The Book Mutiny on the Amistad vs. Film Versions of Amistad - Essay Example

The book Mutiny on the Amistad vs. Film versions of Amistad Introduction Films are sometimes very essential part in art especially when they are used to enhance critical thinking. In such situations, students are able to explore the knowledge they gather from novels and textbooks and match it with the films adapted from these novels and textbooks to help come up with critical strategies. Graphic organizers make it possible for art students to come up with a comparison between textbooks and films and theorize the impact of adaptation. Students analyze the difference between textbooks and films by comparing the two materials and determining whether one has advantage over the other (Finkelman, 2010). This paper is a comparison between the book Mutiny on the Amistad and film versions of Amistad. For quite a long duration, films have been used as part of education setting, although the students may just take movies as entertainment unless the teacher asks them to stop viewing them as so. When television and film are used in classrooms, it is vital to do it in a way that advances critical and active thinking. Therefore, teachers should be urged to establish learning activities that motivate and engage students, enabling them to develop comprehensive strategies (Johnson, 2010). As students make comparison of the content of the textbook and the film versions, they stop judging the films as just entertainment but as a form of deep critical. Spielberg’s Amistad film portrays how the case of La Amistad affected the owners of slaves and blossoming conflicts of the United States during that time, and even refers to the possibility of the occurrence of the civil that would take place two decades afterwards (Jones, 2010). The film clarified that the outcomes of the La Amistad historically had some impacts towards the movement of eliminating global slave trade routes and not elimination of American slavery. In the film, Cinque tells kidnappers and the middle passage of the trade routes, which was the exact place where slaves as well as the slaves-to-be could suffer due to mistreatment of the slave dealers and the kidnappers(Finkelman, 2010). One could notice that, throughout the entire film, there is nothing concerning injustice towards slaves mentioned anywhere. However, the film is focused on the slave abolition in the history of United States. Unlike the book, the film contains a number of liberties in the screenplay that are termed as the major historical source for students about the abolition of Slavery in the United States. The introduction of the film is considered as a vital educational tool that has a study guide thus making it to be distributed to many schools to enable students to understand the historical abolition of the slavery trade in the United States in a broader perspective. This is because it is always easy for students to forget what they read that what they see with their eyes. For instance, Theodore Joadson, who is one of the main characters in the film, represents a black man who is fighting for the rights of his fellow black men and also against bigotry. However, it would essential for a teachers to give his or her students clarification about this before they are subjected to watch the film if it is truly intended to be used as an educational tool. Both tutors and historians are not credited for the production of this movie because there are some details about the La Amistad omitted that are very vital for school curriculum that would ensure that students fully understand the historical events about slavery abolition in the united states. This is one of the biggest disadvantages of films over textbooks since although film’s scenes are not easy to forget, they are not always as detailed as textbooks. Meanwhile, scholars get offended on many films and reprimand them for their use in some of the educational levels as sources of historical events when there are some important details omitted(Kromer, 2007). Therefore, these films’ aspects bring some doubts when it comes to using films rather than textbooks in learning institutions. Moreover, there are some scholars who argue that the producer of the Amistad film versions would have used the cash to publish extra copies of textbooks instead. However, it is logical to disagree with this argument since films have advantages over textbooks and these are two mediums have a very broad difference. However, teachers should not be using the film in United States schools as a visual teaching equipment to teach students about the historical facts concerning the incidents of La Amistad; in addition, the film should not also be used to introduced slave abolition of the United States. However, the film can be used as a teaching tool for human rights, moral awareness, movie critique and appreciation, racism, and both positive and negative impacts of the incidents of La Amistad during elimination of global slave trade routes during that era(Finkelman, 2010). But using the film instead of the textbook Mutiny on the Amistad would leave the students with some unknown aspects since the film does not cover all the details about the abolition of slave trade routes as it is represented in the book. After analyzing the entire film, one can point out that both the director and producer of the film are not competent historians but their job is wonderfully done. Similar to textbooks, film producers and directors present the themes of the films for the exact reason. For instance, the director and the producer of theAmistad film were able to display their historical version on the screen with the appropriate application of techniques such as acting, cinematography, costumes, cinematic and direction representation(Kromer, 2007). This is quite different from the book Mutiny on the Amistad, which only makes use of written literature. The use of these medium tools adds advantage of the film over the textbook since they make it more interesting and attractive hence it is not easy for the students to forget the historical events and understanding gained after watching the film. One of the advantageous highlights of films over textbooks is that they sometimes make use of the original language that was used during the actual incident. This aspect is broadly portrayed in the film Amistad. For example, there is use of Mende language, which is presented in the scenes whereby translation is not necessary, since not all viewers appreciate subtitles. The way in which the actors are portrayed in the first scene simply depicts that there is no need of translation to enable the film captivate the viewers purely by auditory and visual aspects, a characteristic that make the film more beneficial than the textbook. This is something that lacks in textbooks and is currently highly recommendable. Unlike the book Mutiny on the Amistad, the film Amistad is easy to understand. This is because all the actors in the film present a sterling acting, the camera technique is highly prolific, and the entire plot is smooth and easily understandable to students. In addition, films are different from textbooks because the director is able to reach the hearts and emotions of the viewers, making all the historical events and effects portrayed in the books easily understandable by the students than when they use the book Mutiny on the Amistad(Finkelman, 2010). The film is also credited by several historical groups, organizations, social-political, and educational groups with the regards to bigotry, moral awareness, human rights, and racism in a global scope. However, films and textbooks are very varying entities. The film Amistad leaves little to students’ imaginations. When reading the book Mutiny on the Amistad, the students will be able to create their own films in a sense as well as deciding