Analysis Of Racism In '12 Years A Slave'

The key aspect that will be discussed within this essay is racism, explained and illustrated with reference to my three films of choice. Firstly, representation of ‘the other’ is portrayed in 12 Years A Slave (Steve McQueen. 2013), followed by an exploration of the lives of black women in a white male dominated society as shown by Hidden Figures (Theodore Melfi. 2016), and finally the personal experiences of a young, homosexual black male in Moonlight (Barry Jenkins. 2017).

I have chosen these three films specifically as I feel that together they display a broad spectrum of racial experiences, such as the adult male point of view, the adult female point of view and the adolescent point of view. Our society today, especially in the digital
Steven McQueen really captured the demeaning of a black male through the dialogue, costume and especially the make-up of the slashed markings on Solomon’s
Different characters in the film bring out these issues and discuss how they have come about and how they are apparent in our society today. Certain characters in 12 Years A Slave discuss the idea of white privilege. These privileges and advantages of people who are white in our society often go ignored. African American Male Victor Lewis argues, ‘No, you are NOT standing on your own ground’. The ranking in our society show that white people see people of other races as being at a disadvantage, rather than seeing themselves at an advantage. When whites are accused of having ‘white privilege’ they deny it. Privilege is defined into a group or a social ranking. In the film “Blue Eyes Brown Eyes”, Jane Elliott states, “Doing nothing gives approval.” Jane Elliott has a very strong and valid point. Especially, talking about doing nothing when it came to the slavery, as many white people would sit back and allow the world to carry on with this atrocity of abuse. This is due to them not wanting to lose their