"Glory" directed by Edward Zwick
"Glory" follows the story of Colonel Robert Shaw and the 54th regiment of Massachusetts during the Civil War. Throughout the progression of the movie, Shaw's character development and moral growth are shown through his decreasing reluctance to treat his regiment as any other regiment was treated. Being that Shaw was white, he struggled to understand where the soldiers got their morale from. After the confederates issued the following statement saying "Any negro taken in arms against the Confederacy will immediately be returned to a state of slavery. Any negro taken in federal uniform will be summarily put to death. Any white officer taken in command of negro troops shall be deemed as inciting servile insurrection and shall likewise be put to death", Shaw was ready to lose a large portion of the black men currently at the camp, but they stayed. They understood that no matter what happened they could still wind up back under the custody of slave owners so they may as well die fighting for their freedom. It was at this moment that Shaw knew these men were ready to fight. They trained just as hard, if not harder, than the white soldiers and went without proper attire, shoes, and living arrangements for an inexplicable amount of time. Because Shaw allowed himself to be stepped on by his Quartermaster for so long, he encountered the issue of dealing with a soldier who deserted camp to find proper shoes because his feet were covered in blisters and sores. Unfortunately, Shaw didn't find this fact out until after the soldier was publicly flogged, exposing his previous whipping scars from his time as a slave. Once Sergeant Major John Rawlins informed Shaw of this, Shaw realized that these men were living in conditions that were not much better than the conditions they had while enslaved. Embarrassed and in shock, Shaw confronted the Quartermaster for his racism towards Shaw's regiment and demanded that these men receive proper attire, which was promptly distributed shortly after.
Shaw's next problem, aside from Major Cabot Forbes completely negating everything Shaw was working towards, was the wages of the 54th. The soldiers of the 54th enlisted under the impression that they would be receiving the same wage as the white soldiers, $13 a month, but Shaw received a letter stating that they would now be paid $10 a month. Private Trip, the same soldier who was flogged for deserting, refused his unequal wage and tore up his paystub. After Trip and Rawlins rallied together the entire regiment, they tore up all of their paystubs. Shortly after, Shaw ripped his as well. This is a true testament to Shaw's character. It no longer was about the war or the paycheck or what the other Colonels would think of him- it was about winning at any cost. The men worked hard and were ready to fight, so they did. At the battle of Grimball's Landing on James Island, the 54th regiment fought and drew troops away from Fort Wagner which was the next big fight they would face. When planning the attack on Fort Wagner, Shaw volunteered his men to lead the charge, even after fighting rigorously for two days straight. He knew his men were not concerned about sleep because they had the morale and the will to fight for their freedom.
"Glory" perfectly depicts the slow change in American culture over the topic of African-Americans. Once the 54th enlisted and fought just like every other soldier, the black men just became men. They were all fighting for the same cause and died on the same field. At that point, color no longer mattered and the priority of both the white and black men was defeating the confederates. This movie also amazingly depicts the comradery of the men in the 54th through their campfire talks and sing-alongs, something that was common during their time as slaves. One especially important scene in the movie was the night before the attack on Fort Wagner when they stood around the fire and took turns saying what's on their minds and thanking God for allowing them to be there. It was an essential moment to the plot that proved the brotherhood of these men coming from all different backgrounds. A moment that really tugged at my heart strings was when Private Trip got up and spoke a few words. After all he'd been through with these men, he always had the "tough-guy" persona painted on him, but it was heart-warming to see him shed a few tears and open up to his fellow soldiers. Overall, "Glory" is a great movie to watch to get some background on the 54th regiment and the flaming hoops they had to jump through just to fight like real men.