Birth of a nation
How has society and the issue investigated changed:
- The black roles were not played by black actors, but instead by white actors in blackface who were painted with burnt cork.
- American film has popularised and reproduced predominant stereotypes and perceptions that are held by society(zeitgeist).
- Black performers were forced into a narrow range of types, so they attempted to create complex characters within the confines of the roles they were given.
- Many of the black actors who worked on the film rose above stereotypes by creating resilience, humour, and humanity in their characters.
- This early struggle, encapsulating the historical and contemporary challenge of race relations, was the beginning of black cultural identity in American cinema.
Characters
- Griffith supposedly based on a Stone man on real-life Pennsylvania Republican Thaddeus Stevens, who led the House of Representatives’ opposing to Lincoln’s more moderate plans.
- Stoneman embodies the Union’s weakening will and its misguided social reforms. His vanity makes him easily susceptible to temptation, so he “unnaturally” supports Silas Lynch, disagrees with Abraham Lincoln’s policy of clemency for the South, and openly admits to his lust for his housekeeper.
- When Silas Lynch assumes power and subsequently becomes involved with the Ku Klux Klan, the basic premise of the reformers—that black men are equal to white men—is exposed as something they don’t truly believe in.
- Stoneman’s hypocrisy is revealed when he responds with revulsion to Lynch’s suggestion of marriage with Elsie. As a consequence of his weakness, Stoneman’s health deteriorates and he gradually fades from relevance.
how popular culture reflects the 'spirit of the age' or zeitgeist
- The film represents how racist a white American could be in 1915 without realizing they were racist at all.
- Blacks already knew that, had known it for a long time, witnessed it painfully again every day, but "The Birth of a Nation is thought to" demonstrated it in clear view, and the importance of the film includes the clarity of its demonstration. That it is a mirror of its time is, sadly, one of its values.
- the first ever representation or refrence to black people, so the turning point to black people in cinema
- this film discusses issues of slavery, which is what most historical dramas are on, the first to address issues of slavery
Research
- "unavoidable fact of American movie history, and must be dealt with"
- James Agee: "The most beautiful single shot I have seen in any movie is the battle charge in "The Birth of a Nation.' I have heard it praised for its realism"
- "but it is also far beyond realism. It seems to me to be a realization of a collective dream of what the Civil War was like..."
- "That this achievement was made in a film marred (flawed) by racism should not be surprising"
- "As a nation once able to reconcile democracy with slavery, America has a stain on its soul; to understand our history we must begin with the contradiction that the Founding Fathers believed all men (except black men) were created equal"
- This film addresses the issues black people faced, although they didnt get the other side of the story or from the preservative of a black person (like the Butler)
- My main texts present the black actors as honourable wise and determined which are positive stereotypes but this focuses more on negative stereotypes, the black characters are presented as rapists violent and reckless.
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