Evangelicals Now
<< May 2007 >>

Monthly arts column

Are you still talking about slavery?

In case you hadn’t realised, the end of March saw the official anniversary of the passing of the Act of Parliament that ended the slave trade in Britain. The release in the UK of the film Amazing Grace that tells the story of William Wilberforce has by now been widely reviewed and commented on, particularly in the Christian press. So isn’t it a little past the event to be still talking about it?

Perhaps not when the crusade behind the film is to engrain our memories with a story that we should never forget. The story of the end of institutionally led exploitation and the perseverance of individuals who had the vision and opportunity to do something about it. It is also the story of the Christian faith echoed by John Newton, who in his old age remembered only two things; ‘That I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great saviour’.

Introduction only

The film provides an introduction to the issue rather than a detailed examination of the nature of the slave trade. For instance, it does not reveal how the economic objections raised by Wilberforce’s opponents in the House of Commons were overcome. It suggests that the abolitionists turned the tide by (in their own words) ‘cheating’, through an indirect assault via a bill on flags of convenience. It also doesn’t explain why most of the British upper class were ignorant of what was happening — the reason being that the actual slave trade did not pass through British ports so they saw very few slaves — even the Duke of Clarence had to buy his ‘nigger’ coachman abroad.

The way in which the film is constructed is designed to help us to remember. It succeeds in its structure, using flashbacks to avoid a weightier, more linear storyline. By generally narrating rather than depicting the horrors of the slave trade it puts the viewer in the place of the unsuspecting greater British public and invites each of us to consider not only what evils Wilberforce helped to cure but also what evils there are left to cure.

General concern

The motivations behind the production and distribution of Amazing Grace are broader than some previous films finding favour with Christian audiences. After all, the desire to end slavery in all its past and present manifestations is not just a Christian concern. The screenplay was written by Steven Knight who previously wrote Dirty Pretty Things, a film about illegal immigrants living and working in London, selling kidneys to raise money to pay back their contemporary slave traders. Other films around at the moment, such as Blood Diamond starring Leonardo di Caprio, also aim to highlight issues of contemporary slavery and human trafficking. The topic, once touched on, reverberates deeper and deeper in modern day living. As Martin Luther King said famously, before you finish your breakfast, you have depended on half the world.

No one should be ignorant

Over the last five years or so, an increase in Hollywood-based ‘Christian faith’ films has spawned growth in Christian PR and distribution strategy companies, originating in the States but bringing major opportunities for target-audience tapping over here as well. The industry has been surprised by the revenue available to those willing to back faith-films ever since Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ hit records in 2004. After the success of Narnia, Walden Media would have been fools not to take up the opportunity to produce the defining Wilberforce film. But let’s not be too cynical. Film is a major form of modern communication that sometimes hits the jackpot in terms of relating tales of injustice that need to be told to each new generation in the voice of its time. The abolition of the official slave trade, like the story of the holocaust, is a tale that no one should be ignorant of and this film goes a long way towards making sure of that.

Anti-Aristotle

The challenge today is to stop believing, as they did at the beginning of the 19th century, that certain forms of trade and human conditions are inevitable and necessary for the world to work economically. We need to stop believing, as Aristotle did, that ‘some are born to be slaves and some to be masters’. Instead, we need to believe, along with Wilberforce and John Newton, that slavery is simply the experience of every ‘wretch’ who has not found Christ. The release from that slavery does not require an act of Parliament, but the simple recognition of Christ’s abolition of slavery: ‘I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.’

An article in the April EN stresses the apologetic value of the film and recommends the IVP book, Amazing Grace in the life of William Wilberforce (ISBN 1 84474 185 0, 80 pages, £4.99).

Further info: http://www.damaris.org has a study guide; http://www.stopthetraffick.org suggests ways of action; http://www.wilberforcecentral.org gives background; in the February issue at http://www.christianitymagazine.co.uk, John Buckeridge has written a useful guide on using the film in your church; and http://www.amazinggracethemovie.co.uk has more about the film.

Eleanor Margesson