Is the Pain Too Much to Watch?

The anguished scream pierced through the auditorium at the Magic Johnson Theatres in Baldwin Hills like a white-hot sword during a first-weekend showing last December of the slavery drama “Amistad.”

With cries of “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!,” an African American woman in her 50s rushed out of the packed theater in the middle of the film about a group of African slaves in 1839 who became the focus of a courtroom battle after staging a bloody mutiny against their captors.

In the lobby, the woman, still trembling and crying, explained that she found the brutal depiction of the torture and cruelty of the slaves too unnerving, and that she identified too closely with the incident. She was referring to a section of the film that focused on the Middle Passage, the journey made from Africa to the Caribbean by newly sold slaves. The scene showed bloody beatings and other atrocities in a graphic manner previously unseen in a mainstream Hollywood film.

“I just felt like I was on the ship, and it was too much. I just really couldn’t take it anymore,” the woman said.

Her feelings echoed those of numerous African Americans toward “Amistad.” Although blacks accounted for much of the audience for the DreamWorks film, many others stayed away despite its star pedigree of director Steven Spielberg and producer Debbie Allen, who worked for nearly two decades to bring to the big screen a largely buried true story of black hardship, survival and courage.

In restaurants, offices and gathering places, while some blacks praised “Amistad,” others said that undergoing the ordeal of watching a 2 1/2-hour movie showing the horrors of the slavery of their ancestors ranked at the bottom of their what-are-we-going-to-do-this-weekend? list.

Some whites also had trouble with “Amistad.”

“Some of my white colleagues told me that ‘Amistad’ made them uncomfortable, that it made them feel guilty,” recalled Sandra Evers-Manley, president of the Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center, an organization dedicated to honoring the entertainment legacy of African Americans.

Despite a respectable start, “Amistad” fell short of other serious-minded Spielberg blockbusters such as “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan.” Although the movie earned its share of critical accolades and awards, it is regarded by industry insiders as somewhat of a box-office disappointment.

Now, nearly a year after the premiere of “Amistad”--and almost 22 years after the epic slavery drama “Roots” gripped the nation--a flurry of new film, stage and television projects has begun to reawaken powerful feelings of anger, guilt and pain about the era of slavery.

The two most highly anticipated arrivals--the just-opened “Beloved” from Touchstone Pictures, starring Oprah Winfrey as a former slave, and “Africans in America: America’s Journey Through Slavery,” an exhaustive documentary about the history of slavery that debuts Monday on PBS--are coming on the scene along with a Broadway-bound musical with singing slaves, a low-budget film about another slave ship mutiny, a sitcom about a black butler and advisor to President Abraham Lincoln, and a combination book and audiotape collection featuring famous actors reenacting the accounts of slaves and eyewitnesses to slavery.

“Slavery is really in vogue now,” quipped morning radio personality Tom Joyner, whose syndicated show has become a barometer of popular black culture.

The arrival of the projects almost on top of one another is coincidental but not entirely surprising, said “Roots” producer Stan Margulies.

“There is always a fascination with evil,” he said. “It’s one of the reasons that Hitler and Nazi Germany became the subject of so many movies. There is something within us that is fascinated with true evil.”

But the onslaught of projects has reopened the delicate question of how black and white audiences will respond to realistic depictions of the slavery era, and whether slavery’s complex nature and painful but undeniable significance in the growth of America can be sensitively and comprehensively handled--especially in popular entertainment but also in documentaries that point out how aspects of the era are still alive in today’s world.

“Black people just don’t want to see that, even though we should, and white people don’t want to see it, even though they should,” said Joyner, who is heard locally on KACE-FM (103.9). “Black people feel in many ways like they’re still in slavery. So when we go to the movies, we want to escape. Slavery is the last thing we want to see.”

Some observers in Hollywood point out that the wounds of the period are still deep, raw and unhealed, and that creative examinations of slavery still have the capacity to inflame bitterness and emotions that could lead to despair and conflict.

Said Warrington Hudlin, president of the Black Filmmakers Foundation: “It’s no wonder black people don’t want to go to these movies. Only a masochist would want to spend two hours watching themselves be degraded and victimized. From Day One of slavery, there were all these meaningful efforts at resistance, but that is never shown. All we see is black people being captured, and punished if they try to escape. That’s an interesting message, to say the least.”

