Glory!
We know that slavery can illustrate the fall of man, but is there redemption for the slave according to the movie Glory? Does this redemption differ from the redemption offered by God?
posted by Mark Killian | 12:57 PM
4 Comments:
In the movie Glory, the African Americans that join to help the north fight are not only run away slaves but some of them are free men and for all those men fighting in the war means some type of redemption for themselves. In the movie redemption is portrayed as helping the north win and that each man has to win redemption for himself. There is one line in the movie where the character played by Morgan Freeman stops to a group of young slave boys and says," Thats right boys it aint no dream, a run away slave has come back to fight in the war." This line for that character to me shows that his redemption was fighting for what he believed in.
I believe that the movie protrays what God tells us about redemption very well in the fact that we and only ourselves have the power to redemption. We have the choice to accept God in our lives and leave our past behind and that is exacly what the African American soilders had to do.
First of all there are similarities between slavery and the fall of humanity. Yet, there are also many differences as well. One difference (that may also be controversial) is that the white oppression of slaves is negative compared to the suppression of humanity by God. Both were mistakes, but the mistake was made by different parties on each occasion. But considering the intitial assumption true, then one might say there is a redemption for slaves in the movie of Glory. While Adam and Eve lost there innocence the slaves lost their humanity and both must gain back what they have lost. The redemptive process is different, though. Humanity needs another being to redeem them while the slaves must redeem themselves. Another difference in the process is that one requires violence/revenge while the other requires love/forgivness. If the process of recieving the redemption is so opposing certainly the actual redemption would be just as opposing. And although both sorts of redemption require the acceptance of the oppressor, this still relates back to the fact that the acceptance of blacks should not be required unlike God's.
There is redemption for the slave in the movie Glory, but I wouldn't consider it the sort of redemption one recieves from God.
We know that slavery can illustrate the fall of man, but is there redemption for the slave according to the movie Glory? Does this redemption differ from the redemption offered by God?
I don't so much call this process of a slave fighting in war "redemption"; I more see it as simply proving reality and helping bring justice. I think it is wonderful that the slaves help themselves and other slaves bring slavery to and end, but again, it's more the issue of justice and maybe a bit of revenge (on the South/slave owners) rather than actual redemption. Regardless of all this, I think that the word "redemption" is a beautiful way to illustrate what these soldiers were fighting for. The word is used in a way that sends out the feeling of hope, perseverance, strength, unity, and determination. I could go both ways on the question of whether or not this type of "redemption" differs from that of God. I could compare the two by saying that God helps us help ourselves through Him, and helps to bring justice... Yet, I could contradict that statement by instead saying that redemption by man is totally different from redemption by God. God's redemption is never-failing and always there, whereas the black soldiers had the possibility of failing at a just cause.
Glory was a movie based on brave African American slaves that joined the war in order to escape slavery. The African Americans joining the war was a temporary escape from the torture and the hard labor that their slave masters enveloped on them everyday. In the movie the redemption for these slaves was going into war with Colonel Gould. I liked this movie because you usually see movies where the slaves are always getting tortured.In this movie you see slaves with a sense of hope and determination where they are fighting for their race. In the movie these African Americans realize that they can save the US from slavery and free their race off all this pain and change the course of society. I believe the message in this movie is that redemption is mainly found in freedom but I believe the redemption came from their death. That is very weird to say but if you think about it when they died they were free to be with the Lord their God in heaven where their is no pain and suffering and their is no difference between white, black, indian, jewish, christian, their is no specialized treatment everyone is treated equally. I believe this war was a chance for the soldiers to show the world that they are capable and intelligent of doing anything that any other person can do with just as much skill. As you can see in the movie the soldiers showed how much heart they had because they stayed with Colonel Gould even after the Fugitive Slave Act was read and that is when the key line comes in when Colonel Gould says, "Glory". I think this redemption in a sense was the same as the redemption offered by God. The redemption is salvation and God offers salvation free of charge all you have to do is accept Him as your Lord and Savior and it was obvious in the movie that the soldiers had a religion because they were singing hymns and giving testimonies in the movie. This was a monumental feat for the soldiers and Colonel Gould, the first African American troop.
"He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever - holy and awesome is his name”
"It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God - that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption”
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