12 Years a Slave was a brilliant film adaptation of the autobiography of a free black man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. The film chronicles the experiences of Solomon Northup of Saratoga, New York, who, after a series of unfortunate events, finds himself trapped in slavery. While most films today thrive on eliciting a positive emotional response from their audience, 12 Years a Slave represents a departure from the norm in that it elicits neither of these responses from the audience. from its audience. The dark and sinister issue of kidnapping and slavery is a touchy subject to deal with in Hollywood, and many directors have reportedly censored or watered down such content. However, Steve McQueen does a fantastic job portraying the relentless brutality of slavery, Northup's silent stoicism as everything he knows is taken away from him, and the learned helplessness of the other slaves. As the film begins, the tone of almost relentless brutality is set. Today, in the hands of many directors (we think of Michael Bay and Quentin Tarantino), the violence becomes almost caricatured and serves to desensitize the public....