day or a “free day”, but this is not always the case. In history class this year, we have watched Glory and Twelve Years a Slave to learn about the effects of slavery in the United States. Instead of just watching the movie to kill time, I took some notes during it about the attitudes towards enslaved people, and did some follow up research on both movies afterward. It is possible to create analytical skills and explore real life events, circumstances, and attitudes from watching movies in a critical way because you are given the opportunity to decide what ideas the director is trying to portray in each scene, you get to see a different point of view that you might not have thought of before.
By watching movies, you can develop great analytical skills because you can decipher what ideas the director is trying to portray in each scene. For example, in Twelve Years a Slave, the director is trying to show just how brutal slavery was. Most everyone knows that slavery was harsh and a brutal concept, but are unaware of just how gruesome and cruel slavery really was. Another concept that the director was trying to show is that not all enslaved people were illiterate or weak. Solomon was a free, intelligent, and talented black man living in the north when he was captured into slavery. When he was sold to his master, he had to hide his intelligence and act weak to save his life. Each slave at Solomons plantation had a certain gift or intelligence that the masters refused to acknowledge. Instead of being recognized, they were treated like they were not even humans. In the movie Glory, the director is portraying the similar idea that the enslaved men are not as weak as they are thought to be, and that even in the north, where slavery is abolished, the black regiment is still treated like slaves. The white men in the Union Army do not believe that the black men are strong enough to fight. They mock the regiment by not providing them with proper equipment, and do not pay the black men as much as the white men. These enslaved men came to the north to fight and be free, but they are treated very similarly in the north as they were when they were slaves. Great analytical skills can be created from watching these movies because you not only learn about the history of the events, but you decipher the hidden details and point of view the director has placed all throughout the movie.
Form watching movies in class, you can also learn about the different mindsets that you might not have thought of before. In Twelve Years a Slave, I never knew quite how violent the slave owners were, and that they would rape some of the enslaved girls. The director vividly shows how violently they were treated. Even though it is somewhat difficult to watch, I believe it is necessary to learn the real truth about what was happening to these slaves. The director of Twelve Years a Slave had this same idea when making the movie. His main goal was to get the truth and let it be known, and to get the novel the movie was based off of into the curriculum at schools across the United States. Making a movie so vivid and true can be a difficult feat for a director, because this could make the audience not want to see the movie. Needless to say, the directors of both Glory and Twelve Years a Slave wonderfully portrayed the truths of the past and made two critically acclaimed movies. Most history movies are not 100% accurate to the real story, but it is usually to prove a point that might not have been as obvious before. For example, in the movie Twelve Years a Slave, Patsey begs Solomon to kill her, but in real life this did not happen. I believe the director chose to make it this way to show how miserable and desperate the slaves were on the plantations. Even though this detail is not historically accurate, it helps to influence the audience and change their perspective.
Overall, watching movies in history class will develop great analytical skills because you can decipher the ideas the director is trying to portray in each scene, and learn a new idea that you did not think of before.
12 years cost/box office
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