Harriet

Harriet Tubman has been my hero for as long as I can remember. When Maya was little and they were talking about heroes at school, I told her about Harriet, and several years later she told me that at the time, she had pictured her with a cape, flying down like Superman, rescuing slaves from the south and spiriting them north to safety and freedom. I love that idea, but of course, if she had been able to fly, she would not be proven to be as brave as she was in real life. Putting herself into harm’s way, again and again,

So, a few months ago when we first saw a trailer for the movie version of her story, I felt my heart start racing, while my brain screamed at me, “Don’t let it suck! Don’t let it suck!” And I am happy to report that we went to see it on Sunday, and it did not suck. I really enjoyed seeing my hero brought to life so beautifully.

Harriet is a fairly straightforward telling of how she escaped slavery, and how and why she decided that her life was not to be lived quietly in Philadelphia, but instead, she made it her life’s work to free slaves from the chains of bondage. Cynthia Erivo plays Tubman with certainty and grace, and gives us glimpses of the deep religious beliefs that motivated and inspired her sense of justice and truth, and compelled her to do what she felt was right.

Unlike some other films about slavery, like 12 Years a Slave, there are no scenes of torture or bloody beatings. It is clear in the film that these things have happened, and the film does not shy away from violence, but it’s not shown either. Instead, we see the horrors of having family sold away from you, never to be seen again. We see the injustice of people who should legally be free, robbed of that freedom. We see the terror that the Fugitive Slave Act instilled in those who had escaped to freedom and feared being sent back to slavery.

There were moments where I felt the film was perhaps too melodramatic, but truly, with a story like this one, I’m not sure how that could be avoided. My thought over all was, it’s about time this film was made, her story was MADE for the big screen, and I’m not sure how it got to be 2019 before it finally happened. I’m glad it finally did.