Friday, March 12, 2010

Amistad

I thought this movie was very interesting. It somehow did not increase my horror at the evils of the slave trade or bring it to life any more than it has already been brought to life for me. I guess I already knew that slaves went through terrible things, and that they were real people. I am comparing my experience watching this movie with my experience watching the John Adams movie. Amistad was a very good story, though. It helped me to become more passionate about the issue of slavery. I am from the south, so I have learned about slavery where it took place my entire life. I have ancestors who owned slaves. That does not stop me from thinking it was an appalling institution, though. I have also seen the effects of racism my entire life.
The movie had some powerful scenes. One of my favorites was when John Adams called on the founders in the Supreme Court. Another was when Cinque started chanting "Give us free." Slavery was truly an appalling institution. I don't know how people justified owning slaves. They were people. Animals do not form rebellions against their masters. They often do not have devoted family groups. They aren't religious. They are animals. People were enslaved and treated like animals, and sometimes worse, and there was nothing remotely acceptable in this practice. Amistad shows how revolting the practice was. When the slavers threw people off of the slave ship, this was one example of this principle. This is a really poorly written blog post.

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