Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Birth of a Controversy
D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation is considered a landmark American film that ushered in many of the hallmarks of classic Hollywood cinema. It is preserved in the National Film Registry and is listed in the top 100 films of all time by AMC cable channel and the AFI (American Film Institute). Yet it is also a film which advocates white supremacy and lionizes the Klu Klux Klan. Can such a film truly be great? Why or why not? What about other films such the Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will a film that trumpets Nazi ideology and celebrates Adolph Hitler? Do political and moral statements matter in an artwork? Or is it enough to be technically and artistically brilliant? Can an artwork's message trump its style?
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Because of its groundbreaking innovation, The Birth of a Nation is a very important film in the history of film making. And while this film has such a big controversy because of its blatant racism and support of the Ku Klux Klan, film is just another medium of expressing ideas. However, the director’s the ideologies were unfortunately very extreme and caused danger to many African-Americans. So, The Birth of a Nation should not be recognized as one of the greatest films ever made, but instead a revolutionary film. Art is all about expression and message, so the hatful and radical ideologies that are weaved throughout the entire film does not make this film truly great. This also applies to other films like of Leni Riefenstahl that also promote hate and inequality between different groups of people. While these films can be great in technique and even considered important, without a good message, it can cannot be a truly great film. Especially as seen today, with the advancements of technology and digital editing, many movies can have great film technique and aesthetic, but if there is a bad message or story, it is not considered a great movie. In order to have a truly good piece of art, or in this case film, both a good message and good style is necessary. In summary, great film technique or a great message can and should be considered brilliant, but if both technique and message are not good, then the film in its entirety does not deserve to be considered as great. So, while The Birth of a Nation is an important and technically revolutionary, due to its hateful and harmful message, it should not be considered a truly great film.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the Birth of a Nation is a pivotal moment in the timeline of movies both for its camera work as well as the innovative plots and "blockbuster" like characteristics that would continue for generations to come. However due to the racism and positive light that the KKK is portrayed in, the film should only be used in and for educational purposes. The film should be released to the public with faith that the public understands that media like Hitler’s Mein Kampf or Griffith’s Birth of a Nation, should be interpreted as part of history and observed as such. The technique as well as historical sense of preserving such a film is important but this is not to ignore the possibility of it having the wrong effect resulting in disasters like school shootings or a resurrection of the Jim Crow Laws. Clearly, the film is wrong for its hateful ideology, but it is important for future as well as current generations to understand the viewpoints of those in the past as well as appreciate the genius that came with the innovative technology and camera work from Birth of a Nation. Other films that have similar themes centered around uplifting hate like Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will should be clearly stated as such to the general public so that people have knowledge and understanding that the media, as good and ingenious as the movie production was, is not considered great due to the moral shortcomings. The political and moral statements are important to understand to comprehend the timeframe that the movie was made in but also to appreciate or criticize the author in order to ensure the past is not repeated.
ReplyDeleteD.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation is a groundbreaking film that helped in accelerating the industry the the phenomenon it is today. The advanced filming techniques, use of a plethora of shots, and its feature length helped in creating the the worlds first block buster. However, the extremely offensive and bigoted material presented in the film does make it nearly impossible to appreciate for the advancements it made to the film industry. The film paints innocent African Americans in a terrible light and portrays the Ku Klux Klan in a very positive light. While some may see this as a disqualifying factor for the film, I believe that the film, while it gave the viewers of the day a horrible message, can be now viewed today and appreciated for its contributions to the world of cinema. Today, very few viewers of this film will identify with its protagonists of the ideals of Griffith himself, but can instead observe the modernist techniques and highly advanced storytelling techniques that help in earning this film a place in AFI's and AMC's one hundred greatest films of all time. The film should never be praised for its message, and I do not believe that it is. The film is praised for bringing about a new era of the film industry. As I said in class, I believe it would be a disservice to film students and the general public alike to hide this film away. No one is going to suddenly become racist due to watching Birth of a Nation, but they will get a better understanding of the history of cinema.
ReplyDeleteBecause of Birth of a Nations advancements in technique as well as its length, to some depth I believe it is reasonable as to why this movie would be preserved and considered in the top 100 films of all time. For its time this movie was not considered racist because it demonstrated the normality of the way people were and the way life was back then. However, just because it is preserved for its film making breakthroughs does not mean it is a truly great film. Looking at the movie today it is hard to ignore the extreme racism in the film knowing our country has worked so hard to move away from it. Everything our generation has been trying to fix, everything that African American people have gone through and fought for is completely overlooked in this film. I understand that a film is just a film, and that watching a film will not cause someone to be racist; a racist person is plenty racist without the influence of another. However, watching some of the film, I physically could not get myself to look at the techniques they used. I understand that this film was an evolutionary breakthrough in that time period, but for our life now, and what we consider normal, I personally believe that it is too hard to enjoy something the movie was known for when I am too focused on how awful the normal was back then. I think that this film should stay in the time period that it was created in. Like I mentioned before, I understand that a movie will not make someone racist, but the movie goes against all of our countries values today. The message of the movie outweighs the technical advances, and therefore I believe that if the message is just too awful, it is not worth showing. There are so many movies nowadays that have had just as big of technical breakthroughs as this move did, and these movies have much better messages. They are also much more worth remembering. We should be focusing on how we are creating innovative breakthroughs in present day instead of focusing on a movie that reminds us of how awful we were as people. Movies like The Birth of a Nation should not be considered a great film, and although people claim that watching movies like this will help to not repeat history, we should not need a movie to help persuade people to not repeat this issue in history. There will always be racist people out there, but the people who are willing to truly stand up and not let those people take over are the people who will make sure history is not repeated, not a film.
