Ava DuVernay takes us on an investigative journey through the timeline of racial inequality and its unique correlation with the rise in numbers of people entering US prisons. DuVernay focuses on telling the story that racism hasn’t ceased to exist or even come close to it in the US. She tries to make you understand that racial inequality has actually been redesigned. At Exist, we felt it was right to do a review on the 13th considering the overdue protests. This documentary is a real thought provoker, an essential to watch right now and is designed to make you not feel comfortable.
What is it about?
The 13th explains the links between slavery and the US’s criminal-justice system. My initial thought before starting the documentary was of apprehension, the idea of the two topics combing for the documentary was certainly something I wouldn’t usually watch. However, my experience was far from apprehensive as I was immediately compelled by the strong and clear narrative from DuVernay, which immediately took control of my consciousness. The documentary depends on the 13th amendment to demonstrate the issue it’s exposing, with it beginning with one of many alarming figures. The statistic, ‘one out of four African American males will serve prison time at one point in their lives’, sets the tone for the rest of the documentary.
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
The 13th amendment, to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.
From the constitutional amendment that freed the slaves, to the modern era of higher imprisonment rates and heavily monetised prisons, 13th helps give you an insight as to why protests are happening globally, following the tragic death of George Floyd. The documentary exposes the hidden subliminal racist messages that are embedded in American society, which is easily represented by simply exposing the haunting documentation of American history.
Conscious provoking
13th covers a lot of ground, you come out of it learning so much. The presentation used by DuVernay helps explain the correlation between the rising number of prison inmates to what was happening at that point in history. You can see the clear effect white choices were having on black lives, when 13th would show political actions that were taken at the time, methods that would go on to keep the racial inequality infrastructure intact. When changes were taking place such as the removal of the Jim Crow laws, higher imprisonment, the war on drugs and prison labour would take its place.
Everything about this documentary was meant to send the message to your conscience that racism has been adapted to maintain inequality, while we have been sheepishly blindfolded in the process. The use of interviews of experts in the field, the documentation of very raw real-life footage and imagery, combine to create an unsettling and piercing feeling going hand in hand, as the documentary very effectively asked me to follow its conscious provoking story.
An inherently racist America
In the 13th, DuVernay not only tries to make you get a taste of the level of racial inequality that was once was and still is existent in the US, she relentlessly force feeds you it. The documentary focuses on providing a feeling of shock from real life documentation. Moments near the end of the historical timeline DuVernay, holds your hand through clips of African American’s being verbally and physically abused with the voice of Donald Trump running over it. He goes on about the good old days when protesters were carried out of rallies in stretchers. Disturbing but considerably powerful when the two were compared, especially in this day and age.
This is a documentary designed to make you feel angry at the end of it, we see racial inequality being re-adapted up until today through the use of the criminal justice system, 13th does a brilliant job at illustrating this. Very light criticism I have with the 13th is its use of contemporary hip hop. I felt it was slightly shabby and that a more sensitive or familiar choice of hip hop would have placed more emotional emphasis, however I did appreciate the understandably angry message it was trying to send. Overall, this doesn’t affect the message significantly of the documentary, of an inherently racist America.
What’s the verdict?
This documentary when released in 2016 was appreciated. In the midst of everything going on, I feel its cultural value in educating people on an important injustice has risen. As it educates an audience population on a matter so little people know about, 13th educational tone, makes it easily understandable. DuVernay creates inspiration, not only in the making of documentaries but also for people to make sure nobody ever feels the need to make a documentary on similar matters for the next 100 years.
Overall, I am giving 13th a score of 9.1/10.
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