Birth of a Nation: Art or Propaganda Essay

Mankind, engaging in war, driven by whatever instincts guide him, playks to keep the defeats and victories of difference of opinion in his memory and on his conscience. To accomplish this men have used tonality and canvas, ink and paper, or instrument and song in their effort to take place the tragedy and glory of war. Never, before the career of D. W. Griffith had anyone attempted to bring the humble to photograph. The result of his efforts, weaknesses aside, mark a change in attitude towards film as a media. Perhaps hearings previously going to a throw expected emotional manipulation.After all, years before the film deliver of a nation, makers of film employed techniques to evoke pathos from viewers whether with the use of a sobbing mother, a frightened child or what have you. In this respect the film was not a ground-breaker However, by means of its legal use of devices such as symbolism, foreshadowing and allusions, as hale as building on and arguably perfecting film techniques such as continuity editing, intercutting and close-ups, he transformed film from mere entertainment to artistry and propaganda. To present and explore a theme, symbolism is used everywhere in literature.Whether the image is subtle or obvious it is regardless a cross of considerable calculation and effort. In parturition of a nation Griffith places symbols everywhere, in doing this he merges literary devices of written works with his own visual works. For instance, the dry out corn symbol in the scene where the southern army is take in symbolizes their desperation in the face of defeat. This imagery proves that Griffith wasnt however presenting actors and a plot, he intended to dig far deeper than that, into the realm of a happy storyteller.Another instance of his unique style is the use of foreshadowing, another literary device now commonly employed in film. The most bounteous example of this is the scene where two gentlemen are talking, and as the camera pans d own, we see a puppy struggling with a kitten. This is another strong example of symbolism however, even more importantly it foreshadows the coming war. It is expertly laid to add to the building tension between sides which the audience already knows results in confrontation. Its placement reflects Griffiths desire to advance the complexity and diversity of film beyond entertainment to higher levels in society.To manipulate his audiences emotions, he commencement exercise had to draw them into the story and in turn into the stories underlying theme. He accomplished this by using numerous virgin film tools, untold as an artist uses his own tools to create a believable painting. Among these tools he uses panoramas to illustrate setting, to paint, if you will a moving vulnerability. To show the swell of het up gunfire on a crowded battlefield i. e. the scene of the battle of Petersburg, or to bring across image of the delicate beauty of his inseparable southern land to those who had never been there or seen a picture of it.This was the substance that transformed film into a genuine art form. at a time he had the attention and anticipation of the audience, as well as their intimately guaranteed acceptance of his word, he merely had to feed them a easily grasped, recognizable message to sway their emotions his way. This method of classic propaganda was used to fuel the audiences already considerable ill-founded hatred of blacks. It comes in the form of a rebel black group who terrorizes the Cameron family, the films main characters. By placing blacks in this position it isnt difficult to imagine the reaction of an honest theatre goer.The film spawned riots, fired up racism, built stronger the negative stereotypes of blacks. It portray them as lazy, as illustrated in the black parliament, where a man rests his surplus feet on a desk, alluding to uselessness in the employment environment. More horrifyingly than that it portrayed them as ultimately evil wi th the seizing of the Camerons theme and the attempted rape of one of their daughters. The obvious bias presented, although appalling, demonstrates just how effective Griffith was at utilizing film not with the intention to merely entertain, but to spread out propaganda and affect the perceptions of society itself.Griffith exploited his audience, he turned them against minorities and themselves. The film Birth of a nation exemplifies ignorance and hate at its worst. Although it stands for something that today is looked on as morally wrong, it proves by this very reaction that the film is not just mere entertainment, but something with a far more serious purpose. Since Griffith was the first to accomplish something of this nature, Birth of a nation therefore marks the fracture of film from pure entertainment into art and propaganda.