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ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, D.W. Griffith's Birth of Nation is undoubtedly a very important film to watch for ethical reasons, but its content should not take away from the incredible technicalities of the film, and I believe it is fair that this film be named a top 100 film of all time. I think, with a film like this, the production date is very important to keep in mind. Considering the time period, this film was not showing things that were considered horrible or racist. I also think it is important to distinguish an important film from a great film. The Birth of a Nation is a film that is important to watch because it elevated what a Hollywood production was, and could even have a significant role in why movies are loved by so many people today; however, because of the hurtful and dangerous racial ideologies that are used throughout the film, it cannot be considered great. It is the same type of situation as Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, because both films use incredibly advanced camera techniques and could be great, but they also have disturbing concepts that distract from the advancement of film shown throughout. Considering the times we live in now, I think it is more important than ever that we continue to show films like this, so that we can continue to learn and advance from where we used to be. No one is going to see a film that uses blackface and enforces racist stereotypes and suddenly become racist, and no one is going to see a film that idolizes Adolf Hitler and suddenly view him as a hero. Additionally, in viewing a film that shows the true history of our nation, we are able to ensure the horrors that were once everyday truths for certain groups of people are never forgotten.
ReplyDeleteAs others have said, I belief The Birth of a Nation deserves its place in our film's history. We have to remember that in all forms of art there are different elements: those that are artistic and those that are technical. Some movies have one aspect that is stronger than the other - a perfect example; The Birth of a Nation. The movie is extremely racist and derogatory - capturing the horrible beliefs people had set in stone in the past - but it revolutionized cinema as a whole. Through complex film-making techniques, different styles of shots, and cinematography, the movie, on a technical level, truly is an accomplishment. There have been countless movies that we consider great - so many, in fact, that I cannot name them all - that perform so spectacularly in their art that their techniques are overshadowed. It is the other way around as well. Because of technical advancements overshadowing historical controversies, extreme political and moral statement-based films like The Birth of a Nation and Triumph of the Will can still make advancements in other areas.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, sometimes we as the audience have to put aside our morals and ignore the evil message that is being shown to revel at the craftsmanship underneath. Almost every movie has a strength in one area, whether that be artistically or technically, and as a result, the audience can always take home a message from it. Whether that message be from an epic hero's journey or a revolutionary take on cinematography is up for the movie to capture and the audience to experience.
D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation, is an extremely important film that changed the film making industry. I do believe that this film should be in the top 100 films of all time. Although there are some very racist acts in the films that seem bad now, those were pretty normal things back then. It is just depicting the time period in a very straight forward matter. It was very revolutionary for the actual film making part of the movie. There were new ideas about that were shown like the extreme long shot when the lady is about to jump off the cliff because the man that is in black face is chasing her. This extreme long shot was a new idea at that time and added a very interesting view on the film. Seeing films like these are very important because even though it shows some pretty vulgar things, it is very informative and shows us what was going on at that time. It teaches us what sort of things people did and what was going on at that time. Just because there are some vulgar things in the film, doesn't mean that the film should not be shown. It is a great film in the way it can educate people not in the way that it shows racism. This film can really educate those interested in film and the film techniques that are shown. For these reasons I do believe that The Birth of a Nation is a great film because of the film techniques shown in the movie.
ReplyDeleteD.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation is a revolutionary film in terms of its framing and editing, but looking at it holistically, it is not a great film due to its extremely racist and ignorant story line. The film should solely be used when studying the progression of film making, and it should not be included in the top 100 films of all time. A large part of any film is its story and characters; boring, offensive, and generally unappealing stories and characters significantly hinder the quality of a film. After viewing a movie, the average person thinks about and appreciates the movie for its story and characters. Furthermore, typically when someone asks about a movie, they want to know what it is about, not how it was shot or edited. The movie is remembered by its plot, and people almost completely base how much they like a movie on its story. Of course, the way in which the movie is shot and edited allows for the plot to be remembered, but it is only a tool for presenting the film to an audience. Some may argue that the movie simply represents the time period in which it was made: a time when blatant racism was much more prevalent and commonplace in society. However, it is presented in a biased way, and it is not based on fact whatsoever. Many movies include racism, but they present it in a way that solely shows the racist events. However, The Birth of a Nation demonizes black people and idolizes the Ku Klux Klan. Due to its biased and racist subject matter, The Birth of a Nation is not a great film.
