Over the years, popular culture has changed based on how society perceives things. Such aspects have been influenced by how human interactions have changed over the years, leading to the development of new events while others are forgone. The film industry has played a critical role in the representation of events that happened during different historical times, playing a crucial role in the preservation of the history of people. Such aspects have been evident in most of the films produced over the years as the story structures continue shifting with the advancement in human interactions. The perceived differences are apparent in the 1960 film Spartacus and the 2019 film Queen and Slim.
The two films portray the lives of black people in the United States in different historical periods. Spartacus describes the life of a man born and raised as an enslaved person but rebels after the pain his masters inflict on him. After the rebellion, the man’s life experiences drastic changes when he is sold to Batiatus, a gladiator trainer (Kubrick, 1960). In the gladiator, the man had to fight to win his freedom. While Spartacus addresses issues with a slave rebellion, Queen and Slim provide a modern-day experience of how the blacks continue to struggle to attain freedom from racial discrimination and stereotyping. In the film, the two main characters come from a date where they encounter traffic police who catch them for rush driving (Matsoukas, 2019). The encounter with the police drastically changes their date night into a nightmare where they must run for their life.
An analysis of the two films shows the struggles the blacks have experienced in achieving freedom. The events in the two films are significantly influenced by the historical events linked to the period they depict. In both films, the blacks are subjects of the whites, and in their efforts to live a better life, they end up victims of circumstances (Kubrick, 1960; Matsoukas, 2019). In Addition, both films portray aspects of racial discrimination and supremacy where the blacks are perceived as inferior and subjects to the whites. In Spartacus, the main character is raised as an enslaved person and tries to struggle and unchain himself from the torture that blacks are subjected to by their masters (Kubrick, 1960). Similarly, Queen and Slim struggle to deal with racial discrimination and stereotyping, which have been experienced since slavery.
On the contrary, the two films represent different historical periods and events. In Spartacus, the main character rebels against slavery, while in Queen and Slim, the main characters are influenced by stereotyping blacks as criminals (Kubrick, 1960). In Addition, Spartacus is set in the ancient period, while Queen and Slim are based in the modern day. During this time, blacks attained significant milestones in freedom and positioned themselves in the American social structure as free and legal citizens (Matsoukas, 2019). Such differences portray how cultural differences have advanced over the years, from being enslaved to being independent and experiencing new challenges.
In conclusion, the two cultural artifacts provide critical information on how life changes with time. The two films show different cultural challenges experienced in the society to which the characters are subjected as time passes. The films show the milestones the blacks have gone through to be in their current position. In Addition, the movie shows the changes in popular culture and how technology and changes in perception of things have shaped people’s lives in society. Such artifacts are perceived as crucial tools for preserving history, used to depict the things that have been experienced over the years.
References
Kubrick, S. (Director). (1960). Spartacus[Film]. Universal Pictures.
Matsoukas, M.(Director). (2019). Queen and Slim[Film]. Universal Pictures.