Glory is an excellent film that delves into the story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil war. This regiment led by Col. Robert Shaw was among the first African-American regiments to see combat for the Union in the civil war. The film itself focuses on the theme of diversity and implications that diversity has when it is mixed with the structure of the U.S. military.
When it comes to the military, everything is very structured. Everybody has their place and they are do as instructed. People in the military do not see a lot of change in the way that their everyday lives are carried out. However, diversification is a huge change in standard on goings for people in the military. Before the Civil War, many people would have never dreamed of a black regiment fighting for the United States. I’m sure many people didn’t know how to react to the, at the time insane, idea of the 54th being comprised of black soldiers. As one could expect, people tended to be very resistant of the change or simple did not know how to act. In the beginning of the film, Col. Shaw did not really know how to connect with his men. The culture of the free black men was so different than anything that Col. Shaw probably had ever experienced before. He doesn’t really understand the struggles that they have, so at first he becomes this very strict leader who sole focus is to change the men that he is command of. This doesn’t work for Col. Shaw because it only makes his soldiers hate him, because to them he is almost no better than a slave master. However, through his time in command of the 54th he learns more about his soldiers and they become actually people to him. He no longer treats them differently than he would any other men. This aspect of the movie shows that diversification is a difficult process to do successfully, especially when you consider the very strict system that is the military. When you create diversification where it wasn’t previously, people are going to resist the change. It is just the natural reaction for people. Any deviation from the known is scary. However, the benefit of diversification is so great that it is worth the leap of faith.
The second aspect of diversification that Glory takes on is the great benefit that it brings. When an organization, like the military, is diversified you are able to get the best of so many different types of people. For instance, in the movie, the passion and the dedication that the black soldiers have was useful to the army. The officers leading the 54th were able to harness that determination and create a deadly regiment out of men who had no previous war experience. Diversification was not only beneficial when it came to people of different races, but just different people in general. When you combine so many different type of people under the same flag, you will be able to combine all the good aspects of different people. Integration also proves that no one type of person makes a good soldier. Throughout the movie we see many different personalities, yet all of them in their own way became good soldiers.
The movie Glory was able to portray diversity in the military in such a natural way. It was not only able to show the seemingly unnatural process of integration, but also many of the good things that come from an integrated army as well.
Citation:
Glory. Directed by Edward Zwick. Performed by Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, and Raymond St. Jacques. United States: Tri-Star Pictures, 1989.