Theme Of Visual Violence In 12 Years A Slave

Visual Violence and its Effect in 12 Years a Slave

Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave brims over with violence against black bodies, so much so that some critics have likened the film to “torture porn” (Schaefer). In critiquing a film about slavery, and the inevitable visual violence within that film, one generally wants to be cautious- can one comment without diminishing the fact that this visual violence is representative of a horrific reality for African Americans? If examining the depiction of sexual violence against black slave women, the answer will always be affirmative. The manner in which black women are treated in slave narratives is comparable to the way in which women’s bodies, especially black women’s bodies, are treated in the film industry today; sexual violence, while shown as disturbing, is overshadowed by more public violence. While 12 Years a Slave clearly portrays one man’s unique experience in the institution of slavery, the film offers no new insights to the discourse surrounding slavery, but rather a continuation of the norms of slave narratives, in addition to

12 Years a Slave seems to be a direct manifestation of this sentiment. It is a well-known fact that the history of American slavery is riddled with long-term sexual abuse, including black slave women having multiple children by their white masters, and yet this sexual violence is often pushed to the side. This could possibly be attributed to the fact that there are many more slave narratives existing today that were written by male slaves. Looking at the re-production of slave narratives today, in film and television, this still stands- the main characters in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Django Unchained, and 12 Years a Slave are all