All Men Are Created Equal
Movie Review: Lincoln
This is perhaps the most famous phrase in the Declaration of Independence. The founding fathers of the United States certainly had an ideal and lofty goal in their minds when they sought for freedom from the rule of the king of England. Yet, a few years later, when they needed to write a more practical document, the Constitution of the United States, they had to be realistic. The idea of freedom ran into a thorny issue that not only vexed the minds of souls of the founding fathers, but also generations afterwards. The final reckoning came in the form of the Civil War 76 years later. Then in early 1865, Lincoln sought to put the last nail in the coffin of the American slavery system.
Just after I finished reading Doris Kerns Goodwin’s book Team of Rivals, I saw the TV commercials about the movie Lincoln. Excited about the movie, during the Thanksgiving Day weekend I found an afternoon to go to see the movie. I was surprised that the theater was full of people. This certainly was not a hit movie that would typically have every seat occupied in the opening days of its showing. Still, the number of people was respectful. I liked the subject, but very few people know or care that Jan 1, 2013 is the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the southern slaves. Noticing that most of the people were of my age, clearly indicating the demographics of the audience, I nonetheless found it a happy surprise that there are still many people interested in this chapter of the American history.
Over the years I have read three Lincoln biographies, Goodwin’s book being the latest one. The other two are: David Herbert Donald’s Lincoln, and Ronald C. White’s A. Lincoln. The movie, as the credits at the end shown, was largely based on Goodwin’s book’s description on the ratification of the thirteen’s amendment of the United States constitution. After finishing Goodwin’s book, I wrote a book review on all three books with an emphasis on slavery. I was delighted that a movie was made about Lincoln and decided that I must see the movie. I rarely see movies. I see perhaps only 2 or 3 movies per year. This is a movie I must see, even just because it’s a movie about Lincoln.
Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was a presidential war measure, which was temporary. The civil war was nearing its end. As soon as the war ended, all those war measures that Lincoln issued would lose the legal support. Thus Lincoln must find ways to permanently abolish slavery, otherwise his proclamation that slaves would be free “forever” would become a statement without legal ground. This was made very clear by Lincoln in the movie in the scene of a cabinet meeting. Lincoln, who rarely showed his anger, went into a rage when he was questioned on the timing of the amendment.
Lincoln faced a stiff challenge. The South was definitely defeated, although not official yet. But the spirit of slavery was still in the hearts and souls of many southerners. Although they were clearly a minority, but passing the constitutional amendments required a 2/3 majority. In addition to that, it was a lame duck congress, which usually accomplished little, if anything. Knowing these obstacles, Lincoln still must push ahead, the historical opportunity couldn’t be missed.
It is a good story to tell as a movie. I am very satisfied that the figures that have been mentioned so many times in the books now appear as real people. We see how people lived and dressed, and how politics were conducted at the time. We see Tad, Lincoln’s youngest son, who was repeatedly described in all Lincoln’s biographies. Scenes like the one that Tad played with his metal soldiers and fell asleep in front of the fireplace was frequently depicted in those books. We see the White House New Year’s reception in which Mary Lincoln was a prominent figure. A scene showing Lincoln at Seward’s home, which was richly decorated and Seward dressed like a Chinese emperor also reflected the books descriptions of the taste of Lincoln’s Secretary of State.
The way Lincoln and his confidants gathered votes was marginally legal, reflecting the side of Lincoln as a shrewd politician. Political maneuvers aside, that kind of politics inside and outside of The Capitol was not unusual for the time. The movie showed that Lincoln not only had the ambition to achieve what he wanted, he also had the political acumen and calculation to get the job done. So when the votes finally were counted, he got his wish fulfilled. The people of the United States finally rid their self of the curse of an institution that was in clear violation of the spirit of freedom.
