12 Years A Slave // Review

You know, us humans are capable of some pretty awful things. Luckily, though, we’ve got Hollywood, like some wise matriarch, to sagely show us the error of our ways when we need it. I’m ashamed to say that until I’d seen ‘Schindler’s List’ I had no idea what a nasty business that holocaust was, and now, at last, slavery has come in for a right telling-off. Some will say it’s political correctness gone mad, but we need films like McQueen’s masterpiece. Without it we’d still think owning people was OK. And apparently it’s not.

Obviously, ’12 years…’ is the best film ever made. To think otherwise would be racist. But just HOW is it so good? Well, as a white middle-class liberal apologist who feels that slavery was not just bad, it was REALLY bad, it’s comforting to have my opinions fed back to me without having to worry about a sad ending. I mean, it’s called ’12 years a Slave’. I’d ’ve been uncomfortable watching a film called ‘Always a Slave’ or ‘The Nice Man Died in Slavery’ or ‘The Color Purple,’ but the fact that the plot of the film was neatly laid out for me before I’d even bought my nachos saved me a lot of worry. Also, the suffering is unflinchingly realistic which made me feel as bad as I deserve, but our hero is emancipated by a handsome white man, so we’re all winners in the end.