Content Warning: This episode discusses extreme brutality.
You have heard of Rotten Tomatoes, but have you ever heard of Phoebe and Clare’s Popcorn Talks? On this week’s podcast episode we will be discussing the film “12 Years A Slave,” in which the audience follows a once free Black man Solomon Northup throughout his twelve year enslavement in the antebellum south. After being drugged, tricked, and kidnapped by two white men, Northup was sold as a slave into a region of Louisiana. The film is one about the power of the human spirit and mind. Northup’s determination and hope after twelve years allowed him never to be broken and eventually be free. Northup’s story as told through the film serves to represent the American past and present. Northup’s education allowed him to record an incredibly accurate personal account of his enslavement in his memoir, “Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in 1853, From a Cotton Plantation Near the Red River, in Louisiana.” In his autobiographical account, Northup uses people’s real names and details specific things he saw, allowing the opportunity for legal accountability. The accuracy and factual detail only made the story more impactful. Director Steve McQueen brings to screen the true story as recorded in Solomon’s memoir. In this week’s podcast, we highlight impactful scenes, cinematic elements, and the implications the film has for America.
