“THE PAST IS NEVER DEAD”

Late summer’s intense heat often brings with it stormy downpours. Sadly this August has also brought with it scenes that, frankly, seem straight out of the dark middle ages: Inquisitorial hooded men with fire and anger in their ready-to-pummel fists and indifferent icy hearts.

 

As a Hispanic writer and woman and compassionate human being, I absolutely decry white supremacists, Neo-Nazis, the KKK, and any other groups that hold similar repulsive ideologies. As a Caribbean scholar, I studied the slave trade and plantation life and read autobiographical narratives as The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave Narrative by Mary Prince.  As a professor at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, I have tried my best to pass on knowledge of our past to my students so they can make informed decisions and act wisely and compassionately throughout their lives.

 

But developing a historical sense of life is not easy. Steve McQueen‘s Twelve Years a Slave (2013) shocked many viewers. And even though it won over 200 awards including the Academy’s Best Motion Picture of the Year Oscar, I think a lot of people are still refusing to watch the film. I admit it’s a tough watch.

 

When I first saw it, I said to myself, “finally someone had the guts and the skill to put it on the screen.” The “it” is to show as close as possible and realistically how daily life must have been like for millions of human beings who were abused and exploited for centuries in nearly indescribable ways just because of the color of their skin.”

 

Among the many telling scenes concerning the economic and social system of slavery in the USA in McQueen’s film, one of the most disturbing is of the attempted lynching scene of the main character Solomon Northup played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. 

 

The Visual Culture Blog analyses the significance of this scene.

 

“The scene is deliberately intense in the way it is constructed with regard to its visual elements, the representative time span it covers as well as the way the different shots are edited together… The scene takes a dramatic turn when Ford’s overseer turns and walks away from Solomon who is still hanging from the tree while his feet are barely touching the muddy ground. The noose remains tight on Solomon’s neck as he struggles to breathe and stand on the slippery surface… McQueen actively uses the long take to confront the viewer with a reality that must not be forgotten.”

 

You can watch a break down of the lynching scene in JMR’s excellent video-review.  This video-review stresses that the film’s resolution is not fully satisfying as the scars of the era of slavery have not really healed.

 

Also, McQueen has said that “A lot of people didn’t want the movie made… because people want to close their eyes on some subjects. They want to keep on going, they don’t want to look behind them.”

 

But we have to look behind us and make things right. Especially now, because, unfortunately, as the horrifying events of the last days have shown us, and as American writer William Faulkner, once said:

 

“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”

 

In memoriam of Heather Heyer and the other victims of Charlottesville, Virginia.