Why is There No Great Movie Epic about Harriet Tubman?

Of all the black female figures in history, Harriet Tubman (c. 1820-1913), aka Araminta Ross, has always struck me as the one whose life story would make an awe-inspiring, spine-tingling, impressive cinematic venture (if done properly). In fact, we should all be questioning, after all the great movie epics and biopics of great historical warriors treated on screen - Braveheart, Alexander, Troy, 300, Lawrence of Arabia, etc. - why we have yet to see just one American movie (that's right, take note: start checking out some foreign-language films like Quilombo or The Last Supper), just one! of a great black warrior. (And, Nooooooooo, I do not count Spielberg's Amistad, in which Cinque, who led a revolt on a slave ship - courtesy of unchained black female captives, who helped free the men since the women were often unchained so that the ship's crew could easily access their bodies - spent the duration of that movie in chains, in captivity, at the mercy! of an American court system of all things.)

Granted, I can already hear some of you - now that I brought up the example of the movie Amistad - tell me that no way, no how, should anybody working in Hollywood even touch Harriet Tubman's story. That, if they could reduce one of the bravest, most admirable African warriors like Cinque into a chained "noble savage" lifting his arms in that typical abolitionist tableaux - Am I Not a Man and a Brother? - crying, "Give us free! Give us free!" (I'm still shuddering at the image), what wouldn't they do to Mrs. Tubman?


Obviously, the issue isn't just why Tubman's story hasn't been made into a movie epic, but how such a movie could be made that was sincere to her radical, militant vision (did I use the words "radical" and "militant"? Yes, I did). While I'm pleased to see that Tubman has been "safely" transformed into a historical figure that we can teach the children at elementary school every Black History Month, I would like the grown-ups to take her history seriously at some point. I do believe there are many children's books that feature her, which of course should make us question why a Disney animation has yet to tackle her story: But if some of you would be sickened at the sight of a cuddly yellow North Star singing a spiritual-like melody while Harriet Tubman journeys on her way North to freedom, or better yet, at an entourage of little forest animals cracking various jokes in "ghetto" slang during her trips on the Underground Railroad, perhaps it's for the best.

Can we take seriously the life of an enslaved girl, who at age 12, refused to collaborate in the punishment of another slave and was subsequently injured, the results of which were violent seizures that made her a disabled person (albeit, she took strength in this affliction through visions and spells) for the rest of her life?

Can we take seriously the life of an enslaved woman, who found her way out of the "hell" that she called slavery and then found her way back into hell numerous times, to lead an estimate of 300 slaves into freedom, often times by holding a gun to their heads to urge them on the journey?

Can we take seriously the life of a woman, who led a posse of other woman through the streets of a Northern city to get a fugitive slave out of jail?

Can we take seriously the life of a woman, who wasn't above "shucking and jiving" as a ruse to camouflage the different secret trips she made on the Underground Railroad?

Can we take seriously the life of a woman, who would have accompanied John Brown and his guerrilla band of men to Harper's Ferry had she not taken ill at the time and, might I add, whom many believed they would have been more successful had they had such a woman, who knows a thing or two about guerrilla warfare, among their ranks?

Can we take seriously the life of a woman who led one of the most successful all-black military victories during the Civil War at the Combahee River in South Carolina?

And on top of all these activities, she took the time to adopt a little girl (whom she found in the wake of the great war), marry twice, and live to a ripe old age in her 90s.

So, these are some of the highlights of her life, all poised to be framed for jaw-dropping scenery with some good sound cinematography, art direction, costume design, sound mixing, visual effects, and some fine solid acting and direction. Tubman, who loved to tell stories about her life, I'm sure would appreciate a good cinematic adaptation had she lived during our era.

While I agree there aren't too many folks working in the movie industry at present who are up to the task (maybe Kasi Lemmons or Julie Dash could do a good direction, with Don Cheadle producing), I will say this: if you're interested, give me a call. Perhaps I should get working on a screenplay! :)

Most recent biographies on Harriet Tubman:

Humez, Jean M. Harriet Tubman: The Life and the Life Stories (University of Wisconsin Press, 2003).

Larson, Kate Clifford. Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero (Ballantine Books, 2003).