San Diego First United Methodist Church –
In Real Life – Tuesday, 10 December 2013 – "’12 Years a Slave’ - film review”
by Reverend Mary Allman-Boyle
We recently saw the movie entitled, 12
Years a Slave. Be prepared for a disturbingly real look into the life of a
freeman, kidnapped and sold into 12 years of slavery. The moments of lovely
life in New York are few and far between.
Based on a true story, this story like
none other, tells the story from the enslaved person’s eyes. This is not Gone
with the Wind, from the slaveholder's view seeing slaves as lollygagging around
and misrepresenting knowing ‘nothin about birthin no babies”. No this is raw
and convicting. This is not violence for the sake of violence like so many
action movies. This is humanity's inhumanity to other humans. The scenes of a
"Christian" slaveholder quoting scripture to compel his slaves to
honor their master is revoltingly true to history.
No wonder so many post civil war freed
slaves could not participate in the churches of their slaveholders and looked
to new denominations or those of the north. I know some of you think we should
move on and that movies like these hold us captive to prior racist times. I
disagree, when my heart is stirred by the pain and injustice of racism albeit
175 years ago, I pause for a moment of prayer. Prayer that we will never return
to a time of such injustice, prayer that we will never allow a Holocaust to
occur again, prayer that I too will see each person in God's image and never
label someone a slave; a worker bee; a victim, an alcoholic; a drug abuser; the
mentally disturbed and then not see them for the person God intends them to be.
This is an important movie for our times.
Blessings, Mary
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First United Methodist Church of San
Diego
2111 Camino del Rio South
San Diego, CA 92108 United States
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