The Movie 'Glory': a Review of the American Historical War Drama

“Without a struggle, there can be no progress” (Douglas, Frederick). In life we are constantly faced with struggles. Regardless of the social status or ethnicity of a person, anyone can face a struggle. Whether it’d be finding peace, money, or a place to fit in society, there are struggles to life. In the film Glory there was a struggle for the typical black man to be able to fight on the battlefield, they had no real place in society other than being slaves. These men were treated poorly and doubted heavily by many of the white men. The film portrays the reality of that era, by depicting how these men were talked down on constantly, and how they achieved what no one believed they would be capable of achieving with the help of some teamwork.

Glory was a historical film that followed a man named Robert Shaw who was offered the position to command the United States first all African American regiment, which in the end was very successful in preventing the loss of Fort Wagner. The film Glory was the closest to a reality of that time as it depicted the battlefield in a realistic way. The men preparing for war, the men in battle, casualties happening every gunshot, and even the death of the Colonel Robert Shaw at the very end of the film. Forbes who stood in command next to Robert exemplified social responsibility when he spoke up numerous amounts of times for the colored men. Before the gun training scene that he commenced Robert was shouting at the men, and following that scene Robert rides in with a horse and Forbes calls him to speak to him, questioning his level of respect towards the men. A personal responsibility that Forbes exemplified throughout the movie was when Trip was about to get whipped. Forbes stepped in to help prevent the whipping but Robert insisted that it took place, which, was morally wrong of him to have done so considering the availability of other forms of consequences. None the less, Forbes was the bigger man in that scene and showed that he had morals. Another example would be at the 1 hour 10 minutes marker when Forbes awarded Rawlins with the position of sergeant majors despite the fact that only white men were to run the all African American regime. That scene was one of the most important scenes, it showed that the white men could treat the African Americans as actual people, and it showed just how much they were respecting them despite the society's thoughts about the African Americans. Robert on the other hand exemplified personal responsibility in a beginning scene where Forbes was showing the colored men how to shoot a gun. Although Forbes was doing his job, Robert came in and quickly made the environment of the training session more realistic to that of an active battlefield. He livened the intensity of the training to replicate the real deal which was great of him to have done. There were tough words and actions that he spoke and did to all the men but he did it to ensure they had the best chances of surviving out on the battlefield. Another example would be when Robert asked John Rawlins what his opinion was on how he was running the regiment. He wanted to know what else could be done in order to help out the men, and after a short silence Rawlins suggested shoes. Robert got them shoes immediately after that being said, he had listened to Rawlins which was very ethical of him. Robert then showed social responsibility in the film by grabbing his gun at the very end scene of the movie and running towards the enemies. He was gunned down but that act of courage inspired the rest of the men to stand up and fight harder and with more purpose. Robert sacrificed his life for the greater good of his regiment.

The message Glory gave was to portray the importance of accepting the African Americans as people and nothing below that. The film showed how strong people are if they were to come together. For example, when Trip (Denzel Washington) heard they were to be paid less than an average solider but still have the normal duties of one he spoke up immediately to the others suggesting that they rebel against unfair treatment. He was successful and all the colored men came together to fight against the wages that they were going to be paid. Robert respected that and said that if they weren’t going to accept such low pay then they (the white soldiers leading the regiment) would not accept the pay either. There were in fact scenes where characters would say or do mean things to the black man but it showed in the end how compatible these men were with each other despite the color of their skin. During the training scene at the 27-minute marker we were able to see the verbal abuse they received, of course for the greater good of the war (mental strengthening). Robert then writes to his mother that he’s noticing that the blacks were simple people and he had no doubt in their ability to fight in war. The message that Glory gives to its viewers in the contemporary world is to help end racism. Although many believe slavery has ended, it has not. So, it is imperative to encourage the people through things such as movies to want to accept others of different skin tones in their real everyday lives.

In conclusion, Glory was a finely directed movie, it helped show the struggles of that era (mid 1800s), making many appreciate how far we have come as humans. It helped in informing the many viewers what happened on that day and how hard many men fought in real life. It also was able to depict the importance of coming together regardless of each other's skin color to fight for something bigger than their own selves.