The birth of a nation

Birth of a Nation

In the period after the Civil War, the United States of America was anything but united, but despite the harsh reconstruction program imposed upon the South by Congress, the country eventually healed. D.W. Griffiths "The Birth of a Nation" is a dated attempt to describe the events of the Civil War and its aftermath. However, by imposing the views of the time the film was made, particularly the racial animosity toward African-Americans and relations between African-Americans and white Americans, the film is actually a racially biased and patently offensive display of American racism and intolerance. But if the film were remade today, the producers would have to either remake the film with the same racially offensive themes or have to be entirely reworked and rewritten.

The film attempts to demonstrate the reconciliation between the North and South through the relationships of two families: one northern and one southern. However, in the film the actions of the African-Americans, who attempt to take over society and impose harsh conditions on their former white masters, are the main problem. They are led by a mulatto named Silas Lynch, protege of radical Congressman Stoneman who keeps a mulatto mistress. Stoneman's relationship to his mistress, Lydia Brown, is described as a "weakness… [and a] & #8230;blight to the nation." (The Birth of a Nation 18:35) A modern remake could not possibly maintain the idea that interracial relationships are a "weakness" or "blight," and would have to either remove that idea, or simply use Stoneman's relationship with a mulatto as inspiration for his advocacy for equal rights.

Silas Lynch represents the evil that supposedly lies within the African-American; he covets power, violence, white women, and the oppression of the whites. His character could not be portrayed as it is in the original, it is simply too extreme and offensive. However, in reality many northern reconstruction officials were harsh and uncaring toward the Southerners. If Silas Lynch's character was portrayed as a corrupt, uncaring, vengeful northern official, without the racial overtones, then he could remain a significant figure in the modern remake.

There is the problem with the scene where the African-American named "Gus" attacks and chases the youngest Cameron daughter, resulting in her jumping off a cliff. It portrays African-Americans as vicious animals and could not be included in a modern remake. However, it is the death of this white woman that causes the KKK to act in what they describe as "self-defense," but is really vengeance against the former slaves. Any remake would need to have a stimulus for the actions of the KKK, and since the KKK is a racially focused group, it would have to be some sort of racial incident, possibly an accident or inadvertent interaction between an African-American man and a white woman.