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ReplyDeleteD.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation is a film decedent with advanced techniques and styles in terms of camera work and editing. But, it’s overall portrayal of extreme racism and the Klu Klux Klan demean the film as a whole. I think it’s important to consider the time period this film was made in. Back then when segregation was still alive, whites would regularly disrespect African Americans.For them, it was normal to behave this way because everyone else in society did too. This behavior became a norm back then, so a film with this message was celebrated well during that time period. As of today, a film like Birth of a Nation would be seen in disgust wondering how could a film like this ever be made. After watching a portion of this film I can now see why this film made the top 100 best films of all time. For that time period it was revolutionary that a human being was able to portray society at that time so accurately through a means of entertainment even though the message of the film today is seen as distasteful. In today’s period, I think this film should only be marveled for its camera techniques and editing style which paved the way for the future of cinematography in Hollywood. Society changed as time progressed and so did film. Motivation behind filmmaking back in the 1900s is different from the motivation now in 2020. Ideas evolve over time with films, which are forms of entertainment that express ideas.
ReplyDeleteD.W. Griffith’s, The Birth of a Nation, is an iconic film in cinema history that depicts the director’s glorified view of what happened during the Civil War. Being a man raised on Southern values in the early 1900s, this film that was the brainchild of D.W. Griffith unsurprisingly came with many appalling racial undertones and glorification of many horrible parts of the Civil War. This came with a heroic depiction of a horrendous group, the Ku Klux Klan, as well as many troubling depictions of African Americans during the war, portrayed as caricatures by white European men in blackface. These actions are obviously astounding and unsettling by today’s standards, and even at the time the racist way the events of the plot unfolded should have been frowned up. Given all of this context, however, I still believe that, The Birth of a Nation, should be considered as a landmark movie and deserves its place on top 100 lists that it finds itself a part of today at the very least due to the way it shaped the industry from that point on. This movie undeniably changed the world of cinema with the ways it ushered in new filmmaking techniques and shook up ways films could be created. Only a little more than 10 years prior, A Trip to the Moon, was considered a triumph for film and was only about 14 minutes long. Griffith’s effort not too long after was around 3 hours long and introduced many modern film and editing techniques throughout the story. This has to be considered an impressive achievement for not only for the way it transcended the film industry at the time but also how it shaped Hollywood today. It influenced countless genres like Westerns that use the chase-and-rescue techniques frequently to formulate their narratives, and the film essentials that it introduced such as continuity editing and the variety of framing shown elevate its film status. For this reason, I personally think this should be considered a great film of history. I believe that while the blatantly racist messages portrayed should be acknowledged and obviously frowned upon, this film’s artistic prowess can stand on its own through the way the camera is manned. No one with sufficient education about the historical period will be easily swayed by the subliminally racist themes, and by removing oneself from the themes at hand while watching the film, a person can truly appreciate the craft in front of them. It is no doubt unfortunate that the filmmaking talent on display is sullied by the director’s personal opinions on the subject matter; however, the art can stand alone from its subject matter. The excellence of the craft transcends the disturbing ways in which the events are portrayed. For all of these reasons, I think it makes a great educational film for aspiring filmmakers and allows people to understand the journey film took from its inception. Despite its glaring flaws in subject matter and themes, the immense impact this film had on the industry makes it a classic.
ReplyDeleteD.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation is considered one of the most important films in American Cinema due to being one of the first feature-length films that incorporated the melodramatic narrative and immersive editing style that marks modern day Hollywood. The Birth of a Nation also has a narrative that directly supports white supremacy and glorifies the KKK. Even though this movie’s message is heinous, it is important to the cinematic history of the United States. This brings up the question of separating the art from the artist as an attempt to preserve the creativity of Griffith’s handiwork while ignoring the incredibly controversial narrative. This does not work well, as the views of the movie and the creator are so intertwined that it is nearly impossible to fully separate the two without dropping the movie from teaching curriculum entirely. So should teachers only mention the shift in editing and storytelling that happened because of The Birth of a Nation without mentioning it at all? I feel that rather than burying the movie, it should be used to create conversations about the implications of this movie and its long term impact. It is important to know the context of these landmarks in film history. If we simply push this film out of the consciousness or change aspects of it to make it safer for school audiences, it will be as though we are saying these prejudices never existed.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to if The Birth of a Nation should be considered among the top 100 movies, I believe that it’s technique should be best recognized in a list meant for the best technical pieces. This way, the Griffith’s technical landmark will be shown without having anyone believe the messages in its narrative have anything to do with its place on the list.