Seeing the movie, as an immigrant who came to this country from a totalitarian system, I have a deep appreciation of the treacherous path the American democracy has treaded since the founding of the nation. For a long time this nation was the biggest hypocritical state in the world. In its constitution it boasted its Bill of Rights, yet in the same document some of the people living in this land were not even considered as people. But among the people they counted, they were able to treat each other equally and with respect. The spirit of democracy thrived and the system improved itself over the years. Then the spirit took a sharp detour with the breakout of the Civil War. Slavery was so toxic that Southerners and even many Northerners threw away the democratic principles of majority rule.
Ironically, both sides at the time adhered to the almost identical political system. The South broke apart from the Union, but it adopted the same constitution. For all legal, political, and other practical purposes, except slavery, the South and the North conducted everything the same way. This showed how resilient and strong the United Constitution was and the ways of life were deeply rooted in the souls of all the American people, despite the deep political division on slavery. Thus beyond slavery, America was quick to overcome from its self-inflicted wounds that almost ended the Union, recover from them, and progress and prosper to the present time, albeit the ghost of racial prejudice still lingers.
This deeply rooted believe in the minds of the American people are at full display in the debate to end slavery. Slavery is morally wrong, but despite that the South failed, even by force, to prolong it, ending the system still required a legal blessing. The American people were wrong, the Constitution was wrong on this subject. So they must correct that wrong. Many people were willing to sacrifice their lives to correct that national sin. Many people were also stubborn to resist that change. As long as the few who resisted the change still followed the rules of democracy, the people of the United States were willing to allow them to fully express their opinions.
The high point of the story in the movie was the vote in the House of Representatives. The Amendment passed by a margin of two votes. The movie certainly dramatized many aspects of the scene, but one cannot fail to appreciate the emotions associated with the historical moment.
Although I like the subject and I am glad to see the movie to get a visual impression of the stories that are very familiar to me, this is not a good movie. Steven Spielberg may be a master of telling other kinds of stories, this movie is definitely not his best product. For someone who does not know well about the historical background, there are too many loose ends to tie together to fully understand the details. The story has been simplified a great deal by concentrating on just the final months of Lincoln’s life, but the director of the movie seemed to be unable to decide what to be included in the movie and what to throw out. Whenever I see some subtext at bottom of the screen to explain something, I know that the director has trouble telling the story in pictures.
The title of the movie is also misleading. It’s mainly about Lincoln, but it’s more about Lincoln. Lincoln as president did a lot more than what he did in the last four months of his life. Thus naming the movie Lincoln was a mistake. In fact the character of Thaddeus Stevens (played by Tommy Lee Jones) is more impressive than Lincoln. Unlike books, whose readers are able to grasp wider ranges of stories in more time, movies must grab the attention of viewers by one or two dramatic scenes. Spielberg certainly understands this. But in this movie he fails to portrait Lincoln as the main characters. In stead, the more charismatic Stevens stole the spotlight. In deed Stevens played a crucial role in real history, but if we want to see how Lincoln did his part, the dramatic role of Stevens overshadowed that of Lincoln’s, despite the fact that the movie faithfully told the roles of all the major characters played.
As a Chinese, who became a US citizen through naturalization, I cannot refrain from comparing everything we see now and learn in the history with that of China’s. When the United States were in a great Civil War, China was also in a great Civil War. More Chinese lost their lives than Americans. Americans fought for their ideas and Chinese fought for the throne. Americans ended the war and abolished slavery. Chinese ended the war and everything was still the same, although the empire was greatly weakened. Americans learned a lesson and cured a sin; Chinese learned nothing and the sin that continued for thousands of years still continued.
Today, America is not perfect, its constitution is not perfect, it still has many problems and issues to resolve. But one thing is certain, that the American people will resolve all the issues they face now and the new ones they will face in the future by the same means that they have resolved the slavery issue, certainly without spilling blood first. We are not certain how Chinese people will resolve their differences. In fact they have been resorted to resolve all major differences by force. Now, they are trying to get rid of that curse and they now find it very hard to do that.
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