Anger over the subject matter surfaced recently in response to UPN’s new comedy “The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer,” about a black Englishman who goes to work for Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. A coalition of black leaders objected to the premise, declaring that slavery is “off-limits for jokes.”

Orlando Bagwell, executive producer of the six-hour “Africans in America,” said he realized the risks when he first began developing the documentary 10 years ago: “There’s no doubt that we were aware there are strong feelings that African Americans as well as white Americans have about this subject. It really is not an easy one to approach and bring forth.”

Despite the acclaim for “Amistad” and “Roots,” the depiction of slavery in movies and television has been infrequent, especially in contrast to the many projects that have focused on the Holocaust, the blemish on world history most often compared to slavery.

Mainstream audiences have embraced films such as “Schindler’s List,” the epic documentary “Shoah” and the television miniseries “Holocaust,” as well as satirical portrayals of Nazi Germany such as in Mel Brooks’ 1968 film “The Producers,” with its “Springtime for Hitler” production number.

The slavery era, however, has been more problematic for artists and audiences, particularly blacks.

“The problem with slavery is that it happened here, on our soil,” said actor Carl Lumbly, whose voice is featured in “Africans in America.” “The Holocaust took place in another country, and for non-Jewish people, it is regarded with more objectivity. It stands in its time, and it’s something that happened and then stopped, although there is a carry-over effect for Jewish people.

“But with slavery, the architecture is here. The implements we use daily are from that time. The hurt is still here in constant reminders. Everyone has a particular point of view.”

Director Michael Schultz, who is developing a film about Civil War heroine Harriet Tubman, said racial tensions can be traced directly to unresolved feelings about slavery.

“There are so many things happening in our inner cities that are so destructive to our society, and most of it stems from the racial division of slavery and the wounds that have never been healed or have only been healed in a superficial way,” said Schultz, whose credits range from the films “Car Wash” and “Cooley High” to episodes of TV’s “Ally McBeal” and “The Practice.”

Speculating on why the number of slavery-related projects has exploded, Schultz said: “We’re in a period of history where a critical mass of black creative talent has sprung to the fore. Before now, Oprah Winfrey didn’t exist with the financial and creative clout to make a movie like ‘Beloved.’ And the white power structure in Hollywood was deathly afraid of the subject. They felt it would provoke hunger in the black audience for white blood, that there would be rioting in the theaters.”

Some observers believe “Beloved” may be the breakthrough Hollywood vehicle that can overcome misgivings about the subject of slavery.

“Yes, it’s a difficult subject matter and a challenge for audiences,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, a box-office tracking firm. “It’s not a popcorn movie. But it’s got Oprah and some terrific reviews. People will read and hear from their friends that it’s worth checking out, and that will overcome their reluctance.”

And Donald Thoms, vice president of program management for PBS, said he felt “Africans in America” would educate and enlighten rather than inflame emotions.

“When you’re watching a movie, you’re watching in a theater, and you’re going to feel some emotion, based on the mix of who’s around you,” said Thoms. “People watching TV will get a different visceral reaction. It’s a piece of history, and it will be seen as being fair and accurate.”

Margulies, who also produced “Roots: The Next Generations” for ABC, said he understands why sentiments surrounding slavery are still raw nearly 22 years after the breakthrough miniseries “Roots” served as a catharsis for the country. The same bitter feelings existed during filming.

“When we were making ‘Roots,’ there was a feeling in the black community, and particularly among black performers who didn’t want to be in ‘Roots,’ that the subject of slavery should not be brought up again,” said Margulies.

“So even though there has been a fair amount of progression since ‘Roots,’ I can understand where African Americans still don’t want to be reminded of a time when their lives were not in their control, especially in today’s world, when African Americans are making inroads every day in every profession and are being applauded for their progress.

“White audiences have happily grown in their perception of white shame. Everyone would like to think of themselves and their ancestors as being good people, but slavery takes care of that. It left such a dark mark on this country morally and ethically.”

Part of the continuing angst over slavery in movies and television stems from what some producers and directors have called a superficial and dishonest treatment of the era by filmmakers. Too often, the slaves come across as tragic victims instead of heroic resistors and survivors, they say. Even “Amistad” was criticized for opening with the bloody mutiny--before the slaves had been established as people--and for its later focus on white characters.

