!2 Years a Slave

[wiesiek]

ok
, then let it be the great move
just love to mention that ,probably not too much of the board members had to visit Auschwitz, and look at all documentary etc., as the part of grammar school program...
but
`cause is still free country forum
I don`t fill the pression to see the move

[Andy_S]

Well....if Auschwitz was accessible to me, I would certainly visit.

IMHO, people need to be educated in the horrors of history, and the film does a fair job of doing that, viz a viz slavery.

[wiesiek]

yup, I agree
however I feel extremely well educated in this part of our history in all aspects
so
I really don`t need to open this door again,
nuff to know ,that you have to kill the new born Hitler before he gains the power ,
anyway
Is Hollywood production able to put some fresh light in the topic?
Looki`n back on their productions - I guess not, they simply playing on emotions using light and sound magic , in gross just making money, have good worki`n times and aims for Oscar
Nothing bad with that, it is show that`s all...
but
recently 90 minutes of my life became too much expensive for such events

my type for the last "best pic." -"Brazil'
chers

[Dmitri]

Is Hollywood production able to put some fresh light in the topic?
Looki`n back on their productions - I guess not

Have you seen "Django Unchained"?

they simply playing on emotions using light and sound magic

Not much of that at all, in this movie. FWIW

[wiesiek]

Aha, Tarantino move, fresh breeze from dream factory .
, only heard about this one so far.
His work is tasty

[Steve James]

Well, you really don't want to see this movie. Hmm, I really can't think of many "Hollywood" movies that are about slavery. Which movies turned you off? Did you see "Birth of a Nation" or "Gone With the Wind"? Or, did your feelings come from seeing movies at all?

Afa going to Auschwitz, I don't think it's about going to the place. It wasn't destroyed so that it could become a tourist attraction. I understand completely why Poles and Germans don't like being forced to remember a horrible history that happened before they were born. That's just it, though; remembering that history may save their lives (or their children's lives) in the future.

But, I think the resentment comes from people thinking the point of remembering is to make them feel bad or good about themselves. "You must go to this movie and realize that you are eeevil." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRamB30E9mU
Of course, you know that there are Jewish people who avoid movies about the holocaust, as well as loads of Black people who won't see plantation movies. And, that's not because they don't want to see the horror. They don't like to continue to see themselves as victims. In fact, that is one of the nuances of "12 Years." But, you'd need to see it, even though you may know everything there is to know about the subject.

Now, "Django Unchained" was great. I don't know if I learned anything about anything from it, or from "Inglourious Bastards" either. But, I got 'em both on bluray ... sshhh
Anyway, maybe some people would like to go back to the days of Show Boat and GWTW. It was all so much simpler then.




Yep, Tarrantino is a delightful breath of fresh air Very realistical ... and truthy.

[Interloper]

+1 for the post, but extra credit for "realistical and truthy."
No one likes to have his nose rubbed in the messes of the past, but blame and nose-rubbing are not the point of these films. I get tired of hearing extremists say that folks should "get over" slavery, the Shoah (Holocaust), Armenian genocide, Cambodian killing fields and Pol Pot, etc. There is a difference between getting on with our lives, and making ourselves forget about the travesties and abominations committed in the past. To forget is to pave the path for history to repeat itself. If we remember and say "Never again," that will at least keep people on their guard, be more resistant to being victims of future tyrants, and more willing and able to help others when they see the warning signs of an impending atrocity.

Well, you really don't want to see this movie. Hmm, I really can't think of many "Hollywood" movies that are about slavery. Which movies turned you off? Did you see "Birth of a Nation" or "Gone With the Wind"? Or, did your feelings come from seeing movies at all?

Afa going to Auschwitz, I don't think it's about going to the place. It wasn't destroyed so that it could become a tourist attraction. I understand completely why Poles and Germans don't like being forced to remember a horrible history that happened before they were born. That's just it, though; remembering that history may save their lives (or their children's lives) in the future.

But, I think the resentment comes from people thinking the point of remembering is to make them feel bad or good about themselves. "You must go to this movie and realize that you are eeevil." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRamB30E9mU
Of course, you know that there are Jewish people who avoid movies about the holocaust, as well as loads of Black people who won't see plantation movies. And, that's not because they don't want to see the horror. They don't like to continue to see themselves as victims. In fact, that is one of the nuances of "12 Years." But, you'd need to see it, even though you may know everything there is to know about the subject.

Now, "Django Unchained" was great. I don't know if I learned anything about anything from it, or from "Inglourious Bastards" either. But, I got 'em both on bluray ... sshhh
Anyway, maybe some people would like to go back to the days of Show Boat and GWTW. It was all so much simpler then.




Yep, Tarrantino is a delightful breath of fresh air Very realistical ... and truthy.

[wiesiek]

hmm, how to turn it into the words...
I`m not telling that we /mankind/ have go over the pile of shit done by previous or contemporary generations,
so
it is important, that youngsters / not necessary in their years/ are interested in doing moves, watching and discuss this topics.
I gives us the chance to avoid it in the future. / /
but
I don`t like to hear the same song again, and again, and again, it became contemporary Auschwitz or better Guantanamo for me. / probably to much communist propaganda in my early days/
I know and understand, that there are people who like to read "Uncle Tom house" every consecutive year,
but I don`t. You have to change the chord from time to time.
I also don`t read books any more only RSF
Maybe my brain is overloaded

Best move for me at present:
When I`m sitting on top of the mountain and looki`n on clouds passing by...
really hard to beat .

