“Glory” is a movie I’ve been looking forward to watching because it’s right up my alley. One of my favorite genres is war dramas, and this film is considered one of the best ones about the Civil War. Throw in the fact that it boasts an exciting cast and is directed by Edward Zwick (whose “The Last Samurai” I love), and I fully expected to give this movie a positive review. At best, I can give it a mixed one. “Glory” tells the story of the first all-black volunteer regiment in the Union army. The men are led by one Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick), an inexperienced new Englander and son of abolitionist parents. While leading his men, Shaw soon discovers he has to fight not only the opposing force, but racism within his own side. At the time of his casting, many people were skeptical of …show more content…
As one would expect, the Confederates demonstrate a distaste for these men, but Jarre takes pain to show us that racism existed in the Union, as well. He shows us both systematic racism, like the army paying the black soldiers $3 less than white soldiers, and individual racism, such as when various white fighters hurl racial slurs at their black comrades. This provides moviegoers with a fuller picture of what it must have been like for these volunteers. Moving past the writing, “Glory” features some iffy directing by Zwick. He does a suitable job of giving the movie an epic feel, as it should, but he never makes it as sweeping as one would expect. He uses some good shots of the environs these men fight in, but the battle scenes are poorly staged, shot and choreographed. These hamper the epic tone of the film because its most epic moments don’t feel that way. Perhaps, given the subpar nature of these sequences, Zwick could have shown us more of the war, giving viewers more of a context for the actions of the black regiment we
The Northern men are not shown much. Only Capt. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is portrayed, leaving out General Hancock, a major player in the beginning of the Civil War. This causes questions about there importance and if they were fighting for the “proper” reasons. A lot is left to the imagination about the North. The Southerners are all represented well and thoroughly throughout the film. Lee is portrayed as a very kind-hearted religious old man who has the respect of his troops and is out to win this war. Jackson is given the most glory as this film includes him in almost every other scene. He is also given a great light of respect from his troops and all around him. Even Jeb Stuart, who in real life was pompous and egotistical of himself and his troops, was given a light of respect by all including Lee which was not seen at all in real life (Gods and Generals the book.) In all the Southerners were surrounded in this great white light while the Northerners were not even given there few shining moments in fame during the beginning of the Civil War.
Edward Zwick’s, Glory, was an inspiring tale about the bravery of volunteer soldiers in the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts. He tells of their trials, tribulations, and successes. He brings to light the reality of their situation, and does so by altering it. Fortunately, the changes he made do not take away from the historical accuracy of the plot as a whole.
The film Glory, gives the audiences the chance to witness the close relationship between two very different men: Private Thomas Searles and Private Silas Trip. Searles and Trip started out as men from different lifestyles who have an aversion towards one another. Trip constantly mocked Thomas for being different compared to the other black man. Trip kept on bothering Searles because he was jealous of his lifestyle. Trip was surprised that Thomas talked "as good as a white folk” (Fields & Zwick 1989). Their relationship takes a substantial turn on the battlefield when Trip is about to be killed and Thomas bravely jumps in to save him. They supported each other and ended up developing a brotherly bond through the movie. Together they put away
The movie called “Glory” is a historical military based story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. In the movie “Glory” we see the struggle of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, who is the main character of this movie, and the supporting cast, being his regiment of African Americans recruited to become soldiers during the Civil War. “Glory”, however, Is not just a movie. It is based off of real life events in history during our Civil War, where the African Americans took their first step towards gaining respect, and freedom from oppression.
The federal government placed many restrictions and discriminatory actions on the black troops. At the beginning of the Civil War, African Americans were not allowed to serve in the U.S. military. By the summer of 1862 it was clear that additional troops were needed. To meet the need, Congress passed two bills that allowed the participation of black soldiers in the Union Army. The Government established segregated units called The Bureau of Colored Troops. The measure lacked popular support and the U.S. Army did not begin recruiting black soldiers until 1863.
