It was made to be historically accurate with some other drama included to make it more interesting for viewers. It shows the life of William Wilberforce. He was an abolitionist most of his life and helped bring about the end of the slave trade within the British Empire and is said to have helped to end slavery as a whole. He was idealized in the movie and was appeared to be "saint-like". He was described as a man who believed African slaves should be equal to all white people. The movie made it seem as if he was the only person who really believed that slavery was bad.
The movie itself was made good. If you want to watch a movie for fun, it might be one to consider. Although many true historical events were in the movie it was not truly historically accurate. while the movie describes the movement on the side of the British, through parliament and voting, it did not mention the fight outside of Britain. Africans and other slaves were fighting with their very lives so they could be free. they had been fighting before Wilberforce was there, and it was something that really should have been mentioned because it was an important part of the history. The focus was too heavily on Wilberforce. People like Thomas Clarkson were equally important to the cause yet he was just in the movies as some kind of sidekick and supporting character.
Wilberforce was not as great a man as the movies depicted. He did not actually think that the slaves of different races should be equal. He actually thought they would be great as peasants, but he didn't think that they should have quite the same rights. For instance, if he had a dinner party with black and Asian people, he would seat them where no one else would see them. In the film, it seems as if Wilberforce supports women's rights, but that is also not true. The fact that he was shown as a saint was irritating because he was definitely not one of the most important person to ending the movement. he did play a key role, but was not as big as the movie made it seem.
An interesting thing about this movie is that it is a story about how hard slavery was to the British upper class. Although the film is about trying to end slavery for the African people, it only shows how It affected former slave owners and not the actual people that suffered. Another point that is frustrating in the film is that there were almost no Africans in the film. it is a story about abolishing slavery and freeing these people from the great hardships they had and yet they are not shown in the film. The only one that makes a short appearance is Olaudah Equiano, and he only makes it to one scene and is the only African shown with a speaking part. In the readings for this class Equiano is the one who is written about in the textbook. Wilberforce isn't in the reading.
As a movie to watch it is not a bad one, but if you want a story about the abolition of the slave trade this movie is probably not a good one to go off of because slaves are not even shown.
Works Cited
Dargis, Manohla. “The Imperfect Soul Who Helped Bring an End to the Slave Trade.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Feb. 2007, www.nytimes.com/2007/02/23/movies/23amaz.html.
Tunzelmann, Alex von. “Is Amazing Grace's Take on the Slave Trade Historically Accurate?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 19 Feb. 2015, www.theguardian.com/film/2015/feb/19/is-amazing-grace-film-historically-accurate-william-wilberforce-abolition-slavery.
I liked how you pointed out that this movie was made with the intentions of being historically accurate. I have seen this movie myself and didn't know this and am greatly surprised at how good it was knowing that most of it was actually accurate.
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job with your sources, and got us to think about some critiques as well.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you pointed out that Wilberforce was not a great man. Too many times we see Hollywood turn the white guy into a huge hero, when in all reality there were so many other factors, including him that made change. It is also sad that they somewhat made him have false beliefs, such as supporting women's rights when he did not.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that this movie was historically accurate, that doesn't always happen since some audiences may not find a movie as interesting. Also, I'm glad it is accurate because not a lot of people would know the difference if a movie is historically true, or if it's just exaggerated in hopes of a more entertaining movie. With this movie having to do with abolition of slave trade, it would've been better to have slaves shown in it, rather than former slave owners. Other than that, I appreciate how historically accurate it is!
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