From the parts of 12 Years a Slave I watched, I thought the institution of slavery was well represented. Based on things I have read and learned in the past, this film did an excellent job of portraying a historical account of slavery. One specific scene that I thought the makers of this movie did a great job with was the slave auction scene. In my opinion, this scene was both very sad and upsetting, but real at the same time. Watching people get auctioned off and sold like they were an object was a hard thing to witness. The fact that this actually happened for years in our own country makes it even more dismal. Additionally in the auction scene it was difficult to watch Eliza get separated from her family.
I can’t begin to imagine how scary that would be for slaves to endure that. Shortly after the separation of the family occurs, Eliza is told that food and a night’s rest will help her forget her family. This dialogue seemed quite harsh in my opinion because there is no way those two things will help her forget about her family that she will likely never see again. Overall, this film was the best media representation I’ve seen. The harshness of the way slaves are treated makes the viewer become emotionally distraught and is consistent with history.
