Glory (1989) Reflection

 The Story of the Union's First Black Regiment

After starting this film, I was first met with a small biography meant to give the viewer an idea of the main character's situation. This main character is a man named Robert Gould Shaw, who's backstory leading up to his being named colonel and the main events of the film is displayed.

This single character perspective does not, however, interfere with the value behind the film, and the focus on the colonel is mildly depleted later on to keep the message in a significant stance.

The film is most directly making a point of sharing the story of the first colored men to ever fight for the union, as they were prohibited for decades prior. The team of African American troops takes on challenges with courage and prove themselves to be a worthy regiment among an entirely white union army. This leads up to them leading the charge on Fort Wagner, a Confederate establishment. The black regiment, along with their reinforcements of white regiments, lost an excessive amount of their numbers in the assault. The attack was not successful, but it was not in vain. After this act of bravery, congress authorized the enlisting of over 180,000 African Americans, "changing the tide of the war" as credited by President Abraham Lincoln. 

The true depth in this story is not to be unnoticed, though, considering that I was able to see a more real look at how African Americans were treated even within the Northern community, which was fighting a seceded and pro-slavery south. Even given the fact that the black regiment was allowed into the union's ranks, for a great deal of time in this story, the regiment was held back from resources as basic as shoes, as well as being assigned to do manual labor rather than actually engage in battle.

The regiment additionally faced discrimination by getting paid less than the regular thirteen dollars a month, and even a punishment as degrading as being whipped I front of all of the other troops. 

The message I took from this movie is that even within progress or a community desiring progress, there is still a failure to truly believe in equality for all parties. Effects like this can be seen even in modern times, causing the wheels of progressive action to be halted by a massive social division, and horrible conflict of interest.

Regardless, this film was definitely a good watch, definitely something I would recommend to anyone who has not seen it. I would personally rate this movie's storytelling and its meaning a solid eight out of ten.

For anyone wishing to learn more or give this movie a watch:

Glory (1989) - IMDb