12 Years a SLAVER ?

In spite of some sunshine and a warmer day we treated ourselves to an afternoon sitting on our duffs in the movie theater since we had been super productive the previous day- Natureman had taken care of  a week's worth of wood on the porch, prepared the tractor for an impending snow, I had self imposed the job of the removal of gutter leaves and muck besides both of us planting 4 dozen bulbs. We had decided our own chores. No bosses.

I also should mention that our local theater in La Crosse has started $5 Tuesdays,  all movies, all day with a free popcorn until December 31st.  How could we not go see a 'new' release? I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of this flick and didn't want to miss it on the Big Screen.  It definitely has earned its accolades.

The work we did Tuesday afternoon was a different kind of work... our emotions got a good workout. Why? Because our movie choice was to see the powerful  '12 Years a Slave.' The marquee read 12 Years  a 'SLAVER.' What a grave typo!  It turned out the erroneous 'R' was for R- rated and they forgot to skip a space.

Anyhow more on the typo later... This movie was the autobiographical story of a free Northern black man, Samuel Northrup, who was kidnapped in 1841 in NY and sold into slavery to spend 12 years enslaved in Louisiana.

 Is it uncomfortable to watch? Absolutely.  You witness the change in demeanor as a person's humanity is stripped through verbal and physical humiliation from separation from family, forced nudity, whippings, mental and physical torture, betrayals, hangings, rapes, insufficient food, bad housing and limited hours of sleep with long days of arduous work, lives filled with lots of disrespect.

The slaves were depicted as so human it makes one wonder how the slave owners and others don't see their own inhumane actions. The mal-usage of the Bible and religion couldn't have been more poignant. One can't but be aware in Mr. Northrup's story of the treatment of women.

Victim blaming asks why slaves didn't  run away. It's about survival and fear of Death. There was no way to escape without help. Trust was/is difficult to come by considering history...

Cruelty and maltreatment of people didn't start in the U.S. but we certainly have perpetuated it treating others as inferior. Thousands of years ago the Pharoahs were no better. Perhaps the marquee's typo error wasn't the R attached to the word slave but the perhaps the movie's title should have been 'Centuries a Slaver. '

May we all consider our daily actions in our treatment of others and be better... a whole lot better.

Trailer if interested:12 Years a Slave