Representation of Black Soldiers: Glory(1989)

I just finished watching this wonderfully directed and casted movie of Edward Zwick's,entitled Glory.This story deals with the problem of the American Civil War from the point of view of the 54th Massachussets regiment with Colonel Robert Gould Shaw in charge.In such film adaptations as Gone with the Wind-which will be dealt with later on- black were tended to show in either slavery or as servants to the whites.In this very instance,however,blacks are shown as participants in the liberation of their own race so they might be treated as equals in the future.This film gives back the real black experience of the contemporary soldiers who had to go through many hardships and indignity to be finally recognized by their fellow white Union comrades.The only shortcoming of the movie might be that it shows events only from the perspective of the Union soldiers,but most iimportantly,from the point of view of the 54th regiment which does not give us a lot of free space to form a general and impartial overview about the Civil War itself.

The viewer is expected to know the basic things concerning the period so this movie does not really a good film to start with if one wants to get to know the history of this struggle.Although,some characterization about blacks do take place by the colonel himself,who in his personal letters to his mother,keep reporting about his everydays in charge of his black regiment.He describes them as more hard-working and more capable of learning and restraining themselves as their white counterparts.The colonel believes that this kind of behaviour is the cause of their long enslavement, which enabled them to set their minds free.The viewer,while watching the events unfolding,is allowed to get a glimpse of the everydays of the regiment from daily routines and regular trainings to the free time spent together, showing all sorts of rituals -singing psalms,giving heartening speeches to one another.We are also introduced to the white attitude towards this new and unusual regiment.There are generals,officers and regular soldiers who all share some concern about either having blacks in uniform,in the Union army or their capability of fighting on the field.This,of course,shows that even those whites in the Union army,who fought against slavery,did not like the presence of blacks.This gives us a hint that there might be something more to the conflict between North and South than slavery.This idea is supported by a study guide which can be found on a website (https://www.filmeducation.org//pdf/film/Glory.pdf) in which the writer claims that there were more than eight reasons for the outbreak of the Civil War:

a) Industrial developments in the United States prior to 1862
b) Economy of the Southern States
c) The Fugitive Slave Act, 1850
d) The Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854
e) John Browns Raid, 1859
f ) The elections of 1860
g) The Missouri Compromise, 1820
h) The Compromise of 1850

If we consider all this,we may come to the conclusion and understanding of why there was any concern and dislike about the presence of blacks in the army.This,of course,have deeper roots than politics itself for this war was a brothers' war in which White-Americans killed White-Americans for the liberation of blacks and the end of slavery.At least,this is what they believed they were fighting for,a greater cause,greater than merely their own existence.

The producer of "GLORY,"Freddie Fields, has this to say about the film: "In the form of an entertainment vehicle, we tell a love story about the camaraderie between black and white men who learned and grew together. It is a story of how a black regiment and its white officers challenged history, racism and the fortunes of war. President Abraham Lincoln credited the 54th and other men of colour with turning the tide of war in favour of the Union. It's a very exciting,
meaningful and heroic moment in American history."

In his very first letter,the Colonel expresses his own feeling by saying that he did not really think that there was going to be any armed fighting by claiming that "...They are collecting such a force here, that an attack would be insane. The Massachusetts men passed though here this morning; how grand it is to meet the men from all the States, east and west, ready to fight for their country, as the old fellows did in the Revolution. But this time we must make it a whole country for all who live here, so that all can speak."

All in all,the movie is targeting the patriotic side of the American nation and any viewer in general by painting a romanticized picture of black soldiers fighting for liberty,equality and freedom.According to my opinion,this movie became a blockbuster in a really short time for it embodied all the elements the Union stood for as well as the basis on which the present American Society was built.

Sources:

1. https://www.filmeducation.org//pdf/film/Glory.pdf

2. https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/slaveryfilm.cfm

3. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097441/