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In this time, law and science were very false, or very different from what we know today. Scientists, writers and film creators believed African Americans were inferior, diseased in some cases and a false evolution of the race. Now we know that it is just a gene pigment of a difference. However, this previous belief fits into the film creators’ discourse community. It wasn’t hard for these writers and film makers, politicians and Northern families to put this image of the blacks out there for the public because others in their community already had their same belief. The Birth of a Nation was no different in these beliefs and it became the most popular, pure and raw film in 1915. The film was primarily produced by D.W. Griffith, nicknamed “father of racist cinema”. It capitalized on the Ku Klux Klan, Lincoln’s assassination, and two families in the North and South. This film was also the first to use complex techniques never before seen such as fade out, cross cutting, close-ups, extra cast and even an intermission. In assignment one, I analyzed Morgan’s, The Race Question. Morgan worked to further set the belief into his readers that if blacks were to get more freedom, such as the right to vote, they would become too educated and smart. This newfound freedom for African Americans, he believed would then mean whites lose superiority and African Americans would take vengeance with their new freedoms. Morgan, as well as many of his colleagues, worked to instill fear into his readers. Griffith, in Birth of a Nation about two decades later, uses the same discourse belief via film. Griffith takes these preexisting ideas into his film and uses a straightforward storytelling method, being precise in how and when the characters are seen by his audience. John Tyler Morgan and Griffith are alike in more ways than one. In both pieces, Griffith and Morgan build on their discourse community’s idea that blacks will always be inferior, we should fear them and elaborate on the different outcomes of blacks having power and rights.
To paraphrase Hoffman, in his writing he states that when you mate two races, you get anger, violence and different sexuality. Griffith builds on this preexisting idea. Because this idea already exists, Griffith just has to hint towards it and the audience will understand. Such as when Lydia, Stoneman’s maid begins talking to the rich, white, strong man. Griffith can easily assume his audience knows this is wrong. At the time, it was believed black and white people did not have relations. Lydia clearly shows in her facials in the film that she knows her seeing this man is wrong. Griffith produces the scene a different level of visual by showing Lydia bending down to pick up a hat, trying to seduce the man by ripping her clothes and showing an inappropriate amount of skin and breaking the fourth wall to the audience by making eye contact. Lydia becomes shy and flirty and seeking for Silas to protect her. White men at the time, were viewed as rich, white and strong.
Both producers, Morgan and Griffith, used emotional appeal to their audience. Morgan used his writing fear of blacks gaining new freedoms and whites becoming inferior to scare his audience. While Griffith also used his screen to instill fear and terror and get a reaction of his audience. Griffith made the audience feel like they were watching something bad between the mixed women and white man. He made it obvious how much time he spent working on the characters’ parts, costumes, and emotional language before putting anything out into his discourse community. It was Birth of a Nation that inspired the Ku Klux Klan to continue because blacks were seen as dangerous.
In my opinion, Griffith did a better job at portraying the same message via film that Morgan wrote about 25 years prior. I think Griffith used a lot more techniques to get his message across way more bluntly. Morgan danced around the topic and doesn’t obviously use characters to say what he needs to for him. After all, Birth of a Nation is a widely popular film that many discourse communities and public eye caught sight of. Overall, Griffith did a more exciting piece on the race segregation in American in the early 1900s.
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