Confronting Race Head-on in 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013): Redefining the Contours of the Classic Biopic?
In his successful 2013 cinematic release 12 Years a Slave, Steve McQueen circumvents the “great white narrative” by addressing race “head-on” instead of metaphorically, writing every character within their own racial background. As in Solomon Northup’s 1853 Twelve Years a Slave, black characters are...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Association Française d'Etudes Américaines
2019-09-01
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| Series: | Transatlantica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/11593 |
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| Summary: | In his successful 2013 cinematic release 12 Years a Slave, Steve McQueen circumvents the “great white narrative” by addressing race “head-on” instead of metaphorically, writing every character within their own racial background. As in Solomon Northup’s 1853 Twelve Years a Slave, black characters are not removed from their own histories; instead, they are shaped and defined by them. To what extent, then, does the film distinctly voice racial concerns and tensions, and provide representational spaces on screen in a nuanced and reflective manner? How does it—if indeed it does—subvert the standard black slave/character and white master/hero dynamic, and embrace a wide variety of black stories and perspectives? By reconsidering the classic biopic/historical film, this article examines how the movie relocates America’s problems with race at the very heart of the national debate and offers a “post-post-racial” screen model that directly confronts race history. |
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| ISSN: | 1765-2766 |