First, let me just say how happy I was with the first three discussion questions that students posted for the first reading assignment. You should be paying attention to these postings, and in particular the three from yesterday as they each offer excellent themes for interpreting tonight's film, Birth of a Nation.
To remind all, I will screen the film tonight, Wednesday, January 28, in the Tupelo Room at Barnard Observatory. I will begin the film promptly at 8:00 PM. It is roughly 3 hours long. Those who have signed up to post discussion questions may do so tomorrow morning before we meet. Please post your observations below this blog post.
Posts
As the film’s title suggests, "The Birth of a Nation" seeks to create a new American identity among whites by exposing their common "enemy". Who is this new “enemy"? Why is Abraham Lincoln the South's "best friend"?
ReplyDeleteThe Lost Cause maintained a certain opinion of blacks living in the south. How did "Birth of a Nation" use and perpetuate those stereotypes throughout the film?
ReplyDeleteEven though “The Birth of a Nation” is considered the first “blockbuster” in American History, the film is most remembered today for its racist portrayal of the period in American History after the Cival War. In ones own opinion, does the title refer to the re-established United States, or to the "birth" of the Invisible Empire - the Ku Klux Klan?
ReplyDeleteSorry I forgot to add the second part of my question!
ReplyDeleteContrast between in antebellum and post-antebellum African-American behavior depicted in the film and why Griffin uses threats of rape and sexuality to illustrate racial politics in the film?
In what ways is this film an example of the incredible power that popular culture has to shape the narrative of "history"? Give some examples of scenes or lines in the movie that really capture what was believed to be true history.
ReplyDeleteDailey’s article, Deference and Violence in the Postbellum Urban South: Manners and Massacres in Danville, Virginia, talks about how “African Americans continued
ReplyDeleteto assert their claim to civility, and to dignity, in public.” And how that assertion was challenged by Caucasian Americans during that time. Dailey’s article makes reference to the ideal that distinctions between the races was needed, and if those distinctions were blurred, then chaos would follow. For example, “In 1822 Charleston residents petitioned the legislature to prohibit African Americans from wearing "silks, satins, lace, and such costly stuffs, as are looked upon and considered the luxury of dress." The purpose of this appeal would uphold the distinctions/differences between African Americans and Caucasian Americans. How in today’s society are distinctions still used, and do you think that this ideology, that distinctions are needed, is true?