What the Colson Whitehead "The Underground Railroad" TV commercial is about.
The TV spot for Colson Whitehead's "The Underground Railroad" is a mesmerizing trailer that captures the haunting essence of the novel. The spot begins with the sound of a train passing through the darkness, followed by the voice of an enslaved woman explaining that "the only way to know how long you can hold your breath is when you're drowning."
The clip then cuts to Cora, played by Thuso Mbedu, who stands in the middle of a field holding a basket. We see her running through a thick forest, and the haunting sound of a choir singing in the background adds to the suspense. The underlying music builds up the tension, and the clip transitions to different scenes like two slaves rushing through a crowd and two men falling from a cliff.
The TV spot is a beautiful showcase of the series' horror, hopes, and perseverance. The scene of Cora, standing alone in a field, offers an eerie sense of isolation and vulnerability, and the music gives the viewer a sense of unease. As the camera cuts to the shackles around her hands, viewers can't help but share in her terror.
The spot also conveys the show's themes of freedom and liberation. As the camera pans across the faces of the slaves fighting for their freedom, the music becomes hopeful, and we see flashes of light which represents freedom. As the TV spot concludes, the voice-over reminds us that "the will to live, will always carry us home."
Overall, this TV spot for "The Underground Railroad" manages to capture the essence of the novel, the horrors that the slaves faced, and their unyielding determination to fight for their freedom. It's a breathtaking preview that leaves viewers eagerly anticipating the series premiere.
Colson Whitehead "The Underground Railroad" TV commercial produced for
Doubleday
was first shown on television on February 12, 2017.
Frequently Asked Questions about colson whitehead "the underground railroad" tv spot
Summary: Ridgeway
Ridgeway is the son of a Virginia blacksmith. As he grows up, he looks for something active and meaningful to do with his life. At 14 he joins patrols that round up escaped slaves and harass slave villages and free Black men, as well as Native Americans and criminals.
Rather than take the, perhaps, more-expected, first-person point of view, Whitehead chooses to present this story in limited third-person. So we are close to Cora, and we know some of her thoughts, but we are not in her head, so to speak.
In its portrayal of Cora (Thuso Mbedu), a slave running less toward freedom than she is running away from slavery, the series tells a story about systemic racism and the perniciousness of white supremacy, offering an uncompromising look at the lasting and ongoing burdens of white America's inhumane treatment of Black ...
Episodes. When Caesar convinces Cora to escape from Randall plantation in Georgia their lives are irrevocably changed. They discover the impossible in an underground railroad which takes them on an unexpected journey and reveals the true face of America.
But the phrase “Underground Railroad” is better understood as a rhetorical device that compared unlike things for the purpose of illustration. In this case, the metaphor described an array of people connected mainly by their intense desire to help other people escape from slavery.
William Still, a Black abolitionist who was based in Philadelphia, is often referred to as the "father of the Underground Railroad". At its peak, it is estimated that Still helped as many as 60 slaves escape each month, offering his home as a hide out.
The Underground Railroad - the resistance to enslavement through escape and flight, through the end of the Civil War - refers to the efforts of enslaved African Americans to gain their freedom by escaping bondage. Wherever slavery existed, there were efforts to escape.
The underground railroad, where it existed, offered local service to runaway slaves, assisting them from one point to another. Farther along, others would take the passenger into their transportation system until the final destination had been reached.
The best description of the Underground Railroad is option B - a loose network of people who helped slaves escape to the North. The Underground Railroad was a system of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early-to-mid-19th century.
There were many well-used routes stretching west through Ohio to Indiana and Iowa. Others headed north through Pennsylvania and into New England or through Detroit on their way to Canada.
“Underground” implies secrecy; “railroad” refers to the way people followed certain routes - with stops along the way - to get to their destination. The phrase wasn't something that one person decided to name the system but a term that people started using as more and more fugitives escaped through this network.
7 Facts About the Underground Railroad
- The Underground Railroad was neither underground nor a railroad.
- People used train-themed codewords on the Underground Railroad.
- The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made it harder for enslaved people to escape.
- Harriet Tubman helped many people escape on the Underground Railroad.
