A man awakens on the dusty floor of a stable, his head aching and stomach churning from all the alcohol he’d consumed the previous night. His wrists and ankles are shackled, his hat and coat missing. A surly man with a whip enters the stable. When Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) tries to explain that he is a free man, his captor insists that Northup is nothing more than a runaway slave from Georgia. Northup’s further protests are met with a lashing of the whip. From this point on, the situation gets pretty rough.
“12 Years a Slave” is one of those movies that can’t be viewed during a bad hair day, after driving in Atlanta traffic, after breaking a nail, after being dumped or after a dental appointment. It’s not a happy-go-lucky, chock-full-of-quotables, date night movie; it’s depressing. As difficult as it is to watch, however, it’s a must-see movie because it is American history and, like all history, doomed to be repeated if forgotten. Based on 161-year-old events, here are the lessons this film will not allow me to forget.
1. If it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true. Northup believed the hype of two complete strangers with whom he had absolutely no prior relationship. He ended up sacrificing 12 years of his life to an evil institution. Trust without verification is always a mistake.
2. Keep your night-out-on-the-town activities to a two-drink-or-less maximum. Throughout history, intoxication has lead to all sorts of terrible mishaps, which is why criminals love using it to take advantage of people. as Northup’s story (and many others) can testify.
3. If weaponless, remain wordless. We’re all familiar with the adage of never bringing a knife to a gunfight. Don’t bring any lip either, especially if the only listening ear has a bullwhip and loves using it.
4. Never let your enemy know what you’re thinking. Poor Robert (Michael K. Williams) never had a chance at defending himself, or his fellow slaves, in the hold of that New Orleans-bound slave ship because he gave away his position at the very start.
5. Your boss is not your friend; your boss is your boss. Northup kept telling Master Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch) how he wasn’t supposed to be a slave, as if Ford gave a flute. All Ford cared about was his crop, hence his ownership of slaves. Duh.
6. Never show up your direct supervisor. Northup was smarter than Tibeats (Paul Dano). What overseer (supervisor) wants to be viewed as dumber than a slave (worker bee)? Guess what happened to Northup.
7. Always learn what is expected of you before you begin any job. Northup received continued beatings for not making his cotton-picking quota. Sigh.
8. Choose your confidants carefully. A black slave in the 1840s South somehow thinks it’s perfectly reasonable to share his woes with a white indentured servant? Insert game buzzer here.
9. No one will ever value your family as much as you value your family. When Eliza (Adepero Oduye) was purchased without her children, perhaps she expected a sympathetic ear from Mistress Ford (Liza J. Bennett). I literally walked out of the theater when Mistress Ford shared her thoughts on the lost children.
10. Cash rules everything. The whole institution of slavery was about American commerce, business and money. Do we still actually need a slave narrative to remind us of the evils of greed? Apparently, yes.
11. Never let anyone else define you. In the end, Northup remained in slavery for a mere 12 years because he never believed that he was a slave and he refused to remain captured.
“12 Years a Slave” received a Golden Globe award for Best Motion Picture – Drama. It received nine Academy Award nominations, and won awards for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress for Lupito Nyong’o and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film is still in theaters.
