Customer Reviews

Biography - Frederick Douglass [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This accessible overview of Douglass' turbulent life from slavery and persecution to crusading newspaperman and presidential adviser should inform and inspire viewers. This biography recreates the prejudiced atmosphere where the myth of racial inferiority reigned in the South to justify slavery and in the North to rationalize indifference to human suffering. Douglass' fiery speeches still speak to our highest aspirations as Americans united by the creed that "all men (and women) are created equal."

As a teacher of Advanced Placement high school juniors, I thoroughly recommend this DVD. Each year we read Douglass' Narrative, and this video is an excellent enrichment tool for the students after reading the text. The production is well-done and quite interesting. It is a worthwhile purchase.

This story being a part of history goes without challenge in my mind because, the reports as recorded cannot change what was the way of living then.This is the story of a challenged man , challenged not only by the society that he was a part of but also his own personal being. A must for history enthusiasts.

There is no movie version of Frederick Douglass's Narrative in the Life of a Slave, but this worked wonderfully with teaching the book to my juniors. I recommend it highly.

Very well done chronicle of this extraordinary former slave: an early activist against slavery, brilliant speaker and leader.

I am a fan of Frederick Douglass. How could one not have mad, crazy love, for this precocious pioneer? I have taught his slave narrative in my high school English classes. I was looking for an engaging and student-friendly video companion to his slave narrative that I could actually show before reading the text. Unfortunately, this is not the one. While I understand that the conditions of Mr. Douglass' life were neither fun nor friendly, as the dvd is meant to both educate and entertain. This dvd is just too slow, too uninteresting, and not student friendly. This of course does not demean in any way the physical and mental hardships Mr. Douglass suffered. Showing this dvd to my 11th grade high school students, I fear, for them, would feel like the equivalent of a different kind of torture than Douglas endured. The truth is, even I had a hard time being engaged in this particular dvd account of Mr. Douglass' remarkable life.