Directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Will Smith, the historical action film Emancipation has been met with a mixed response from fans following the continued fallout from Smith's slap against Chris Rock at the Academy Awards earlier this year.
Speaking in his first late-night interview since the event, the actor told The Daily Show's Trevor Noah that his own actions stunned him once he realised what he had done. "I was going through something that night. Not that that justifies my behavior at all," he said. "That was a rage that had been bottled for a really long time."
Becoming emotional, he pressed on to argue that no one else should experience the consequences of the slap but himself. "The one thing that's killing me is Emancipation is Antoine's masterpiece,” he said and praised co-star Ben Foster and cinematographer Robert Richardson. "These top artists in the world have done some of the best work of their career. And the idea that they might be denied because of me is like, 'Oh!' ... That is killing me dead. I hope that their work will be honoured and not be tainted based by a horrific decision on my part."
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Emancipation relays the story of Gordon, also known as "Whipped Peter," a Black American who escaped the plantation in Louisiana where he was enslaved. Over the course of 10 days, he travelled more than 60 kilometers to evade hunters and bloodhounds, reaching a station of Union soldiers in early 1863. The photograph of Gordon showing the horrific scarring across his back as a result of the punishments he suffered on the plantation became critical to encouraging more and more people to join the Union army and abolish slavery in the United States permanently. Smith is playing Peter, with Ben Foster as Fassel, Charmaine Bingwa as Dodienne, Steven Ogg as Sergeant Howard and Mustafa Shakir as Andre Cailloux.
That some would not see this film owing to the association with Smith is baffling fans of the actor, even though he has stated he understands if people don't want to watch Emancipation. "There's been consequences. He is banned from Academy events for 10 years. He resigned from the Academy. He has apologized several times. He's owned it. When is enough enough?" claimed one. "Sean Penn and all these other white and violent abusers who never faced any career consequences, it’s insane we’re having this conversation about Will Smith," added another.
Emancipation releases in theatres on 2 December in the United States and will be available on Apple TV on 9 December.
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