Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
The Birth of a Nation is a bit more explicit in its message but it rings to the same tune -- southern whites are victims of the civil war, not perpetrators.
Neither is an accurate portrayal of historical events but rather a symbolic representation of feelings and emotions held by whites in the pre-world war two United States. Historical evidence proves that neither Griffith nor O'Selznick were accurate in their depiction of the civil war but they do capture the fear and xenophobia riddled throughout each decade. While Griffith took inspiration from the Clansmen, O'Selznick, a Jewish New Yorker, along with his mostly Jewish writing team, likely were not trying to rewrite history but instead speaking to their audience, understanding what they were looking for.
The Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind speak to an audience who's way of life had been taken away by force. Though slavery is a horrendous commodity the southern United States' entire economy revolved around the buying, selling, and trading of human slaves. The civil war crushed the economies of the south and implanted a racist hatred that exists to this day. By 1915 and the release of the Birth of a Nation and even until 1939 and Gone with the Wind Jim Crow laws made it difficult to...
Griffith's film served as a rallying point for the Ku Klux Klan and other supremacist groups and suggested to the public at large that perhaps history happened a little differently -- which it didn't. This desire to rewrite the past continued through till the late 40s, hence the wide, gaping appeal of Gone with the Wind. A battle in the court of public opinion, if racist white's were able to paint their ancestors as heros and victims then it would excuse the discriminatory Jim Crow laws.
Of course, there was no great conspiracy and there were no secret Ku Klux Klan infiltrators inside of MGM although D.W. Griffith was the next best thing. The racist undertones in Gone with the Wind and overtones in the Birth of a Nation were apart of the overall racist zeitgeist dominating the early 20th century. They reflect trends, unseen except in hindsight, reflecting the mood and feeling of the country at large. To truly understand a population, watch what they're watching.
Gone with the Wind. Dir. Victor Fleming. Prod. David O. Selznick. Perf. Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable. Metro-Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), 1939. DVD.
"All Time Box Office Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation." Box Office Mojo. Box Office Mojo. Web. 11 Dec. 2010.
Rogin, Michael. "The Sword Became a Flashing Vision" D.W. Griffith's the Birth of a Nation." Representations 9.Special Issue (Winter 1985): 150-95. JSTOR. University of California Press. Web. 11 Dec. 2010.
Change, Robert S. "Dreaming in Black and White: Racial-Sexual Policing in the Birth of a Nation, the Cheat, and Who Killed Vincent Chin?" Asian Law Journal 5.41 (1998): 41-60. Print.
Harris, Warren G. Clark Gable: A Biography, Harmony, (2002), page 211
Even in Catholic France, the Protestant sentiment that God's grace alone can save His fallen, human creation was evident in the humanist king, Francis I's sister, Margaret, Queen of Navarre's novel when she wrote: "We must humble ourselves, for God does not bestow his graces on men because they are noble or rich; but, according as it pleases his goodness, which regards not the appearance of persons, he chooses
Strategic Management The Case for Diversification Deltacom/Earthlink is facing a challenging operating environment. As a regional player in an intensely-competitive market, we face an uncertain future. We acquired Deltacom in order to facilitate future growth, but a quick look at our financials indicates that our growth has flatlined and our profits declined to almost nothing last year (MSN Moneycentral, 2013). One of the issues is that there was considerable overlap between Earthlink
Price Beauty? 'For though beauty is seen and confessed by all, yet, from the many fruitless attempts to account for the cause of its being so, enquiries on this head have almost been given up" William Hogarth, The Analysis of Beauty, (1753) Not very encouraging words, but if the great artist William Hogarth felt himself up to the task, we can attempt at least to follow his lead. That beauty is enigmatic
The fact that a novel in the sentimental and seduction genre attained such heights of popularity is, in the first instance, evidence its impact and effect on the psyche and minds of the female readers of the novel. As one critic cogently notes: Why a book which barely climbs above the lower limits of literacy, and which handles, without psychological acuteness or dramatic power, a handful of stereotyped characters in
Archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon Biography Of Archaelogist Kathleen Kenyon To many it might be understood that it was actually predictable that Kathleen Kenyon could possibly turn into one of the great women archaeologists throughout all of the 20th century. She was born on January 5, 1906, Kathleen was the eldest daughter of well-known theological intellectual Sir Frederick Kenyon, who was beyond 20 years administrator of the British Arts center. Sometime down the
Venus in Art Introduction to Venus and Aphrodite: Throughout history, Venus has long been a source of inspiration for artists. Her representation of love and beauty has been captured in various mediums, from the visual arts of paintings and sculpture to music and drama; Venus has served as a universal symbol of beauty and has embodied the secrets of love. Central to understanding how artists have been able to use her as