Slave to the Grind

Should you be in any doubt as to the modern relevance of Steve McQueen’s brutal 12 Years A Slave, consider the response it has elicited. White writers have ignored the black lead actor, critics have insulted the director, Continental PR companies have edited posters, allegedly to promote the white supporting actors. Slavery may have been abolished, but the downplaying of the plight of black people continues.

Film critic Armond White has a reputation as a provocateur, having praised Transformers 2 and dismissed There Will Be Blood. The African-American writer’s review of 12 Years A Slave, in which he equates McQueen’s work with “torture porn” such as Saw III, made a potentially interesting point about the victim narrative that dominates black dramas (Precious, The Help and The Butler etc). He argued film-makers “are not above profiting from the misfortunes of African- American history as part of their own career advancement”.

However, such words rang hollow as White decided to use his attendance at the New York Critics’ Circle Awards to heckle McQueen, winner of the Best Director award. “You’re an embarrassing doorman and garbage man,” he shouted. “Fuck you. Kiss my ass.”

Reviewing the movie in Vice magazine, actor James Franco, meanwhile, suggested the audience was getting off on Michael Fassbender’s portrayal of a vicious slave owner. We “get to watch an incredible actor behave like a monster and we like it, we love it, because he is so charming, and handsome”, he wrote, declining, in a 1,300 word review, to mention (black) lead Chiwitel Ejiofor.

Most astonishing of all, Italian film distributor BIM kicked off Capri Hollywood Film Festival by unveiling new (unauthorised posters) for McQueen’s film, which reduced Ejiofor to a tiny, barely discernible figure, images of white supporting actors Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender dominating the artwork. Lionsgate and Summit, handling the film in Europe, sought to have their distribution halted immediately, while cast member Lupita Nyong’o cancelled her planned appearance at the film’s premiere. McQueen’s film is a hugely important insight into American history. It also shines a light on the racial prejudices that endure.