12 YEARS A SLAVE: 'Where You From, Platt?'

Sarah Paulson's chilling Mistress Epps confronts Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) in Steve McQueen's acclaimed new drama 12 YEARS A SLAVE. In theaters October 18, 2013.

[slyborchers]

You know an actress is great when you watch her in one show and love her, then see her in something else and hate her.

[saeta]

This woman is a perfect example of something you see in real life; someone could be 'cordial' and even not explicitly violent and yet a despicable human being.

[Mario-usds]

- He learn you to read?
- He _taught_ me, yes.
- ...
- ...

[millygribben]

Saw Sarah Paulson in this: fucking hated her
Saw her in AHS: Loved her
That is the sign of a very good actress.

[OneEyedCloud]

The way he talks gives him away.
"I have no understanding of the written text."

[RogerLoera]

This was the beginning and makings of a modern day "karen".

[ArthurHammerr]

Sarah has done her job well. She made you hate her character but not her acting. I love Sarah.

[FreedomWriter]

I really loved how when Mistress Epps asked Platt about where he was from, you first think she is just interested in knowing something about him. But as the conversation unfolds, you realize that her agenda for starting the conversation is to cruelly remind him that he is nothing special. He's a slave just like every one else. He has no rights. And to believe he does or to let up on the fact that he is actually intelligent can get him in serious trouble. An educated slave is a dead slave. Period. Platt did the right thing not telling her the truth when she asked. He'd be dead if he had.

[sallyritchie]

In our English class we analyzed slave owner’s wives and the treatment that those wives put upon the slaves. It’s funny because women weren’t treated very well during that time either, so a lot of times the oppressed became the oppressor, when given the chance.

[SohanDsouza]

"I assure you, madame, as the unlettered man I am, the written word is utterly beyond my comprehension, but for a smattering here and there. Now, I shall be on my way to see to these errands. Good day to you." 🧐🎩👌

[AbrahamLincoln]

The Scariest person is one who's calm and cruel at the same time compared to one who is loud and cruel at all times.

[trevscribbles]

"He learn you to read?"
"...correct grammar is 'teach', mam."

*LASHING INTENSIFIES*

[KM-bygc]

She was absolutely perfect here. That stone cold look on her face was amazing. She actually convinces you at first she asks Solomon about his origins out of curiosity only to turn it in to a cruel reminder.

[godisgoodallthetime]

I can't sit through a film like this. I'm physically sick at the way people treated people. Breaks my heart at the families destroyed by such acts. Blaming all living European Americans for slavery in the past. Is blaming all living Japanese Americans for Pearl Harbor and World War II.

[Crazymonsoon]

It’s amazing how her tone of voice and eyes alone have such range and yet her face is completely devoid of expression simultaneously, which is exactly what this character demands. It’s incredibly difficult to act just with your voice and your eyes.

[GracefulDanny]

Sarah Paulson slayed this role. Such an underrated actress. She needs to do more films.

I would've liked to have seen her nominated for an Oscar with Lupita N'yongo.

[mesmer]

"Did he learn you to read?"

What a lot of people don't know is that the plantation slave owners weren't actually all that high class. They were kind of a micro-culture unto themselves that liked to "put on airs" of wealth and class, and outside their little sphere there were many who regarded them as hicks with money and delusions of eloquence and sophistication.

[BrianFinnerty]

Her acting, her glance, at 0:12, is subtle and speaks volumes. In that one second you see the realization in her face that he can read, the glance from him to the note to him as she takes in the situation, the alarm-fear-anger that this slave will not "know his place", the calm, icy aristocratic determination that she will put him in his place, her slyly testing him, and finally letting him know that she knows the truth, a truth which must never be revealed or spoken of, not even to her. Amazing.

[Rgeternal]

Solomon walked a thin line here. He got caught reading by Mistress Epps - could have been instantly flayed or killed on the spot had she not believed his lie. He also slid in "Master name was Freeman." If she had investigated that, he could have also been killed for that, most certainly. She clearly saw him reading. He skated death in this scene.

[inotterwords]

Best part about this scene is that you can totally see how she's left the room to justify her inquiry in her mind. She can sleep soundly thinking that she was just gently warning him, without realizing the horror of living a life where just glancing at a piece of paper with understanding represented a threat to the establishment.