History Professor REACTS to "Emancipation" / Reel History
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- Опубліковано 31 гру 2022
- To mark the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, Reel History analyzes the Will Smith Civil War film "Emancipation" and the iconic photo at the heart of its story. Learn more about the process of emancipation here: freedmen.umd.edu/chronol.htm
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Reel History delves into historical films to separate fact from fiction. These engaging episodes explore, contextualize, and clarify stories related to the most famous historical movies. In contrast to the more prevalent "reaction" videos, these installments seek not only to entertain but to educate and inform. For host Jared Frederick and producer Andrew Collins, these episodes are a labor of love and a means of expressing passion for the past as well as cinema. Courteous viewer feedback is always welcome. The views expressed are our own and do not necessarily represent our employers or organizations with which we are involved.
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Being from Massachusetts and a history geek I know all to well your feelings on wanting a sequel to Glory, and how the 54th's is really only half told. It kind of reminds me of how We Were Soldiers only accounts for about a third of the book it's based on, and only tells the first half of the Ia Drang Valley battle.
Back to the Civil War and the 54th though, one of history and Hollywood's disservices is how the 54th's sister regiment the 55th is all but ignored and forgotten.
The 55th was one of the first colored regiments to have black officers of their own. That alone is a story worth telling.
Ever read "Thunder at the Gates?" That would be good source material for a "Glory" sequel.
@@ReelHistory No I haven't, but I will in the near future!
Unless it’s a cgi movie about blue aliens fighting space marines you won’t get a high budget war movie any time soon.
@@BigRed0059, so sadly true. People want escapism.
I'm not sure about a sequel to glory, but if there has to be one movie about black civil war soldiers it's probably a battle of the crater from their perspective.
As a Louisianan who studies this era of the state's history, there were so many times in this film, which I wanted to like, that I rolled my eyes. The planters would never have allowed their slaves to be treated in the near Holocaust-conditions with which the film portrayals the Confederate camp.
I did some research and Captain Lyons was murdered in 1864 by a Unionist guerilla who had a personal grudge against him. The scene of him being shot and the women being led away from the house would more likely happened in the burnt district of the Missouri-Kansas border war
The story of the first three regiments of the Native Guards, going from Southern militia to the Northern army, and the racism they faced from both local Louisianans and Union officers, would have actually made a more interesting film. The First Native Guard actually did not breach the Confederate defenses at Port Hudson, let alone inflict any casualties on the defenders. They were given the worse ground to cross and were caught in a three-way crossfire that included snipers and siege guns. They retreated after Andre Cailloux was killed.
Your statement about owners not allowing their slaves to be treated so harshly that just don't ring true nor sit well with me. The South was Starving Lee's army was on meager rations themselves things did get brutal. It's really disturbing when Southern CSA sympathizers talk about slavery as if it was a mere indentured servitude the fact is it was pure slavery and Slave owners were treating their slaves harshly even before the civil war broke out because of the underground railroad was starting to have an impact on the rate of numbers of escaping slaves.
False, sub human Neo confederate vermin, slaves were treated horribly by the confederacy. It was holocaust like. Pathetic vermin.🤡🤡🤡🤡
"Unfortunately some people still think that way."
*Immediately pauses video 10 seconds and goes to get popcorn.
This is gonna be good!
Watched the movie finally and then rushed to UA-cam to finally see your review. YES!! I said the same thing when it was over. What a missed opportunity. They could’ve done so much with this story. …instead they made a mission impossible swamp chase.
Really appreciate you saying 'enslaved people "instead of slaves... Means a lot.
I can't stand when Hollywood do this type of thing. It's litteraly "let's take a story that basicly no one knows about or with something that's hard to substansiate, that way we can make things up as much as we want" and then people will watch this and think "oh, so that's what happened". And as usual, a good review and thank you sharing your opinions and even if opinions can be different, we can still be adult and respect them.
That's good shooting Wedge, now get the hell outta there before the Twitterati come after you...
@@davemac1197 Fuck people on twitter
@@wedgeantilles4712 - ew! No thanks!
@@davemac1197 But anyway, in all seriousness, it's pretty obvious towards who has a 20/20 vision that Will Smith asked for this role as a... How should you put "sympathy card" for his stupidity at the Oscars, I mean how can anyone be mad about a movie that involves slavery? How can anyone possibly be mad at someone who plays a slave? Nice going, good PR stunt Will.
@@wedgeantilles4712 - I've found that people who are up to no good all have the same thing in common: they all think we're even more stupid than they are. I'm seriously beginning to resent it...
From the article: "At one time in Louisiana he served our troops as guide, and on one expedition was taken prisoner by the rebels, who, infuriated beyond measure, tied him up and beat him, leaving him for dead. He came to life, however, and once more made escape to our lines." Geez, how could they leave that part out??
