Analysis Of The Film Birth Of A Nation

The film Birth of a Nation by D.W. Griffith shows how life apparently intended to be for all the people in America during the civil war. D.W. Griffith demonstrates the life of Americans by using two different families, historical events and people in order to show what was happening during that time. Griffith uses two families in the film which are the Cameron’s representing the south and the Stoneman’s representing the north to demonstrate how life was changing for them in the civil war. This film shows that the south were getting poor, the north becoming stronger, Africans getting their freedom and were savages. Birth of a Nation will tell the story in which chaos would grow for everyone and the only ones that will save them is the Ku Klux …show more content…
Viewer’s got more convinced that this movie can be real when they saw historical figures added in the film such as Abraham Lincoln and some members from the Ku Klux Klan. Adding the historical figures gives more life to this film by showing this film did apparently happened in real life as shown as is. Such as those in the film that acted as the African Americans, when they got more freedom started to become wild and out of control by drinking, celebrating, and disobeying their owners. Thus, denying the truth of the whole ideal of history for African Americans being mistreated by their owners, demonstrating that the African Americans were not in pain but were pure horror. D.W. Griffith gave the African Americans in the film a very different role that changed what the viewer’s saw the Africans, making have hatred towards them by portraying them as the bad or the villains in the film. Not only were the African Americans portrayed in another way but so were the Ku Klux Klan who seemed to be showed as the rescuers in the film. In Birth of a Nation the Ku Klux Klan were the ones who ended up saving the people from the African American, whereas, in the real world it was an organization who despised the African Americans and would kill many of them or would treat them such a hateful manner. By changing the roles of both Africans and the KKK in the film played with the viewers minds and made them believe what they were seeing was true. Therefore, the Ku Klux Klan at the end of the film they established to rescue the Stoneman’s and Cameron’s from getting killed by the African Americans. Giving the rise of the viewers to despise the African Americans and made them believe that the film they watched was not a lie. Taking in both historical events and people in the film as D.W. Griffith intended to do, has shown how cinemas have the capacity