Slavery in Film Final
Respond the prompt
Kara Brown, author of the article “I’m So Damn Tired of Slave Movies,” writes “Film can be illuminating and didactic, but at the same time, we have a serious problem if Hollywood is anywhere close to being a major source of education about slavery. The complicated, harrowing, lasting history of slavery should be taught in classrooms.” She has a point. We have to be able to explain what is to be learned from these films if they are to be more than a dubious form of entertainment.
In chapter 8 of his book History on Film, Robert Rosenstone uses an analysis of Holocaust films to show what can be learned from a group of films on a particular historical subject.
Reread that chapter (particularly 168-172) and then write a similar analysis using at least three of the films you have watched in class and addressing the question, “What can you learn from watching a group of historical films on slavery?”
