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Cinema's Original Sin: D.W. Griffith, American Racism, and the Rise of Film Culture
Cinema's Original Sin: D.W. Griffith, American Racism, and the Rise of Film Culture
Cinema's Original Sin: D.W. Griffith, American Racism, and the Rise of Film Culture
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Cinema's Original Sin: D.W. Griffith, American Racism, and the Rise of Film Culture

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For over a century, cinephiles and film scholars have had to grapple with an ugly artifact that sits at the beginnings of film history. D. W. Griffith’s profoundly racist epic, The Birth of a Nation, inspired controversy and protest at its 1915 release and was defended as both a true history of Reconstruction (although it was based on fiction) and a new achievement in cinematic art. Paul McEwan examines the long and shifting history of its reception, revealing how the film became not just a cinematic landmark but also an influential force in American aesthetics and intellectual life.

In every decade since 1915, filmmakers, museums, academics, programmers, and film fans have had to figure out how to deal with this troublesome object, and their choices have profoundly influenced both film culture and the notion that films can be works of art. Some critics tried to set aside the film’s racism and concentrate on the form, while others tried to relegate that racism safely to the past. McEwan argues that from the earliest film retrospectives in the 1920s to the rise of remix culture in the present day, controversies about this film and its meaning have profoundly shaped our understandings of film, race, and art.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateDec 13, 2022
ISBN9781477325513

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
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    Cinema's Original Sin, by Paul McEwan and narrated by Paul Heitsch, is an examination of The Birth of a Nation primarily in its social and cultural impact with film analysis included when it contributes to that goal. In other words, this is not an analysis of the film as film but as cultural product consumed and debated over time.I'll touch on the audiobook aspect first. If you study film, formally or informally, you may well prefer a physical copy of the book. That said, the narration was good and offered enough inflection to keep interest without being overly emotive, which usually doesn't work for academic books. Though it has been a while, this is the type of audiobook I would have listened to before then reading it. I used to get some works of literature in audio form (in my day, that meant tape or CD) to listen to and get a feel for the whole before then diving into the text to analyze. I think this would serve that purpose well for anyone who anticipates using the book as part of other research.I sat through the film once in a film course and chose to never view it again even when covered in other film courses. I am of the opinion that what it contributed to filmmaking can be touched on in lecture and films that used those methods can be used as examples to show the class. The importance of the film now is less as a film and more as a historical document that illustrates many of the problems in this country, both then and now. As such, it should be mentioned in much the same way Mein Kampf is cited and excerpts are often given, but the totality is rarely required reading.McEwan does a wonderful job of making the connections between the film's reception and subsequent focal point of debate and the racism/white supremacism that has permeated US society. How, and when, debate over The Birth of a Nation has become more prominent is coupled with what was happening in seemingly unrelated areas of US society. This shows just how the claim of "art" allows hateful and verifiably false narratives to maintain and promote a white supremacist agenda.Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in film history and the intersection of film and race in society as a whole.Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

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Cinema's Original Sin - Paul McEwan

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