The movie ‘12 Years a Slave’ was about a man named Solomon Northup, an educated man living in Saratoga, New York, during the 1840s. He was known as the best fiddle player in the community. The movie has several flashbacks between his present slave life and his life previous as a free man. This is probably referring to the beginning of slavery. Since of his need of a source of income for his family, he agrees on traveling to Washington, D.C., with Brown and Hamilton to play fiddle which is the same as a violin in the circus in which they betray him, he gets abducted, shipped into the South and also sold into slavery to James Burch. He wakes up chained and tells the man that he is a free man. When the man told him to provide papers to prove that he is a free man he fails to show him because someone had stolen it from his pockets. Which makes the man claim that he is a runaway slave. Unfortunately, he stays a slave for 12 years with three masters: Ford, the kind-hearted one, John Tibeats, the violent one, and Epps, the really cruel one. While calling out names, Solomon was given the name ‘Platt’, which was given by Burch and from there going all referred to him as that name. Having his violin, it was able to help him get through the rough times. He disguised his self as a skilled carpenter which he got help from Brass to regain his freedom.
This movie came out on October 18th, 2013. This movie was directed by Steve McQueen. The main character (Solomon) was played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. Epps was played by Michael Fassbender the really cruel man he had whipping moods he drove the slaves around the yard and whipped them just for the fun of it. I think this movie was a wonderful movie. It opened my eyes into seeing how life was back then. Black people were free up North, but not in the South, so many times people would capture them down to the South to be slaves. This is what also contributes to our history. Most slavery films start with the slaves being born into it however this movie shows the opposite. When asked, many people are familiar with the Underground Railroad being the fact that most enslaved slaves were moved to the North to freedom. But barely few people know about the African Americans in the North were forcibly moved to the South. Seeing how they were treated makes me want to hate the world because humans were being treated as objects or animals. Also, sometimes women were used for sex and it was because it brought favor to slave owners or kidnappers. The women wouldn't do anything, because they rather live than to die. Once getting kidnapped it was hard to be able to go back and regain your freedom.