May 22

The Ethics of Adaptation and Representation

Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave occasioned a great deal of comment upon its release in 2013. Manohla Dargis celebrated the movie for refuting the lies about slavery that American cinema has peddled for years: link. But others were less positive. Roxane Gay roiled the waters by asking “Where Are the Serious Movies About Non-Suffering Black People?” And while Noah Berlatsky praised McQueen, he argued provocatively that it his film “Gets History Right” only “By Getting It Wrong.”

In preparation for our first Interdisciplinary Forum, read these three articles and pose a question you’d like faculty to address during our conversation.

Click to join via Zoom from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM on Fri, May 22.