P.O.V. (TV Series) Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North (2008) User Reviews

Interesting ancestral journey

[augustine_aubergine · 6/10 · 1 December 2013]

This is a very personal story. It is that of the many white Americans today grappling with their own ancestral identity, entwined in the horrors of the African slave trade. It is not really the story of the African American. But that's OK because everyone has feelings, everyone has the right to process their own past, 'tepid self indulgent' (quote from previous reviewer) whites included.

However my lower rating comes not out of criticism for the film's credibility, just that I am not a fan of these 'personal journey' type documentaries. I was hoping it was more informative and less egocentric, as it focused more on their reactions to places and events rather than a rigorous break-down of the North's involvement in the legal and illegal slave trade. More focus on slave plantations in Cuba would have been appreciated also. But again, that wasn't the purpose of this documentary.

On a side note: a particularly poignant moment in the film was near the end, where each of the family members discloses their educational history; 8/9 attended (or parents attended? Was unclear) Ivy League schools. That's not a coincidence. Money and privilege run down through the generations, as does poverty and disenfranchisement. These are symptoms of the past, which is why healing and understanding and ongoing support is so crucial for the historically subjugated.

Courageous examination of a family's history

[tdreitzel · 10/10 · 9 January 2021]

The director undertook this film as a personal examination of her family's history, in particular, the family's involvement in the slave trade. The film brings a lot of history to light, including how the largest slave traders in US history were from ... Rhode Island. Plus how the Northern economy relied on the Southern slave economy for so many years.

But the film is primarily a subjective exploration by a group of family members. And their struggle, while imperfect, is gripping. Viewers will judge the various family members' approaches, and that's fine. But at least the family is examining and grappling with its history and, thus, with its white privilege.

This film was always going to be a self-examination, which may seem unduly self-absorbed to some. But honest self-examination is what a world full of white fragility could use more of these days. And I think this film demonstrates a fantastic template for how it might be done.

Woods Hole Film Festival

[Jumeirah · 2/10 · 1 August 2008]

I was very eager to see this documentary - as it is a very engaging story. However, following this group of vain, falsely humble, offensively self indulgent members of the 21st Century DeWolf family it proved quickly disappointing.

For 86 minutes they grapple with the many wounds imposed upon them by the sins of their forefathers some 160+ years ago. It is a shame because this family of 18th and 19th Century 'Mayfair Witches" is historically interesting and extremely evil on a human level. That coupled with the wonderful title of the piece, "Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North" - it had all the elements of a top-notch documentary. Instead it was merely a bunch of tepid cry babies whining in unison, "me, me, me, me, me."

If there had been an objective director it might have been salvageable, but then the focus would have been on something bigger than them.