full disclosure: I haven't seen it however whenever the movie is discussed the overwhelming sentiment is that it is hard to watch. I personally do not like discussing slavery as it relates to our current culture and politics because when I hear that slavery has no bearing on our present day lives or that it wasn't that bad for slaves it makes me feel like my head is about to explode. the, it wasn't so bad sentiment was discussed yesterday on Melissa harris Perry's shows yesterday morning, as well as that it has no bearing on our current lives. its not like being black has given me some insight into slavery that makes me understand what blacks went through more than other people. everything I know about slavery I learned in school. one thing I was telling someone is that people who say it wasn't that bad don't think about simple things aside from the whole fact that you were pretty much considered an object. simple things like having to work all day outside with no shoes. anyone seen the movie Glory, remember denzell's character's feet? how many blacks do you think had to walk around like that. I persoanally was bothered by the hysteria behind Django Unchained because the idea of some slave superhero going back to the south to free his family was so absurd to me. again full disclosure; I haven't seen that movie either but I will never see that movie and after hearing tarantinto discuss it on talk shows puts my view of him and the rest of his interest in black culture in a whole new light.
.....OK. But Steve McQueen + Chiwetel Ejiofor + Michael Fassbender + Brad Pitt? Yeah I'll be seeing it.
People who think slavery wasn't that bad are f'n morons. Same goes for people who use it as a crutch in 2013.
Is this referring to slavery in the US? What's sad is that there are still an estimated 12,000,000 to 29,000,000 slaves TODAY spread across the world. It's sad that these modern day slaves in places like China, Nepal, India, North Korea and more countries only get a tiny fraction of the attention that American slaves from hundreds of years ago still get.
yes its sad that we actually talk about american slavery so much? yeah we never talk about human trafficking, north korea or whatever
You mean .. . . Americans giving a **** about Americans more than anywhere else in the world??? Do we talk about *any* international issue . . more than our own?????? Let's not act like this is the only situation . .. . hell check any thread here . . . and count posts that address the international impact of the subjects. . . then get back to me Rocket River
relax. wow. but honestly -- why does slavery in the US that was abolished over 150 years ago still get all this attention, when modern day slaves receive only a fraction of the attention? Where are the movies being made about today's slaves? Why not shine the light on these folks rather than rehashing what was abolished so long ago?
Can you explain your modern day slavery concerns in more detail? I am really interested in your position, especially on the distinction between today's slavery and that which was abolished 150 years ago.
12 years a slave is the first movie about slavery from the perspective of a former slave. nothing has been continually rehashed. There was Roots in 1977, and this.
i'm talking about movies from a real historical perspective, roots was about a real family, 12 years is from the perspective of a former slave
Because slavery back then was kind of acceptable, and resulted in a civil war in the greatest country in the world. Whereas now, I suspect most slavery takes place in secrecy, and a lot of invested parties want to keep it that way.
Herein lies your problem. Slavery was abolished some 148 years ago, yes, but your post (and so many others like it) indicate a sort of "hey, slavery was abolished, get over it, move on" mentality. But the attitudes that made slavery so okey-dokey-artichokey for so long were not abolished. Yes, we have a black man in the White House for the first time (sorry about that, big_texxx), but his presence there sparked a gigantic irrational outrage among a very large majority of people in this country ("oh, he was born in Kenya"; "he's a Muslim"; "no way he won fair and square, he cheated. Acorn and their like got him elected"). Take a look at most Metro buses on any given day. Probably 80% of the riders (at least) are black. A great percentage of black people in Houston live below poverty level. No, I'm not dying of white guilt here. I'm just saying. Slavery was a great stain on our country's history. And its legacy hasn't gone away completely. Why so little attention to modern-day slavery? There might not be one unified group or story, with someone to write it and get backing (media, money). Tales of modern-day slavery will probably see the light of day in the New York Times, documentaries, and MAYBE in art-house movies.
li'l t thinks Django Unchained is a documentary. It's kind of like when he thought a spoof Al Jazeera site was the real thing. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?p=2017011&highlight=al-jazeera#post2017011
Wow. If y'all keep feeding the #1 race troll so generously, you're going to have to put him on statins.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/rPpT6cS1SvU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> um, there's literally DOZENS of movies about modern day slave trade, fictional and documentary style.
Here's one guy who is trying to make a difference. Pretty awesome. http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/02...ath-from-drug-addict-to-christian-missionary/
Slavery may have been abolished 148 years ago, but it wasn't until 1965 until Black basically had EQUAL RIGHTS. It probably took another 10 years before you can say equal in all 50 states.