Monday, January 17, 2011
Birth of a Controversy: Can Movies with Heinous Political Views Be Great?
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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ReplyDeleteAlthough the message that "Birth of a Nation" sends is terrifying and politically incorrect, this does not necessarily take from the revolutionary techniques that were used. This horribly racist film is clearly controversial, but it was groundbreaking nonetheless, and set an example for the films that are made today. The idea of a storyline or plot was never shown in a movie, but Griffith brought this concept to the public. This cannot be overlooked. Other films such as "Triumph of the Will" may not have been as fresh and new as "Birth of a Nation," but it is still a film and it must be viewed beyond its unfortunate message. There is never going to be a film that everyone likes or that everyone agrees with, but the quality of a movie is not totally dependent on the public's reaction. By accepting "Birth of a Nation" as a great film in history, one is not saying they agree with it or that it has a nice message, but simply that it demonstrates good technique, and that it deserves to be recognized for all it accomplished. I do believe that its content can overwhelm certain viewers so they are unable to see the film's good qualities, yet that is the price Griffith paid for addressing such a controversial topic.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Bernardi’s analysis of "Birth of a Nation" notes the importance of the overall message of the film as the framework for the revolutionary techniques used in the film but he does not condone the racist ideology David Griffith used to construct his film. Rather, Bernardi focuses on the revolutionary techniques Griffith used to relay the message of the film to its viewers. These techniques, Bernardi believes, should not be compromised simply because of the message of the film. While "Birth of a Nation" may always be remembered as the film that employed white actors with black face paint to portray African Americans, one cannot deny its significant impact on American cinema using its Hollywood style, an original system of narrative film making, that was so progressive it is still being employed by American film makers today. Griffith’s message, albeit racist in its content, is important because it provides the framework for the techniques that so accurately and originally depicted the message. But the message should not overtrump the quality of the film to the point where the viewer cannot appreciate and even learn from its revolutionary techniques. Bernardi believes that film can be all at once stylistic and political. But it's the film maker's technique, used to help the viewer understand the message of the film, that truly warrants merit.
ReplyDeleteKyle Dipre
While “Birth of a Nation” reflects certain ideas and beliefs that still creates extreme criticism and abhorrence nearly a century after its production, the racist message portrayed in D.W. Griffith’s classic does not take away from the influence its innovative cinematic techniques has on today’s film industry. While its debauchery creates an exaggerated and misleading portrayal of African Americans, “Birth of a Nation” reflects the beliefs of many white Americans during the time of its production – a time that was, according to film scholar Daniel Bernardi, “dominated by a racial formation that positioned people of color as threats to whiteness.” Griffith’s intent was to sufficiently and successfully present his bigoted opinions through artistic techniques. Many of these techniques, including cinematic storytelling and parallel editing, are still used in films today. By creating a compelling story through a substantial, developing plot with interesting characters, Griffith allows his audience to connect with and relate to “Birth of a Nation.” Griffith adopted this technique in order to educate his audience about the importance of white supremacy and the inferiority of blacks through an entertainment medium. Throughout “Birth of a Nation”, Griffith uses parallel editing in his famous “chase and rescue” scene to create tension and draw extreme emotion from his viewers. In this scene, the attacker is an African American man, seeking the innocence of a young white girl. The supposed hero, the girl’s white brother, is too late to save his sister from committing suicide, but seeks the help of the “laudable” white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, to seek revenge. Eventually, the KKK captures the barbarous black man, and saves the day. Even though the inaccurate depiction of the African American man is atrocious, and the whole story in itself is disgustingly offensive, this infamous scene is praised for the revolutionary crosscuts that were implemented. As with other major works of art, this proves that no matter how politically incorrect and chauvinistic “Birth of a Nation’s” message is, the revolutionary techniques and ideas make the movie one of the most important and critically renowned films of all time.
ReplyDeleteWhen “Birth of a Nation” was made, the idea of whites being superior was the norm during that time. No one saw it as a racist film back then. However someone who is born in the 20th century sees it, they see how racism is so apparent, it distracts the viewer from actually enjoying the film. The movie follows the typical stereotypes. For example, one scene involves a young, white, blonde-haired girl going to the woods for some water. A savage-looking black man, with dirty worker clothes, stalks her. He goes up to her and asks if he can marry her because he is now a captain. The girl flees in terror and then a white man saves her. The story line reflects the culture during that time, a culture that is very wrong during this time period. The black man stalking the girl was not even African American. Rather he was a white man with black makeup on, something that is very racist.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if someone looks past the racism in “Birth of a Nation” they can see how innovative the movie was during that time which makes it respected. The editing techniques that the director used are techniques still used today. Griffith set the standard of film editing. People who see the movie need to understand the reason why the director did what he had to do to make it appealing back then.
