Steve McQueen's "12 Years A Slave" is a masterpiece not just of cinematic artistry but of psychology; one needn't even be a particularly "close reader" of the movie to understand how it limns a pathology that defines racism in the United States to this very day. The performance by Lupita Nyong'o in the role of the much-abused—and also much "loved," in a sick, sadistic if not overtly Sadean sense—slave girl Patsey is particularly pertinent in this regard. It's also a protean performance by any standard of acting, and absolutely deserving of an Academy Award for best supporting actress. Nyong'o's characterization is one of incredible psychological complexity.
Patsey is a slave of unusual physical capability who's also the object of a depraved sexual obsession on the part of her owner, played by Michael Fassbender. She suffers gravely not just from physical abuse but also from mental and spiritual humiliations which include a deep sense of shame, is unschooled and has little means of articulating her mortification. Embracing a sense of victimhood is not only not an option for her, it doesn't even exist in the realm of the possible.