CAT Tracks for March 7, 2014 12 YEARS A SLAVE

Breaking my vow of silence...

Watched the DVD last night, part of my aforementioned $125 purchase of "entertainment" on Wednesday.

I watched "Gravity" last week...

...that was entertainment.

"12 Years A Slave" was not entertainment...

...it was the reality of slavery made way too real. Once you see enough of these kinds of shows, your next step for an adrenaline rush will be snuff films.

Okay, okay, I exaggerate, but...

To say that the hangings and the whippings were graphic would be an understatement. Particularly disturbing was the non-lethal hanging of the lead character...as a lesson in obedience...strung up with just his toes able to touch the ground...from sunup to sundown...a scene that seemed to go on forever.

Anyway...

Do NOT under any circumstances get carried away with the hype about the movie and try to show the R-rated version in school. (CSD #1 has a policy against anything more risque than "G-Rated" if I am not mistaken...PG-13 at most. Check current policy before showing any movie.)

As for the announced release and gifting of a sanitized version to high schools for showing and study...

...be sure to screen it before showing it to students.

I thought about that last night while watching...

...thought that after editing, they might have a pretty good 30-minue short.

But...

...the part that was left would not be something that students would even want to see.

Trust me on this. I have been there, done that. It was like pulling teeth to get my students to watch the award-winning documentary "Eyes on the Prize". My black students remarked that they didn't want to watch depressing stuff about the way things used to be.

"12 Years a Slave", now that's depressing.

This is not a movie that I would feel comfortable viewing in a room full of students.

My advice...

Leave the watching of "12 Years A Slave" to the parents and students at home or on their mobile devices.