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Essays about the KU KLUX KLAN DURRING RECTRUCTIONS ERA
Ku Klux Klan origins
The birth of a nation film analysis
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"If history bore no relation to life, this motion picture drama could we be reviewed and applauded as a spectacle. As a spectacle it is stupendous" (Hackett, 1914). The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan was adapted into the single most defining film in American cinematic history. The Birth of a Nation is most advanced piece of cinematography of its time, pioneering storytelling and techniques in its three hour long epic. However, America's first and unprecedentedly successful feature motion picture spectacle is regarded as one of the most offensive films in history. A social scope that to the "second era" of the Ku Klux Klan, and wide protests came from its controversial portal of African-American man. However, this sheer racism positively influenced black film making through agitation and outrage. Birth of a Nation is not only the most offensive and successful film in America cinema; it is also the most important. Telling the story of the Civil War from Southern perspective and its aftermath through the eyes of two symbolic families representing either side, a classic vigilante tale unfolds. Yet the heroic figures are the Ku Klux Klan, whom wage war on the Northern to restore order to the South. Griffith even suggests deportation or ethnic cleansing in radical tale of true anti-hero. The racial controversy of the film interprets the reconstruction as the true enemy; the Ku Klux Klan were pioneers of honest and American government as an egalitarian society, while the South led them into a society of Republican chaos. Birth of a Nation is a Dunning School of historical thought, a marvel of cinematic genius and a commentary of society that will never be matched in its influence.
Birth of a Nation in history is ofte...
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...erican Film. New York: Teachers' College Press.
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Lang, R. (1994). The Birth of a Nation: D.W. Griffith, Director (1 ed.). New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
Lowery, J. D. (2013). The Dunning School: Historians, Race, and the Meaning of Reconstruction. Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky.
Musser, C. (2004). Moving Towards Fictional Narrative (Vol. The Silent Cinema Reader). (L. G. Kramer, Ed.) New York: Routledge.
Rocchio, V. F. (2000). Reel Racism: Confronting Hollywood's construction of Afro-American culture. Boulder: Westview Press.
Whissel, K. (2008). Picturing American Modernity: Traffic, Technology, and the Silent Cinema. Duke: Duke University Press.
Williams, L. (2004). Race, Melodrama, and the Birth of a Nation (Vol. The Silent Cinema Reader). (L. G. Kramer, Ed.) New York: Routledge.
Woodward, C. Vann. The Strange Career of Jim Crow. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States Volume 1: American Beginnings to Reconstruction. New York: The New Press, 2003. Book.
Released in 1915, Birth of a Nation became America’s first full length film. The three hour silent movie reflected on two families, one from the south and one in the north, ...
The Birth of a Nation (1915) is one of the most controversial movies ever made in Hollywood, some people even consider it the most controversial movie in the long history of Hollywood. Birth of a Nation focuses on the Stoneman family and their friendship with the Cameron’s which is put into question due to the Civil War, and both families being on different sides. The whole dysfunction between the families is carried out through important political events such as: Lincoln’s assassination, and the birth of the Ku Klux Kan. D.W. Griffith is the director of the movie, and him being born into a confederate family in the South, the movie portrays the South as noble and righteous men, who are fighting against the evil Yankees from the North, who have black union soldiers among them, whom overtake the town of Piedmont, which leads the KKK to take action and according to the movie become the savior of white supremacy. During this essay, I would focus on the themes of racial inequality, racism, and the archetypical portrayal of black people in the movie, which are significant especially during the era when the film was released.
In the movie Birth of a Nation, the first half of the story is based off the Civil War, and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. The movie is divided into two parts, Pre-Civil War America and Reconstruction. After covering the Civil War, the story starts to introduce the Southern Camerons and Northern Stonemans. Birth of a Nation is told from the perspectives of these two families. The rise of the Ku Klux Klan, and Reconstruction is introduced in the second half. In the second half of the movie, racism becomes more apparent.
Woll, Allen L and Randall M Miller. Ethnic and Racial Images in American Film and Television: Historical Essays and Bibliography. n.d. Print.