Good question!
Fully agree with your questioning of the battle formation of the period in the Port Hudson fight, from all I’ve read and heard as a completely self-anointed amateur historian. However, whenever I hear Port Hudson, a comment from Steven Woodworth’s “Nothing But Victory, The Army of the Tennessee,” comes to mind that I think gives the director some cinematic leeway.
Grant was at Grand Gulf, making up his mind about moving inland with a tenuous supply line, reading dispatches from D.C. and Banks, where Banks reportedly wasn’t prepared to cooperate with Grant’s Vicksburg campaign. Authorities in D.C. wanted Banks to capture Port Hudson quickly --- which didn’t happen ---and move north, where he would most likely take charge as he outranked Grant.
“If any general could yet have snatched defeat out of the jaws of Union victory in Mississippi, Banks was the man,” Woodworth wrote. “In this case, his ineptitude saved the day by keeping him out of the Vicksburg campaign.”
Welcome back!
Thorough and knowledgeable review, love your content. Suggestion if I might? Set Design. I like the painting, maybe a stack of arms, flags?
Noted
Excellent review.
Thank you!
And this one isn't Civil War, but could you possibly do Wonder Woman, the 2017 film, since it's set during WWI.
Good suggestion!
Lincoln is a really good one.
On our list!
For what it is I enjoyed the movie despite its shortcomings.
As for American Civil War stories, I would like to see more on the Western Campaign like Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge or Shiloh. As well also some more on the Naval warfare such as the First Battle of Memphis or the capture of New Orleans.
Though for a more condensed smaller story anyone of the Medal of Honor recipients would be nice maybe even the Great Locomotive Chase since those were the first awarded recipients.
In terms of Civil War movies to look at there's Ironclads which is a made for television movie about the engagement between CSA Virginia and USS Monitor at the Battle of Hampton Roads, I believe it's on UA-cam.
Thanks for the perspective!
You convinced me to check it out despite being a missed opportunity to tell a more substantial story. Wasn't gonna watch it, didn't even know it was about THAT photograph.
It is definitely worth a view if you are interested in the time period.
There was no railway gun anywhere near the area of Port Hudson (where this is based around), nor a Confederate labor camp.
Well done.
I was just going to say the cotton gin revitalized slavery.
I always forget which one was the southern state with the bigger share of slaves to the population at the onset of the civil war, but either Georgia or South Carolina had a whopping 60% of the population in slavery.
Sequels decades later without the original cast are a cringey thing for me, so it would need a remake including the parts already shown in Glory to be really watchable. And if you do that, it would probably be more suited for a limited length series ala Band of Brothers or The Pacific.
So long as the ration is 60:40 to the negative, to at least 60:40 to the positive, I’m interested in historically based movies. That is just so I can get a better idea of what happened. After this I am kinda excited to see this movie.
You should definitely watch the film if you are interested in the era.
@@ReelHistory I am and will. Do you know if they ever released that Gettysburg movie centered around Burns? It’s one of the few American Civil War films I was actually looking forward to.
@@yadarehey1130, a movie about John Burns is news to us! There was a silent film made about him over a century ago. Also, Jared recently filmed a short documentary about Burns that will be coming out in a month or two!
Still waiting on your Devotion video! Saw the movie I’m curious if some of the scenes like the parts with Liz Taylor and his claim of his commander refusing to pin on his wings on him are actually historical or artistic liberties. (I actually did like the movie in representation of Korean War veterans which my grandfather was one.)
It is in the queue but is unavailable for us to purchase/download yet.
How was the movie overall? I was interested in it but weary now adays to spend the money to see in theaters.
@@dabeast987, if you are interested in the era, we'd say it is worth a trip to the big screen if it is playing in your area. We streamed it and may have had a whole different experience had we seen it in a theater. We liked the film, but it will not be a best picture nominee.
@@dabeast987 I would say it’s worth seeing in theaters if you like aviation movies. The same crew who made Top Gun: Maverick made Devotion (and one of the actors from Maverick is in it as well). There are tons of shots of planes flying and landing on carriers overall the cinematography is beautiful again similar to Top Gun. The plot is so-so kind of like a chick flick with not a lot of violence for a war movie (it’s PG-13). I personally enjoyed it but that was largely due to seeing it theaters with the plane scenes.
Nice work here but I would consider changing the opening music. The uplifting horns.
Definitely check out the book Freedom National.
According to Variety, Smith, whose net worth has to at least hover around $100 million (at least), was paid $35 million dollars to appear in this absurd, cynical, arguably exploitative film.
In downtown Philly just now I saw multiple black men wearing rags similar to Smith's "costume" that he wears in this film. How much of a percentage of a percentage of Smith's net worth would it cost to get those guys some gloves and winter coats? A negligible percentage.
