Dr. Reed

The way Dr. Reed spoke about slavery being a sick indulgence was very interesting. At first I had no idea what slavery in cinema had to do with love and desire and it was impressive to see him relate our society's desire for detestable content(involving slavery) to desire. I liked how he presented his thought that slavery was the "art of keeping those alive who would rather die", and that it was put in place as compensation for lack of control over one's own life. It does seem rather ridiculous that southerners at the time would have not known why the blacks didn't revolt, as in Django Unchained. Another thing that struck me about the lecture was how Dr. Reed mentioned that Hollywood seems to leave the perspective of the slave untouched, and solely take either the slave owner or the abolishonist's point of view/perspective. He also stated how freedom is not given it is our right at birth, but there are moments where it must be taken, which seems to be a very fresh perspective on the issue, and well thought out. In the subject of love and desire, this seems to suggest that by being in love, one must give up some of their freedom to attain what they desire.