Maybe its me but
I am sick of my white friends feeling guilty about slavery when they watch that
film. Their sadness for the past leaves me a bit cold slavery isn’t dead yet. A
few days ago I was out with a friend and after the movie screening we headed to
the pub for drinks and everyone on the table had a nostalgic tone of voice when
the film was mentioned. This friend who is a budding film maker said he
couldn’t help but feel the movie was titillating to which there was an
immediate uproar about how no one thought the film did that or felt that way.
My friend was white and male and I was the only woman of colour there so as I
do I sat and listened. They claimed they were sickened by the violence of their
ancestors and were glad slavery was over. To which my friend pointed out
slavery is still very much alive. The conversation became awkward again.
It is
interesting how titillation was understood in narrow terms or rather denied. I
haven’t seen the film but have heard about the scenes of sexual violence (which
weren’t in the book but found a way into the film somehow). bell hooks contends
this was deliberate and the exploitation of a black woman’s body is not a mere
artistic trope. The denial of deriving any pleasure out of these
representations is preposterous.
When the issue
of modern slavery is brought up it becomes difficult to address as the benefits
of slavery are many and we all benefit from them. simple narratives such as 12
years a slave make the issue more comfortable to deal with. Slavery is a thing
of the past, the villains are pure evil and rather violent. All of this makes
the idea of slavery seem more comfortable to deal with after all these
characters nothing like us or are they?
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