So what is Smith waiting for?
To be as obscenely wealthy as Smith is and then pocket $35 million more on top of that isn't what he's "earned", it isn't his "salary", it's greed.
And all in the service of telling, inaccurately, this slave's important story. There's dignity in getting that story right, but what does Will Smith care about dignity? He's trying to win another Oscar.
Have you considered reviewing the mini series Rough Riders starring Tom Berenger as Theodore Roosevelt?
OH YES! This is one of our producer's favorite films. Definitely on our list.
@@ReelHistory awesome! This has been a childhood favorite of mine since it aired on tv. It was one of the films that really boosted my interest in history.
Excellent job, as usual. It's a shame. This movie had so much potential. The one thing I would LOVE to know is how much research they did on the labor camp in the beginning. There is no doubt that slaves were used in the construction of Confederate Infrastructure, I have just never heard of a labor camp being THAT big. I thought the Confederates wanted most slaves on the plantations or as servants in the Confederate camps like serving food or as teamsters for control purposes. Also didn't the plantation owners not want to give up their slaves to the government? I am just interested to know what makers of the film based that off on.
How about a movie about Duncan Kenner? The man who convinced Jefferson Davis to end slavery in the South in exchange for the recognition of the Confederacy by England and France.
England rejected the proposal completely. The PM stated that England would not recognize the Confederacy, ever. This effectively ended any hope of recognition from France as Napoleon III would have only gone along with it if England had. This was just a few weeks before Lee surrendered at Appomattox to Grant. It was obvious the Confederacy was done. European nations saw no reason to align themselves with the CSA at this point.
@@Clonetrooper1139 But the South was willing to end slavery right then. A point that does not play well with many, and is something that could never be put in film, because it does not fit the narrative.
Loved the "good material culture in unit military details", because that's what I live for! It almost rivals comedian and Oxford History graduate Al Murray's "simple job name description allocation system basis" in his explanation of how the British Army works ('Why The British Are Undefeated World War Champions', UA-cam).
I think this is another lesson on Hollywood as propaganda, and no doubt made with an eye to somehow connecting it to the present day. The Henry rifle and period housing are really interesting observations I would have missed.
My Civil War film recommendation is Cromwell (1970), starring Richard Harris and Alec Guinness, but there are no slaves involved as Norman King William I banned the owning of slaves in England after his conquest of the country in 1066.
I see what you did there.
@@celston51 - the trick is to keep moving so people don't see which way you go!
@@davemac1197, point well taken!
Please do the Yellowstone prequel 1883!
And 1923
That was not a good take on the economic realities of slavery there, Professor. The overall share of the GDP may have been large, but it had been only kept up by slave SALES for decades as the cotton price was relatively low and feeding and housing slaves was not cheap, so barely anybody got rich by farming with slaves, the profits were made by selling off surplus slaves and with the resistance to allowing new slave states to join the Union ever growing, it was predictable that soon the market would collapse for that with no new areas being opened for trading to.
Also the last strips of land that were open as slave states if you believed the compromise of 1850 would stay the rule, were not well suited for plantation agriculture, so the need for slaves in New Mexico/Arizona would be lower than in the original southern states, even California would not have been that good for the expansion of the system.
So yes, there was a lot of money involved in slavery, but it was not unlimited and wouldn't have lasted more than another generation or so. In Part that's behind the golden circle idea of expanding southwards through conquering all land around the caribbean...
I'd like to see more movies on Fredrick Douglas or the Harpers Ferry uprising.
Amen to that!
Have you seen "The Good Lord Bird?"
@@ReelHistory I haven't, is it good?
@@Oakestates, picture the story of John Brown as if it was told by Quentin Tarantino! Immensely entertaining even if embellished.
@Reel History ooh hell yeah!
The slaves did have agency and free themselves.
You are in good company here!
@@ReelHistory thank you. I am a big fan of History and Lincoln and that era.
I like the movie being in black and white
It's a nice creative touch and underlines that this film is a story extrapolated from a monochrome photograph, but I wonder if the filmmaker is also trying to suggest the issues are black and white. History (the true story) is usually more more complex and messy. I think I would have appreciated some colour and context to this story.
It definitely sets the tone.
@@davemac1197 : could be, but having only two colors and vast amounts of grey makes it easier to zoom in certain pointed issues, for example the whipping done to his back.
This strange movie makes little sense historically. It makes Confederates (I am a Strong Unionist Reenactor) but this makes German SS murder squares look like boy scouts.
Killing runways makes no sense. The near end with dead Rebs all along the shore makes no sense… you do not take on a gunboat except by ambush.
The attack on Port Hudson was pretty good… except the huge canon… just field pieces would be used. Early black units did attack in Later July 1863 and suffered heavy losses… the fort gave up after a long siege.