“Every slavery story ever done is basically designed to comfort white people,” said producer Hudlin. “It’s all about guilt.”

Charles Burnett--who directed 1996’s critically acclaimed Disney Channel film “Nightjohn,” about an adult male slave who teaches a young slave girl how to read--said, “There is very little that you see about the black heroes of the time: the Nat Turners, the Frederick Douglasses, the Harriet Tubmans. There’s been a lot of denial, and a lot of history destroyed.”

Nevertheless, some producers are encouraged by the new interest of artists in slavery, maintaining that America must come to grips with its shameful legacy in order for the country to move forward into an era of further understanding between races.

Other current slavery-related projects include the audio and book versions of “Remembering Slavery,” featuring the narratives of slaves (a two-hour radio version aired last month on KCRW-FM); Joel Ben Marsden’s “Ill-Gotten Gains,” an independent film about a slave ship revolt starring Djimon Hounsou, who played the lead slave Cinque in “Amistad”; and the musical “The Civil War,” now playing in Houston before hitting Broadway next year. The production, based on letters, diaries and contemporary accounts, is composed by Frank Wildhorn (“Jekyll and Hyde”) and features separate groups of Union soldiers, Confederate soldiers and slaves singing about their respective plights.

“Slavery is the darkest shadow over this entire country, and if there ever was a time, now is the best time ever to really engage in a serious discussion about it,” said Allen, the actress and “Amistad” producer who is involved with “Remembering Slavery.” “With all the questions surrounding Washington about the decline of the moral landscape, and everyone talking about ‘the truth, the truth,’ there are greater truths that need to be discussed, greater problems that need to be addressed. I don’t see how we can go forward in the 20th century without discussing racial problems, and we can’t do that without discussing slavery.”

Bagwell said that “Africans in America” would illuminate aspects of the slavery experience that have mostly been ignored in contemporary projects. A companion book to the TV series is available in stores.

“There’s been an amazing amount of new research in the last 15 to 20 years,” he said. “We have lots of documented evidence of firsthand accounts that have never been heard before, about free blacks and the slave trade and the Middle Passage. There are a lot of people who have unearthed plantation ledgers and family histories.”

Fear alone should not keep people from looking slavery in the eye and learning from it, Bagwell argues.

“As Americans, we can’t be afraid of our past and history,” he said. “We can’t deny that history or not confront it because we’re afraid of what it might conjure up in our minds and souls. It’s not who we are today. But looking at it, we can move forward so we can see how we have improved ourselves and see where we can go from here.”

Actor Robert Guillaume, who has encountered some criticism from blacks in the past because of his portrayal of the butler-turned-lieutenant-governor on television’s “Benson,” and for starring as a chauffeur in a 1992 pilot based on the movie “Driving Miss Daisy,” said that black audiences must also take responsibility for not being afraid to absorb artistic depictions of slavery.

“Black people are only one group in this country who have painful historical memories,” Guillaume said. “For us to continue to misunderstand attempts to explore the past is to suggest that we are not mature enough. We have survived one of the great traumas of history. We are survivors of people who went through a terrible ordeal, which is all the more reason why we should be able to bear an examination of it, instead of having an emotional knee-jerk reaction.”

Or as Tom Joyner joked, “If Oprah says we have to do it, we have to do it.”

Bagwell said he is not bothered that his documentary is arriving on the heels of “Beloved.”

“I don’t know what this will mean in terms of public appetite, whether ‘Beloved’ will complement us or pull us down,” he said. “You never plan anything like this. We’ll see how people respond. Hopefully, we’ll have a long life and we’ll be in classrooms for years. I’m very satisfied with the work we’ve done.”

Still, some have already started worrying about slavery “overload.”

“Nine hours of slavery?” said an incredulous Joyner. “I’m gonna have to give three hours alone to Oprah, so I don’t know about the other six. But I do know one thing. If you think watching slavery for nine hours is tough, just imagine what nine hours of living slavery was like.”

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“Africans in America” airs Monday through Thursday at 8 p.m. on KCET-TV Channel 28, with repeats each evening at 9:30.