many of the essential parts, such as the way the characters speak, their appearance as well as their surrounding. This process of the student imagining as well as interpreting the book is extremely different from watching the film(Jackson, 2007). In most cases, directors of films cast the roles for movies, the actress or actors inevitably are different from what the students had pictured them in the matching textbook. Other aspect of casting that disappoints most film viewers is for instance, when a character who acts as a comedian is presented in the film as playing a dramatic role. Despite how the character acts in the movie, it will be difficult for the viewers to understand his or her role(Kromer, 2007). An actress or actor who acts differently from how he or she is presented in the book, results in disappointment of the viewers because they “heard” the voice of the character in a very different way as they were reading the book. It is widely complained that the film version omits some of the vital materials that are highly important for history students. For a director to develop a film that is proper in length, he or she must include everything that is covered in the book for it to be beneficial for the students. The film Amistad omits some essential parts that are vital for the students and present in the book Mutiny on the Amistad. Another thing with the filmthat annoys students is addition of other material in the textbook or changing some materials(Jackson, 2007). There are a number of complaints regarding the film of Amistad, for instance, some of the parts in the book Mutiny on the Amistad are omitted and other materials present in the film are not in the book. This addition and omission brings the doubt that, some films are always inaccurate. Despite the complaints that the films versions of Amistad are different from the content of the book, the films are widely termed as quite good and educative about the history of slavery abolition.The problem with the director of the film is that his interpretation is quite different from that of other film directors. However, it is widely argued that the film versions of Amistad are far much better than the book Mutiny on the Amistad. The film is more appealing than the textbook hence enabling students who watch them understand deeply the historical background of the slavery abolition in the United States(Finkelman, 2010). For many students, a page of the textbook is dull and daunting and the textbook is basically locked out making the students unable to access the entire story. The story of slavery abolition in the United States is accessible by a large number of students in the film than in the textbook. Another advantage of films over textbooks is Leif motifs. Everyone knows the sound that plays when a certain character is coming on the screen. This tells students that a hero or a bad guy is entering the stage and therefore this gives the viewers slight emotional that lacks when reading the textbooks. A good example of this is the film versions of Amistad. Theodore Joadson comes on the screen with either hero music or wistful music. As he appears on the screen, the viewers have a strong beat of a back American who is willing to fight for the civil rights of his fellow blacks and also against international slave trade in the United States. Another crucial advantage of movies over textbooks is that they are time saving. For instance if a student spends his or her weekend reading textbooks, the student might end up completing three textbooks per weekend. However, if the same student decides to be watching films during his or her weekend, the student might end up going through twelve movies per weekend. Although the film of Amistad skips some of the scenes present in the textbook by just flashing a picture and moving on, they are the most appropriate tool to convey such historical stories(Finkelman, 2010). Unlike the textbook, the film of the Amistad has special effects. Some of the things that seem good in the book Mutiny are always ridiculous on the film. For instance, when a certain textbook involves a car crash, the book only portrays some broken glasses, but when viewing a film one is able to see the real carnage (Kromer, 2007). Logically, reading the book Mutiny on the Amistad will make students understand the historical background of the slavery abolition in the United States but watching this content in the film helps them to understand it more deeply and develop a critical thinking about the impacts of such events. The film of the Amistad is very different from the book Mutiny on the Amistad when it comes to social aspects. This is because the students watch the film in a group and in order to overcome the “evil glares” of the slave abolition, the students may decide to watch these parts while talking. More importantly, the learners are able to watch the film with their friends or as a class in one classroom or social hall while chatting thus making the entire learning environment very social(Jackson, 2007). Sometimes a student may get interrupted while reading a textbook, for instance if he or she had just borrowed the book the owner wants it back, thus making the learning non- social event. Sometimes, when reading the book Mutiny on the Amistad you might find that the sequence of actions is quite dull but viewing the film Amistad, the students enjoys a sequence of events from the beginning to the end. The film defines the show and do not narrate the theory. Students find it exiting to watch the events of slave abolition era in the film rather than reading it in the textbook. Another advantage of the film over the textbook is the presence of previews(Finkelman, 2010). Almost every student or anybody love film previews. By watching the preview of the film, the student will a broad understanding of what happened during the abolition of the slavery routes in the United States than reading an entire textbook. Reading the book Mutiny on the Amistad and at the same time watching the film of Amistad, you will notice a very great different while trying to follow and understand the context of each of these two mediums. For once, the books Mutiny on the Amistad is too cluttered and with large volume thus making it uneasy for students to clearly understands the historical background of the abolition of slaves in the United States during that era (Jackson, 2007). The book has many pages some with complex English, which makes some of the students be unable to understand the context making it advantageous to use the film to teach history than the textbook. Conclusion In conclusion, both films and textbooks have being used for quite a long duration as teaching tools in history classes. For quite a long duration, films have been used as part of education setting, although the students may just take movies as entertainment unless the teacher asks them to stop viewing the film as a form of entertainment. This is because unlike textbooks, Unlike the book, the film contains a number of liberties in the screenplay that are termed as the major historical source for students about the abolition of Slavery in the United States. Therefore, it recommended for teachers to be always combining these two teaching tools in order to advance the understanding and thinking capacities of their students. References Finkelman, P. (2010). On Cinque and the Historians. Journal of American History, 940-946. Jackson, D. D. (2007). Mutiny on the Amistad. Smithsonian, 28(9), 115-123. Johnson, C. H. (2010). The Amistad Case and Its Consequences in US History. Journal of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, 36, 3-22. Jones, H. (2010). Cinque of the Amistad a Slave Trader?Perpetuating a Myth. Journal of American History, 923-939. Kromer, H. (2007). Amistad: The Slave Uprising Aboard the Spanish Schooner. Pilgrim Press. Read More