Just the Rebs we’re too cruel and just shooting yankee prisoners did happen but not for not just like in this show. And a black servant (slave or not) holding weapons would really freak out Confederate Soldiers and Civilians. Random killing slaves just waists labour and starving them makes them very weak….
It's just a will smith film to get back into the good books ..how many more slave films do we have to sit through there is so many black actors and actresses that are so talented
There are plenty of slave narratives and stories of emancipation worth telling on screen.
Sorry, I just have to vent. As a West Philadelphian, seeing multi-millionaire Will Smith cosplaying on that poster as a disheveled, "unfortunate" individual makes me sick. _Too many_ of my neighbors- his FORMER neighbors- struggle horribly everyday, some of them sometimes resemble his image on that poster. But what has multi-millionaire Will Smith done for his people? Nothing. His city bleeds and he remains ensconced out on the West Coast drowning in piles of money.
But he'll put on layers of makeup and let expensive cameras film him in a _pretend_ state of destitution in preparation for awards season.
Must have been a good feeling for multi-millionaire Will Smith to remove that makeup at the end of each *highly paid* shooting day.
I'm sorry it just makes me sick. He wants to cynically bathe himself in black struggle when it's Oscar season while the life *he actually lives* _directly contributes_ to the conditions that cause poverty-stricken Americans _to suffer_ daily. Including, yes, his _former_ neighbors here in West Philly, where he makes such a big deal about being "born and raised".
The next line to that verse should be: "...and then abandoned."
With a meager donation that makes up a percentage of a percentage of his net worth Will Smith could help countless needy individuals in West Philly. He never will. Not to any degree that matters. Why?
Because Big Willy's due in the makeup chair. Make that money, scoundrel.
BLM and socialism are both scams designed to enrich the people running the scams and keeping their supporters poor and downtrodden in order to perpetuate the gig. The solution is not to buy into any of it and believe in yourself, your country, and your constitution.
(I also appreciate The Wire reference in your choice of profile name!)
Careful, he might slap you! (Seriously though, good point. MANY celebrities coming from various different impoverished and marginalized communities do this and it’s an issue.)
Hey is there any history where people aren't suffering? Seems like you focus to much on war movies.
Go back through our library. Maybe you'll enjoy "a league of their own" or "dazed and confused" for example. With that said, suffering is a popular plot device used by studios to sell the product.
Holy shit. That entire battle scene is incorrect. The field would have been strewn with downed trees, and the Priest Cap, the point that they attacked would have looked different. There was only one line, not multiple as shown. This movie fucking sucks.
My ancestors were in the Civil War including the 54th Massachusetts and units out of Pennsylvania. This guy here has no idea what anything was really like because he has book knowledge and that is it! My ancestors left a history of what they faced on the Battle Fields! He is telling his audience just what they want to hear! Thumbs Down!
Uh, so how are we misleading viewers?
Sorry if we don't meet your standards.
@@ReelHistory You pick apart the movie calling out flaws when it was one of the best I have seen. I had an ancestor who was in the 54th Massachusetts and described how the slaves lived. My Great Grandfather was a slave in Savannah and was freed by the 54th Massachusetts and he spoke of how it was in the Camps and when they headed North after the Civil War. I enjoyed that film which was about an enslaved man carrying about his family who could have kept going but did not. Then there is the enslaver telling the blacks he was their God. Maybe that was offensive to you but it happened more than folks want to admit. It was one of the best I have seen since Glory. Sorry if you don't "Get" it. But then you may not ever "Get" it!!
@@Weknowbetter622 Did we watch the same review? Nowhere did he dismiss or belittle the struggle of slaves or black soldiers. His biggest criticisms were anachronisms due to the lack of concrete evidence of the individual being portrayed and the possible amalgamation of his story with that of someone else’s. You have poor listening comprehension skills if you think he was downplaying the black experience in this review.
It's a tale of struggle and survival. Was it billed as a historical documentary? Jared, you must be a real pain when stories are being told around a campfire. Let a story be a story. If you really want to tear something up, do the Audey Murphy Red Badge of Courage. That will keep you going for a while.
To often from movies people believing that the incidents are true and are not true. Take the the movie Pearl Harbor by M. Bayn, most of the movie was totally taken out of context out of real history.
@@stephicohu That movies only purpose was to portray the japanese as "bad guys" , and display situations that never happened as oppose to things that did.
Glory should be review. I think it would be interesting to do the Ft. Pillow Massacre
@@stephicohu, coming in 2023!
Ken, we actually interpret The Red Badge of Courage as a WWII movie set during the Civil War! Definitely worth checking out at a later time. And Jared is actually a lot of fun around a campfire! 😉