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ReplyDeleteAlthough The Birth of a Nation advertises racism and idealizes the KKK, I believe it can still be appreciated from historical and artistic perspectives. The revolutionary techniques used in The Birth of a Nation became the precursor for the editing techniques and formatting that has become the standard for Hollywood films today. The historical significance of this film in the history of movie-making can be appreciated regardless of the subject matter. Also, it must be considered that the racist views expressed in the film, although considered horrible by today’s standards, were much more accepted at the time the film was made. Although the content certainly is morally wrong, it is unfair to judge the film solely on our current ideologies, when the film was made in a time where these racist views were much more accepted then they are today. I also believe that it’s possible to appreciate the film based on its artistic merits alone. Although the content of the film certainly does mar it, II believe the historical and artist value of the film must be acknowledged and appreciated as well.
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty I hate the fact that this film is so well respected regardless of the messages that it send. I understand that the film itself was a milestone so far as the hollywood style of film is concerned but I just can't get past the fact that this film is full of racism and promotes in a way that makes it seem so right. I also believe that political and moral statements do matter in artwork because those are the things that people watch and thats how certain viewpoints are spread and while I don't like the film I know that things like this still happen with movies today. Some of them make bad portrayls or shed a bad light on things but we still watch them. People watched that film and as long as someone has viewers behind them then their artwork will rise.
ReplyDeleteTo the question of whether or not a message in a film can trumph its style I belive that it can. One of the first questions people ask regarding a movie or film is what its about. I think that should be the whole point of movies...to tell a story or teach a lesson and unfortunately that doesn't happen all the time. This might be bais but I think that with "Birth of a Nation" the message should have turned a lot of people off of it because it definitely would have turned me off. Films like this can never truly be great until both the message and the style are both intriguing and positive. Thats just how I feel about this.
When "Birth of a nation" was created, it was made for a audience who's normality was white supremacy. The KKK was becoming a strong force in history and African Americans still had little freedom, especially in the south. But if this film was created in todays time, it would be extremely controversal, and possibly wouldnt even be able to be publicaly viewed because of its extreme racism. People viewing this film today would not be able to enjoy the art of the film because of what the movie is portraying. I believe that because of the time i was born, this cannot be a great film because not everyone can truly enjoy it. A great film should be enjoyed by all audiences of all different backgrounds. I also believe that other films such as Triumph of the Will also cannot be looked at as great films because it does not satisfy all audiences. The political and moral stand that the film can be the difference between a great and poor film. A film that is to controversial can distract the audience to the artistic aspects of the film. If the message of the film is the strongest characteristic, it can make it a great film because it can leave a long lasting impression on the audience, making them think beyond just the film.
ReplyDeleteWhen “Birth of a Nation” was created, it was during the time when racism was really big and many African American were not able to stand up for themselves because it was not normal for blacks to have rights. I think that this film promotes racism which makes some people think that it is right for these types of stereotypes to be in our society. This film is very highly respected because this is what he actually believed and he didn’t think that blacks really had a place in society but to work and should have the opportunity to be above or better then anyone else. I think that the way a film maker can truly be successful is by not staying in the box of what is acceptable to the public but what the people want to see and what will make people stop and think about the main focus of the film. Even though this film involved the horrible tactics of the Klu Klux Klan and made them seem like they were supposed to be the good guys out of the movie, the reason why it is being noticed is because of the editing tactics that they used. All the editing and recreation of images was intriguing to those back then and then using cinematic storytelling and parallel editing is what people thought made the film so good. By discovering such good editing tactics people believe that he was a genius, even if the movie didn’t portray the right message.
ReplyDelete-Maya Sirmons
It is undeniable that D.W. Griffith’s film Birth of a Nation changed the film industry in many positive ways. Although it is unfortunate that this change had to carried out by such a prejudice man directing such a bias film. The blatant display of this racism overshadows the revolutionary concepts in filmmaking that BIrth of a Nation. The new forms of editing, acting and writing have influenced nearly every Hollywood film since. The use of jump-cuts and cross-cuts to show the chase scene are not considered to be basic in modern film, but this was the first picture that used these camera techniques. Also, the artistic developments used making the setting more realistic. This film was the longest film in the short history of movies at that point, spanning nearly three and a half hours. Even with its revolutionary concepts, Birth of Nation’s innovations are hidden because of the heinous concepts and disturbing racism.
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