By Jared D. Childress | OBSERVER Staff Writer
“Emancipation,” starring Will Smith, was screened at the Guild Theater on Friday, Dec. 9. The event was sold out and featured a post-screening talk by artist Milton Bowens.
The film, directed by Antoine Fuqua, is based on the story of an enslaved Black man who became known as “Whipped Peter” after the photograph of his scarred back widely circulated in 1863. The historical fiction account details his escape to freedom and subsequent enlistment in the Union army during the Civil War. The photo showed the brutality of chattel slavery and became a rallying cry for abolitionists.
Following the film, a pre-recorded talk from visual artist Milton Bowens was screened. He often incorporates historical images into his artwork and said that the photo of “Whipped Peter” was the first viral image.
“This photo becomes the spark that goes around the world that actually puts an image to the brutality of the transatlantic slave trade,” Bowens said. “So it could be argued that it was the first viral image.”
Bowens is a long-time collaborator with the Guild Theater. His painting, “I Pledge Allegiance,” is currently displayed in the theater; it is an interpretation of the first colored regiment of Union troops. This art complements the film as Peter would go on to fight for the Union as a sergeant in General Benjamin F. Butler’s Louisiana Native Guards.
The film is largely black and white but also has elements of color, with red and green hues throughout. Bowens praised the cinematography as “basically [bringing] that old photo to life. … It not only gives you the essence of the past, but it keeps you relevant in the present with brilliance and clarity,” he said.
Dr. Maisha Winn and her husband Dr. Torry Winn are both professors at UC Davis. After the screening, Dr. Maisha Winn, who teaches classes on humanizing research, described parts of the film as “traumatizing” and said she had a visceral response.
“I saw things that I cannot unsee,” Dr. Maisha Winn, 50, said. “I felt like we were all stuck in that space with Peter. And I felt like that was done on purpose so when it was time for him to run, we were ready to run with him.”
Dr. Torry Winn, who teaches African American studies, named faith in God as an underlying theme.
“It’s about love, freedom, but also about the theology behind it,” Dr. Torry Winn, 45, said. “It takes faith to endure physical violence, mental abuse, separation of family, and so you have to have a belief in God.”
Odette Crawford, 70, is a retired associate warden of the California Department of Corrections. She said the film speaks to the tenacity of the human spirit.
“Anything that was hurting him, whether he didn’t have food or water, he knew how to fix that,” Crawford said. “He didn’t automatically know but he had to learn. And in this life right now, that’s where we are: we have to learn, pursue it, and be faithful.”
The film is now streaming on Apple TV+.