“Birth of a Nation” is a 1919 silent film directed by D.W Griffith. It was praised for its innovative use of editing and camera work. It was nothing like the 20th century film industry had ever seen before. It takes place in South Carolina during the Civil War and then during Reconstruction. The lengthy storyline follows two families; one from the North, the Stoneman’s, and one from the South, the Cameron’s. This movie is very controversial because it is very racist toward Black people. It portrays them as aggressive, unintelligent, and unequal. Scenes of slaves were shown where they were “happy” to be working on a White man’s field, this was false propaganda. It also depicts the White supremacist group, the Ku Klux Klan, as the ones who “save the day for helpless Whites” from a Black militia at the end of the film. Having people see them as heroes and saviors was dangerous, as this film contributed to the Ku Klux Klan actually being revived in real life in the 1920s. This message is a sharp contrast from the writings of W.E.B DuBois. His 1897 essay, “Strivings of the Negro People”, discusses hardships and reality of what Black people in America at that period of time struggled with on a daily basis. He was writing with a hope that people would understand their trials and tribulations. He used emotional appeals to try to invoke any empathy from white people. The term “double-consciousness” was coined in this essay. He wrote about how black people have a hard time finding their sense of self, because they have more than one social identity. One was who society sees you as, and the other was who you really were. Although both the film and the essay both use emotional appeals (on opposite sides), I believe that “Birth of a Nation” was more effective in getting their appeals and message across, just because it was the most famous silent film ever, and it resulted in the KKK being revived, so people were obviously inspired somehow.
The film used many editing styles and camera techniques that brought the story to life. For example, there is an excerpt from the movie that shows a young white girl, Flora Cameron, running from a “renegade” black man, Gus. Flora Cameron is the daughter of Dr. Cameron, a landowner in the South. She is made to seem innocent and child-like through the use of light and airy music, bright lighting, and naive actions. The scene where she sits on a log and watches a squirrel in a tree supports the “child-like demeanor” because she is very easily entertained by the animal, who is focused on by using an iris. However, Gus is depicted as dangerous to the young girl. He is wearing dirty clothing and is following her around. Darker, more suspenseful music is played and lower lights are used when he is on the screen. When the chasing begins, the scenes are edited in a way that they cut to parallel scenes very fast, this makes the viewer feel on edge or anxious. These techniques play into the emotion of fear. By utilizing these styles, D.W Griffith was able to make audiences sympathize with the young white girl against the black man. Flora ends up jumping off a cliff just to avoid Gus, and she later dies. Gus is then hunted by the KKK and murdered. This sequence of actions brings out a lot of emotion in a 20th century viewer; first it was fear, then it was anger. This is part of the reason why this film helped revive the KKK. W.E.B DuBois also used emotional appeals for his work, but much different emotions than “Birth of a Nation” used. In “Strivings of the Negro People”, DuBois discussed his actual personal experiences. Not a movie screenplay, but real life. His work on double-consciousness was meant to bring out sadness, empathy, and understanding. It’s a shame that a harmful film that was not very historically accurate had more attention than a genuine, personal essay.
In the 20th century, many published works had false information and data. Works such as the “Mismeasure of Man” exposed these truths. Scientists like Samuel George Morton did experiments on human skulls, comparing whites’ and blacks’ skulls. He falsified the information and spread inaccurate data. This is harmful because it just contributes to the racism and oppression already being faced by Black people. This was very typical for the 20th century. That’s why “Birth of a Nation” was more persuasive to the general public. It was accessible for all to see, and it made the situations in the movie seem true and real. Because of the mindset and perspectives of people and society at this time, it invoked fear and spread hate.
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