The Article below was published in Vol. 135, Issue 4 of the Lake Forest College Stentor on December 6, 2019
By Maryam Javed ’21
Opinions Editor
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”—Harriet Tubman. These powerful words professed by Harriet Tubman herself set the premise for this film about her life and is precisely what she did. In this film, Harriet Tubman embarks on her journey toward freedom, leading hundreds along with her through the Underground Railroad, becoming a universal hero and one of the most profound women in American history.
One important aspect of Tubman’s life that is sometimes neglected by historians is her personal life, including her family and marriage. Before viewing the film, most of the audience was probably aware Tubman is a strong and courageous woman, but one element of the film that is crucial in understanding her life was the fact that Harriet was loved and she was in love. Her love for her husband and family is what originally led her to go back to the South in the first place, and ultimately drove her to lead hundreds of slaves into freedom.
The director of the film, Kasi Lemmons, focused on the concept of freedom throughout the film and as Tubman being a soldier of freedom. Though there are scenes that illustrate the cruelty slave-owners subjected slaves to, the director wanted to focus on how Tubman escaped the confinements of slavery and led others to do the same. Another subject the director raises in this film is the issue of family separation and the psychological torment individuals who were subjected to slavery were forced to endure. The film shows haunting visions Tubman had about being separated from her family, which is something the director wanted to emphasize further because family separation is an issue that affects this country still to this day, especially in the family separation of migrant families at the Southern border.
Overall, I felt this film was extremely empowering for women. It showed Harriet Tubman escaping from slavery as a young woman, walking miles on end, all on her own, at a time in which the majority of women lacked a voice or any sort of independence. Tubman defied these sentiments in every shape and form, which is something I greatly admire. She was a hero who went back to liberate others and this film was a reminder of that.
However, there were some concerns I did have regarding the film. The film introduces a fictitious character, an African-American bounty hunter that went after slaves. I thought the addition of this character was unnecessary and took away from the overarching theme of the film, which was Tubman’s journey toward freedom and being a hero. Because of this and some other historical discrepancies, I would rate this film a 7.5/10. I also felt that there were certain aspects of the film that needed to be explained more. For example, Tubman’s role as a spy in the Civil War was barely shown and the scene in which she led a military expedition was quite brief. If these scenes were expanded, it would benefit the film greatly. There is also a lot of harsh and offensive language in this film, which can be difficult to hear, but overall I believe the acting in the film was extremely compelling. Tubman’s escape from slavery and the overall message of achieving freedom is something that is truly inspiring and makes Harriet worth watching.
Maryam Javed can be reached at javedm@mx.lakeforest.edu
