birth of a nation
...e only way this film can be interpreted as intellectually or philosophically interesting is by the closed-mindedness of the ignorant. D.W. Griffith’s use of mythic types of black characters such as the Uncle Tom, The Coon, The Mammy and The Brutal Black Buck only slanders and dehumanizes the African-American, but it also effectively presents a scenario that supports his theme of white superiority. Birth of a Nation begins in the South, where the Camerons’ of Piedmont, South Carolina reside. Before the war, the Camerons’ are living a content and happy life. The slaves and servants in the South are content as well. Everything is in order and everyone knows their place. When the Civil War begins, all three Cameron son’s go to join the battle. Two of the sons, Wade and Duke Cameron are killed in combat. Fortunately, Ben Cameron, the protagonist of this story, survives. Unfortunately, after the war, destructions and chaos begins. In Piedmont, the rest of the Cameron family is terrorized by a troop of Negro raiders, ruin and devastation dominates the South. During the Reconstruction period, Carpetbaggers and Northern blacks move into Piedmont were they exploit and corrupt the former slaves into becoming renegades against their white counterparts. The movie depicts the Negroes running wild in the streets, while singing, dancing and engaging in excessive drinking. Due to a black political victory, a black Congressional session is conducted where Negro legislators are depicted as arrogant, idiotic and incompetent. To show how matters worsen, the story line focuses on two Negro characters in the film. Silas Lynch, the antagonist, is a mulatto who controls the political power in Piedmont, and black Gus, representing the mythic character the Brutal Black Buck. The movie insinuates that the renegade Gus is set out to rape the younger Cameron daughter who goes out to the creek in the woods to get fresh water. Rather than to give into the wills of black Gus, Pet Sister throws herself over a cliff. Then the movie shows how Silas Lynch attempts to force the white Elsie Stoneman to marry him. And while all this is going on, the rest of the Cameron family and their two loyal black servants, the Uncle Tom and Mammy, are fighting for their lives in a cabin with two former Civil War soldiers from the rebellious troop of Negro raiders. While in the midst of all this turmoil, like a knight in shining armor, a group of good, upright Southern white men dressed in white sheets and hoods, battle the blacks in direct confrontation and defeat the black rebels. They restore the old ways of South, restore white superiority and black inferiority and in the conclus...