One thing I noticed about Dr. M's lecture was the overwhelming amount of historical figures involved with the trial surrounding the Amistad slaves.  So a question I asked myself before watching the movie was which historical characters would the movie focus on.  The most obvious is Joseph Cinque (but I probably would not have known this if I haven't heard of this film before), but I think you could argue that every other name Dr. M mentioned in class deserved much focus in order to understand the history of the Amistad trial.  Roger Baldwin and JQA are the other two figures the movie gives more screen time to, but I feel like much more important figures deserve greater insight and character development.  For example, President Van Buren would have had much to say about the trial since he was up for re-election during this time period.  Also, I initially thought Morgan Freeman's character was a reflection of James Pennington, but after reading "Reel History," I discovered that Theodore was fictitious and that the movie was actually criticized for not including those prominent blacks involved with the abolition movement (71).  Additionally, other important historical figures such as Queen Isabella of Spain (at least I think she was a Queen in the movie) and the Grimke sisters needed more emphasis to understand this historical event.  - David F.

One thing I noticed about Dr. M's lecture was the overwhelming amount of historical figures involved with the trial surrounding the Amistad slaves.  So a question I asked myself before watching the movie was which historical characters would the movie focus on.  The most obvious is Joseph Cinque (but I probably would not have known this if I haven't heard of this film before), but I think you could argue that every other name Dr. M mentioned in class deserved much focus in order to understand the history of the Amistad trial.  Roger Baldwin and JQA are the other two figures the movie gives more screen time to, but I feel like much more important figures deserve greater insight and character development.  For example, President Van Buren would have had much to say about the trial since he was up for re-election during this time period.  Also, I initially thought Morgan Freeman's character was a reflection of James Pennington, but after reading "Reel History," I discovered that Theodore was fictitious and that the movie was actually criticized for not including those prominent blacks involved with the abolition movement (71).  Additionally, other important historical figures such as Queen Isabella of Spain (at least I think she was a Queen in the movie) and the Grimke sisters needed more emphasis to understand this historical event.  - David F.