I fell in love with this movie when it came out in 1993. You never saw many movies about slave families or just the impact of it on the survivors around that time, so my father and I delved into it. We have it on tape and I still continue to watch it. As a matter of fact, I just finished watching it, which is why I decided it was time to make a comment. Halle simply slipped into the role of an interracial woman struggling to find a place to belong. The questions of identity, what is blackness, what is whiteness are strong and well-dealt with in the film. I would encourage anyone to watch it and to take a class on Slave Life and just learn about the impact this made on the people who endured it. I like that Alex Haley was able to trace his history so far and be able to make a moving testimony to the people in his family. Not many African-Americans today or blacks in general who were displaced by slavery can do that. It's a luxury very few can afford, so it's beautiful to see on film.
There were memorable characters and everyone did a truly sound job within each role. I would have loved to play in a movie like this. It strives to encounter the meaning we place on skin color, the lives destroyed by other's prejudices and ignorance. Queen was an incredible woman that existed. Despite the horror and pain that filled her life, she managed to retain her dignity as a beautiful and resilient black woman. I like the subtext of her trying to define which race she was, but ultimately having to find solace in the very side that is most difficult to live with: the black side. She reconciled her dual racial heritages, but realized that she must live her life as a black woman to just survive. It's rather funny when you think about it. Playing "white" was dangerous at that time for a woman like her.
It speaks volumes about race conscious in America and the devastating legacy it has left for all of us. No one of mixed parentage should have to "choose" a side. That is unfair and makes the society seem ashamed of something that has been going on since the beginning of time. Everyone on this planet is mixed. There is no pure race, and slavery was an obvious moment in time when trying to purify the races (as the KKK tried to maintain in the film) was not going to work out as planned. These were people who worked side by side and endured the same sick environment. It is no wonder that they would turn to each other. Whether in violation of power or in love, this is humanity in all of its depravity and strength. "Queen" really makes you think about the state of America as it was then and what it is now...
There were memorable characters and everyone did a truly sound job within each role. I would have loved to play in a movie like this. It strives to encounter the meaning we place on skin color, the lives destroyed by other's prejudices and ignorance. Queen was an incredible woman that existed. Despite the horror and pain that filled her life, she managed to retain her dignity as a beautiful and resilient black woman. I like the subtext of her trying to define which race she was, but ultimately having to find solace in the very side that is most difficult to live with: the black side. She reconciled her dual racial heritages, but realized that she must live her life as a black woman to just survive. It's rather funny when you think about it. Playing "white" was dangerous at that time for a woman like her.
It speaks volumes about race conscious in America and the devastating legacy it has left for all of us. No one of mixed parentage should have to "choose" a side. That is unfair and makes the society seem ashamed of something that has been going on since the beginning of time. Everyone on this planet is mixed. There is no pure race, and slavery was an obvious moment in time when trying to purify the races (as the KKK tried to maintain in the film) was not going to work out as planned. These were people who worked side by side and endured the same sick environment. It is no wonder that they would turn to each other. Whether in violation of power or in love, this is humanity in all of its depravity and strength. "Queen" really makes you think about the state of America as it was then and what it is now...