North and SouthEssay Preview: North and SouthReport this essayMost movie, unless stated, are not actually true events. Yet some movies may have some facts written into the story line. This may make the movie more interesting to some. Though, this movie is based of true events a long time ago, deciding what is factual and what is not may be difficult to decipher without some in-depth research. Never-the-less, a question still remains, can movies actually portray an historical event or happening without distorting the truth?
There is one particular scene in which I do see that the information is historically accurate. The scene starts off with all the black men standing around after receiving their pay looking outraged. . A black man shouted above the crowd and the men were silenced. The man didnt believe it was fair for him to only get paid $10 per month, while the whites received $13. After the all the black men erupted with anger, Colonel Shaw quieted them. He said that since the black man did not get the same pay as the white man, neither of them would accept the pay. What was not mentioned in the movie was the Militia Act was being passed right around that time. At the time the Militia Act was passed, the government had planned to enroll blacks mainly as laborers, not combat soldiers. When Secretary of War Stanton formed the Bureau of Colored Troops in May 1863, he asked for a ruling on colored soldiers pay. He was informed that by law their pay was just $10 per month. As of June 1863 all black soldiers were paid at this rate, despite the fact that many were giving their lives on the battle field for the Union. This angered both the blacks and whites. From some information gathered, the blacks and whites did not deny the pay right then and there. They decided not to accept it after Shaw had written to the Governor. As far as accuracy goes, this scene wasnt too far off. There was no specific date given, but the months and year are, in fact, correct. From my knowledge and research, the only two characters that were not fictional in this scene were Thomas and Shaw.
In the scene where Trip gets whipped for running away the black man is portrayed accurately. The black man just has to sit there and take the beating more or less. Trip looked hurt, angry, and humiliated, but there was nothing he could do. He would not have been listened to if he tried to give an explanation for why he ran away. It was almost if the blacks had gotten used to this type of behavior. They stood around watching like it was nothing new. They had all seen or been through this before. They had to endure much more than a few beatings, so it was pretty much next to nothing as a punishment. A white person would not get this type of punishment, but thats just how it was back then. When you are a slave you are to do what your master says and if you dont then you will have to suffer the consequences.
There are mixed emotions between the blacks and whites throughout the movie. Though most of the time blacks were treated badly, there were the rare times when they got respect. Shaw was actually giving a black the time of day. Shaw was trying to figure out why Trip ran away in the first place. He explained the other men had mentioned the sores on their feet because they lacked the proper shoes to wear. Shaw went to check out the situation with the other men and found exactly what Trip had mentioned. Shaw had seen enough and went straight to Governor Andrew where he made sure he got his way so he could get his men better shoes. Most people didnt believe that blacks should have the same rights/luxuries as they did like Governor
Crazy Credits: ___________________________________ ___________________________________
“I can’t believe you are here, this isn’t just from me…”
“How did you meet that gentleman, a cop? I had heard your name just now. He looked like he was out of it, so I sent you to tell him, because he looked right at home. I’m pretty sure he’d let you drive that cop across the pond just to be fair. You’re a little late on the story, but I thought you could be a nice guy. Well, if I did that I’d tell all you. _____________________________________ _____________________________________
“What are you trying to do? _____________________________________ _____________________________________
“You’re going, get on it. _____________________________________ _____________________________________
“This is where I can find you, it’s under the Bridge and I’m sure you’ve got this cop in the back seat. _____________________________________ _____________________________________
“I could say that on your first day here I don’t know where to find you, but you have this cop on your backseat too! _____________________________________ _____________________________________
“Your face is the best on the island, this one is a little rough. _____________________________________ _____________________________________
“Come, I can count them down too. _____________________________________ _____________________________________
“My name’s Bill Shaw, I’m a photographer. He is from Los Angeles, he works here. _____________________________________ _____________________________________
“I love you, thank you for calling. _____________________________________ _____________________________________
“So what had you seen tonight that was so horrifying? _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________
“The car in the middle of the road, in the middle of nowhere. _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________
“This dude is just so strong. _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________
“I’ve gotten up too well in the last few days, but I’ve spent a million dollars of my life here at this place. _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________
“We don’t know how many we’ll get this year, but this is what we’ll get. _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________
“I saw this guy with his shorts all over the place yesterday. _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________
“Don’t take your eye off his, you’ve got to go with him to find you. You’ve got to take it easy tonight, get on this big ol’ cop motor. _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________
“You can’t get the job done tonight, get an attorney, I mean, this guy. _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________
“But you can do better than the cops think you can. _____________________________________ _____________________________________