Over the course of approximately one-hundred years there has been a discernible metamorphosis within the realm of African-American cinema. African-Americans have overcome the heavy weight of oppression in forms such as of politics, citizenship and most importantly equal human rights. One of the most evident forms that were withheld from African-Americans came in the structure of the performing arts; specifically film. The common population did not allow blacks to drink from the same water fountain let alone share the same television waves or stage. But over time the strength of the expectant black actors and actresses overwhelmed the majority force to stop blacks from appearing on film. For the longest time the performing arts were the only way for African-Americans to express the deep pain that the white population placed in front of them. Singing, dancing and acting took many African-Americans to a place that no oppressor could reach; considering the exploitation of their character during the 1930's-1960's acting' was an essential technique to African American survival.
The KKK or Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1866 in Pulaski, Tennessee by former Confederate Soldiers. Some of the founders of this organization consisted of; Captain John Lester, Major James Crowe, and Richard Reed to name a few. Their main target at the time was blacks and any white person that stood with them. The Ku Klux Klan was the head of the racism movement in America. Being a hate group among minorities, they made them live in terror day in and day out. The KKK was the most feared group of people in the 1860’s.
The Ku Klux Klan has existed since the mid nineteenth century. The Klan has had periods membership numbered in the millions, whereas nowadays they do not have as much influence as in the past.What has ceased to change is the media depicting the Ku Klux Klan as a hateful group of bigots wanting to solely wipe out any non-white race. However, the media has not only surfaced many misconception but they fail to realize that the Klan is actually within US Constitutional rights. Because the Bill of Rights guarantees American citizens the freedom of speech and to peacefully assemble, the Ku Klux Klan has the right to continue their practices. With that being said, excluding some violent outburst conducted by Klan subgroups, no one has the right to stop the KKK from protesting, speaking their beliefs, or celebrating their heritage.
The Ku Klux Klan is commonly known as the KKK, which was an organization ran by white people who advocated white supremacy, anti-immigration and racial discrimination. The Ku Klux Klan was and still is a very racist group towards all skin colors other than white, but predominately there focus was on African Americans. Klan members were nervous of the uprising of African Americans after slavery had ended in the U.S in 1865. The Klan’s goal was to hate and terrorize African Americans, making them feel as if they do not belong in the United States (U.S). The dominate force the Klan used was terrorism, both physical assault and murder, by burning, shooting, and hanging. Since the first Klan originated in 1865, there have been 2 more to follow since then.
During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that, examining post classical at which time the relationship between them will become evident. It is my intention to reference films from both movements and also published texts relative to the subject matter. In order to illustrate the structures involved I will be writing about the subjects of genre and genre transformation, the representation of gender, postmodernism and the relationship between style, form and content.
Being one of the few black students to attend Tisch School of the Arts, the aspiring filmmaker’s first year at New York University was a particularly difficult one. Lee’s experiences, race, and upbringing have all led him to create controversial films to provide audiences with an insight into racial issues. Spike Lee’s first student production, The Answer, was a short ten minute film which told of a young black screenwriter who rewrote D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation. The film was not well accepted among the faculty at New York University, stating Lee had not yet mastered “film grammar.” Lee went on to believe the faculty took offense to his criticisms towards the respected director’s stereotypical portrayals of black characters (1).
For the soldiers and families that had fought in the Civil War for years, the end meant victory; it meant that slavery would be abolished and things would turn for the better. All the suffering enslaved people had previously suffered would be over and the South would no longer be able to mistreat them. Finally, all men would be equal. This vision seemed like a happily ever after for America, a justice that was finally served. However, this dream never became reality. When the Civil War is thought of today, most see a valiant effort to rid America of slavery forever, and stop the vastly unequal practices that many white Americans relied on. The war is seen as its own story, beginning with people who were kept as property, and ending with the
War can have many affects on people and cause serious mixed emotions. The early 1900's can be considered the post-war era. This era was a time of reflection on the evils of war that carried a frightened national feeling, as well as a sense of hate. Dr. John Moffatt Mecklin, one of the leading theorists on the Klan in the 1920's, tells us that "The Klan owes its marvelous growth to post war co...
The White Savior Complex is a damaging subconscious underlay of the Hollywood system, and more broadly all of western society. It is used to further separate the notions of “us” and “other” by creating a firm separation fueled by self-righteousness, and a sense of entitlement. Hollywood attempts to address race relations, but fails because of this trope. Kingsle, from the article “Does My Hero Look White In This?” described that both racism and colonialism are acknowledged, but not without reassuring that not only were white people against the system of racist power dynamics, but also were actively fighting against it in leadership roles (2013). In the remainder of my essay I will be commenting on many modern films and their use on this trope, and why subscribing to this filmmaking strategy is problematic.