Unit Four: Revolution

Movie Settings:



The movie I choose to watch was Roots volume 3. This was the third part to the six part series and was created by Alex Haley. The movie is based upon Alex's family history and was shown on the ABC station. This episode aired on January 25, 1977 and also had older actors to play some of the younger characters, to show the time difference. The show won nine Emmy's and is considered a TV classic. The movie takes place in Spotsylvania County, Virgina in 1776 and then in 1780.



Plot:

In the beginning, it shows an older Kunta and he is working with the tobacco fields. Later on in the day, there is a celebration going on at the house and Toby is coming up with a plan to escape. He hides in the back of a wagon, and doesn't leave until he thinks its time to come out. Toby finds himself at the same plantation as Funta is living in. He meets up with her and basically tell her that he loves her and has been waiting a long time to see her. Funta tells him that she doesn't go by that name anymore and has forgotten her African ways. They both wake up the next day and Toby is trying to tell her to run away with him, but she positively does not want to. The shouting of their arguments, leads Tobey's master to find him. As a result from that, they cut off his foot with an axe, so that he can't run away again. Tobey awakes and see a fellow slave woman named Bell. Eventually, the two get married and have a daughter named Kizzy. Tobey's friend who has been helping him since his arrival, Fiddler dies as Tobey is talking to him. The movie ends with Tobey talking to his daughter about his life in Africa, so that she won't forget who she is.



Actors:

John Amos from the show "Good Times" plays a grown up Kunta Kinte or Tobey. His performance was fantastic in this film. He made you cringe in the face when he got his foot chopped off! He cried when his friend Fiddler died and it pulled every body's who watches this movies heart strings. Another great performance in this movie was by Madge Sinclair who played Bell. An excellent scene that show cased her performance was when she was telling Tobey that her first Husband was trying to plan escape for her and her babies. When the plan failed, he was hanged and her babies were sold off. That scene she was crying and wailing, it made me want help her out.



Presentation:

The presentation for the movie was really great. The sets seemed to match the time era and the wooden house looked cool. The music seemed a bit off during some scenes, such as during a tense moment, it played happy music. The lighting and the camera work was a bit off because you could visibly see the shadows of the camera men. The outfits they would wear were ok and it certainly matched that era.



What Happened During this time era?

During this time, America was in the Revolutionary War. They were fighting Britain and were trying to keep their own land. If slaves wanted to become free, they had to join the British army and become a soldier. The Britans promised them that they can become free, sadly most of the slaves died during the war and most of them returned to being a slave. During this time, the Stamp Act came in to place, placing a stamp on all newspaper, broadsides, pamphlets, licence and all legal documents. The Stamp Act was to defend, protect and securing all the documents. Also the Boston Tea Party had happened, which was when a group of men dressed as Indians poured all the tea in the ocean. Hoping that all the citizens would buy it and pay tax.

Comparison

In the movie, it did not really show any of the fighting or anything that had to do with this era. They only talked about what was happening. For example, Bell was saying that any young black boy that wanted to be free, had to join the British army. Also Bell was saying that George Washington is a great leader and one day he should become president. In real life, slavery was still taking place, but it shows that this era didn't have a dramatic impact on them.

What I have learned

I have learned that this era had a lot of pride. The Colonist were egar to win and never gave up on their dream to be an independent nation. Also, the army that was fighting was relatively small compared to the British army and it seems like a miracle that they had won. It seems like everyone should be thankful that we live in a free land that doesn't have rules that effect peoples beliefs.