Both narrators are young blacks who run into adults. The narrator from “Battle Royal,” identifies himself as a “ginger-colored nigger”(pg.1152) who has distinguished himself in school, and who has given a superb speech at
There were many scenes in the film that were meaningful to the theme of racism. One important scene is at the Gettysburg battle location. Here, Coach Boone makes an impacting speech to the players on overcoming
Glory is a movie about the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the first official all black units in the United States during the Civil War. It’s an inspirational story of how a young Union soldier, Robert Gould Shaw, is offered the chance to lead an army unit that will change not only his life, but the lives of many other Americans.
Is the movie “Glory” an accurate portrayal of the African American experience in the Union Army ? Yes the movie Glory is an accurate portrayal of African American experience in the Union Army because all of the characters were completely fictional, but it was said the 54th regiment was mostly educated freedmen rather than a bunch of runaway slaves that they put in the movie I think they did that because they want blacks to look like less of a people. Majority of the main characters were fictional like John Rawlins, Trips, and Private Jupiter Sharts. Trip was the angry runaway slave, John was the old looking grandfather dude in the movie he was the one that was mainly holding the group together and Sharts was the religious one. African American served in the Civil War on both Union and Confederate side in the Union Army about 179,000
Many men had to struggle through many problems and discrimination. And yet, they were still willing to fight to the death. At fort Wagner many men were killed, but they still did damage to the fort. They had proved themselves to the North and the South that they were just as good as any white soldier. Both whites and blacks admired them. According to History.com, Shaw’s parents said that they were glad their son was resting amongst such loyal soldiers when told that the south had dumped his body with “his niggers” in a ditch₁. Shaw’s parents and many other recognized what the Massachusetts 54th had done for them. Thanks to their bravery, black soldiers are respected and can still fight in the army
Racism was a harsh reality for African Americans after the American slave era and is a prominent theme in the short story “Battle Royal”. This story highlights how racism is not only a powerful tool used to keep people down but can also promote savagery. The author, Ralph Ellison, uses vivid imagery to depict the acts of savagery shown by both the slaves and the white crowd.
These battles are directly represented by the barbarous fighting by 10 boys in a ring, being witnessed by whites in high social standing. Totally engrossed by the fighting these men yelled cruel things and became frenzied. This is representative of the how our nation’s white population treated African Americans for many years. Often they took a stance of authority, feeling superior to the black minorities. This belief is portrayed by the men’s angered actions toward the boys.
Throughout the movie Glory, it is clear to viewers that even when black soldiers were fighting in bloody battles to annihilate racism, it was still present in many Americans at the time. True to historical accounts, the movie Glory accurately portrays the racism towards soldiers of the 54th Regiment. When there was high tension between white and black soldiers Trip, one of the more notable and conspicuous characters from the film, was not willing to stand idle while fellow black soldiers were being insulted. This disparagement of the 54th Regiment led Trip to voice his opinion on how he believes blacks should be able to fight. However, his beliefs were perceived to be preposterous to white soldiers due to the color of their skin (Glory). Since
Glory (1989) is a historical film that incorporates the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. This regiment of the soldiers consisted of northern freemen and some escaped slaves but, ironically they were led by whites, who had their own perception of the soldiers. Glory includes a great deal of heartbreaking, mind- blowing, and touching scenes. One scene in particular reveals that the African American soldiers were going to be paid a significantly less amount of money than the average pay that a normal white soldier would earn. This pay dilemma that the African American soldiers were forced to face due to the color of their skin and the unjust scrutiny during this time period is what makes this scene the most affecting and demonstrates a rude awakening that even though they were fighting for equal rights, they were still discriminated against due to their skin color.
The 1976 film, The Outlaw Josey Wales” was directed and starred in by Clint Eastwood. It is The setting is in the latter years of the Civil war up to the war’s conclusion. It was created along the western front, on the Kansas/Missouri border and proceeds south through Oklahoma (Indian Country) finally, climaxing in Texas. After doing extensive research, the film is found to be accurate in portraying the mindsets, climate and historical people and events in America. More specifically, as it relates to the Union and Confederate forces, Native Americans and the civilians who pledged their allegiance to either side of the war. The film also captured the imbedded hatred that both sides garnered for each other based on the atrocities carried out by each in the throes of war.