A Potpourri of Vestiges Review
By Murtaza Ali Khan
The opening
line of the Preamble of the United States Declaration of Independence
emphatically reads, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness.” Yes, it is one of the most important documents in human history,
but unfortunately when it says that “all men are equal” it merely implies the
White people. While referring to the contradiction between the aforementioned claim
that "all men are created equal" and the existence of slavery in the
United States, English abolitionist Thomas Day famously wrote, "If there be
an object truly ridiculous in nature, it is an American patriot, signing
resolutions of independency with the one hand, and with the other brandishing a
whip over his affrighted slaves.” In the 19th century, the Declaration took on
a special significance for the abolitionist movement.
The Academy Award-winning
director Barry Jenkins unequivocally addresses the above contradiction in the
opening episode of his 10-part Amazon Prime Video series The Underground Railroad in a chilling sequence wherein a Black
slave is being mercilessly punished for trying to run away from a cotton
plantation by his White master in the antebellum American South. “You’ve hardly
touched your food, Mr. Churchill,” the slaver inquires his guest. “Oh, pardon
me, but I don’t understand how one can eat… while a man’s flesh is being ripped
from his body,” the guest hesitantly replies. “Well, Mr. Churchill, your first
mistake… uh, a nigger and a man are two entirely different things. A man can
think, reason and love. Niggers simply do not have the capacity for such
things. As such, it is important to provide them with restrictions and
directions on how to comport themselves. And when these restrictions and directions
are not abided by, it is just as important to make an example of them,” the
slaver avers.
As disturbing as these words
may sound today, they correctly sum up the bigotry, prejudice, and sadistic
cruelty with which the White Supremacists treated their Black slaves back in the
day. Kudos to Barry Jenkins and his team of writers for not trying to use
euphemisms as it is a piece of oft-forgotten history that needs to be told,
especially today when movements like Black Lives Matter are paving the way for
new conversations about racism and equality. The Underground Railroad, based on
a 2016 Pulitzer winning alternative history novel of the same name by Colson
Whitehead, follows two slaves, Cora and Caesar, who try and escape from a cotton
plantation in the deep southern state of Georgia. They are chased by a ruthless
slave catcher named Arnold Ridgeway who will stop at nothing in order to
complete his task. Cora and Caesar’s only hope is the Underground Railroad—a
rail transport system with safe houses and secret routes operated by a network
of abolitionists to help the enslaved African-Americans escape to freedom.
The
Underground Railroad is nothing like anything that you would have
ever seen before. There is such blood curdling brutality on display that you
would wish that you could somehow personally help these poor men and women
suffering because of being caught in the throes of slavery. If you think that
you have already seen the worst side of slavery in films such as 12 Years a Slave and Django Unchained, just wait till you see
a horrifying execution of a Black slave at the hands of his White master in
first episode of the series. The episode (as well as the series on a whole) depicts
some deeply disturbing scenes that are not meant for the faint-hearted.
But, thankfully, the USP of
the series is not the sadistic cruelty that's on display. Yes, the source
material is brilliant but more than anything it is Barry Jenkins who makes the
series absolutely breathtaking to watch despite all the gore and brutality. He
makes every frame look like a painting (credit must also go to cinematographer
James Laxton, his frequent collaborator). Jenkins and Laxton employ a technique
wherein they frequently show characters standing still before the camera while
looking at us. Not to mention the immersive sound design by his regular
composer Nicholas Britell who ingeniously blends his beautiful score with the
real sounds of footsteps, cracking of the whip, rustling of the wind, crackling
of the fire, churn of the steam engine, ticking of the clocks, neighing of the
horses, trilling of the crickets, chirping of the birds, and buzzing of the
flies to create a poignant symphony of emotions that help create a sense of
heightened realism brilliantly contrasting with sparsely used moments of magic
realism.
Jenkins yet again succeeds
in eliciting wonderful performances from his actors. Remember, he gave us a
film like Moonlight only 5 years ago.
And now he brings to us a sprawling series (it’s been four years in the making)
which brings us face to face with a mostly unseen side of the antebellum
American South, oozing with nostalgia, revulsion, fear, and hope that’s beautifully
laced with magic realism. Here is a work of immense beauty and pain that cannot
just be watched, for it needs to be felt first and experienced.
A version of this article was first published in The Daily Guardian.
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