[wiesiek]

and
short answer:
I`m ready to put my life on the scale if needed,
but don`t need to look at the the heel again

[Steve James]

Hey, nobody's trying to blow your high There's no need to defend not going to see a movie. But, your reasoning (or argument) is contradictory. You want hollywood to change (the chord), and won't go to see the movie because it's the same. Of course, there'll be no way for you to know if hollywood changes.

Otoh, what would be the change that would get you to watch? There are plenty of "happy slave" movies; or, put it like this, there were very few "unhappy slave" movies until the late 20th century. Well, when they were sad, they'd just sing or pray; but they'd be smiling most of the time. Then there could be the "angry slave" movies --but I bet the only one most here have seen is "Django," and that's really a comedy, too. Ok, "Amistad" is about an uprising, but it doesn't just end with the Africans cutting off all the white peoples' heads.

So, I think Hollywood's choices are very few when it comes to portraying the US in the 18th or 19th century. Either slavery is ignored, which is the norm, or it is emphasized. When it is the focus, the choice is either fantasy or reality. Btw, that means that not all the slaves are happy, stupid or beaten, and that not all the masters and whites are evil. Imo, those are the best reasons to see movies about people anyway.

Afa repetition of stories, in general, there aren't any new ones, only new characters playing the same roles. Sure, people with lots of experience don't need to see the same old plots retold every generation. Otoh, people are born everyday who haven't heard the old stories. Shucks, they're coming out with a sequel to "300" --and I can't wait to see those Greeks chopping those Persians to shreds. It's an oldie, but a goodie.

I do agree, though. I'm sick of all these movies about people falling in love, making love, falling out of love, marrying, and having kids, then divorcing, and falling in love again. Alas.

[wiesiek]

hihi Steve,
always can hear the gossips and eventually give them try .

This cry for change is pure rhetorical - you are unable to change the gravity,
maybe on different Earth?
I`m not well versed in Hollywood attempts to American history, so can`t comment here,
but moves has its own rules, and producers love to cuts the corners, so really good move with real historical background is THE jewel .
I just realised that I`m with you too, :
..." I'm sick of all these movies about people falling in love, making love, falling out of love, marrying, and having kids, then divorcing, and falling in love again...."
wow...
Thanx to this thread now i KNOW - I`m sick of most of the moving pictures production today
so
I`m in comfort zone now - don`t have to watch , don`t need to go on the top of the mountains, just listen to the gossips and eventually give them a try,
and looki`n thru the window who is passing by

[Michael]

.......

[yeniseri]

Well, you really don't want to see this movie. Hmm, I really can't think of many "Hollywood" movies that are about slavery. Which movies turned you off? Did you see "Birth of a Nation" or "Gone With the Wind"? Or, did your feelings come from seeing movies at all?

Afa going to Auschwitz, I don't think it's about going to the place. It wasn't destroyed so that it could become a tourist attraction. I understand completely why Poles and Germans don't like being forced to remember a horrible history that happened before they were born. That's just it, though; remembering that history may save their lives (or their children's lives) in the future.

But, I think the resentment comes from people thinking the point of remembering is to make them feel bad or good about themselves. "You must go to this movie and realize that you are eeevil." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRamB30E9mU
Of course, you know that there are Jewish people who avoid movies about the holocaust, as well as loads of Black people who won't see plantation movies. And, that's not because they don't want to see the horror. They don't like to continue to see themselves as victims. In fact, that is one of the nuances of "12 Years." But, you'd need to see it, even though you may know everything there is to know about the subject.

Now, "Django Unchained" was great. I don't know if I learned anything about anything from it, or from "Inglourious Bastards" either. But, I got 'em both on bluray ... sshhh
Anyway, maybe some people would like to go back to the days of Show Boat and GWTW. It was all so much simpler then.

Yep, Tarrantino is a delightful breath of fresh air Very realistical ... and truthy.

Some great points but for the majority having the smiling, grinning slaves from those times is a best seller despite people saying they want truth from Hollywood when in fact they want convenient truths that makes them feel good.
The same people who say that if slaves had guns, US slavery would have never happened (I have some swamp land I want to sell but it is prime land?) are the same ones who hated Django Unchained! I cannot for the hell of me wonder why they would hate such a great epic tale of based on Christian justice and redemption. Notice I said Christian. in the tradition of "As a man sows, the same he will reap!

[Steve James]

convenient truths that makes them feel good.

Well, yeah, if we're talking about Hollywood's treatment of American slavery, the convenient truths were the furthest from reality. There's no movie history about the horror of American plantation slavery until after "Roots" in '76. Before that, there were only blaxploitation films like "Mandingo." These films were more about sex on the plantations anyway. Black studs, white mistresses and masters with benefits.

"Roots" was different because it was allegedly a "true" story. That may have allowed it to be made into a tv movie. It had the sex, but it was only perpetrated by male masters on their slaves. It also had a lot more violence, but none of it committed by rebellious slaves. Nobody in America had ever seen anything remotely like it; and the fact that it was on tv meant that almost every in the country who had a tv saw it or heard about it.

Anyway, turned out that "Roots" wasn't 100% "true." But, after watching it, many people felt satisfied that they knew the true story of American slavery. In fact, there haven't been lots of Hollywood movies about slavery (or the holocaust). There have been lots of movies about America in the 1800s (or Europe in the 1940s). None have probably come close to showing the true horrors of all the people during those periods.

[grzegorz]

I want to see this film. Like the Pianist, some people will refuse to watch it, but to me it's not so much about the times but about one man's struggle to get through those times.