The Beginning of a Nation
, whereas a groundbreaking movie, is extraordinarily racist and, clearly, doesn’t maintain up at this time.
Director D.W. Griffith’s controversial work set new requirements for cinema regardless of moral considerations.
Thomas Dixon Jr., a white supremacist, formed his political views into novels and movies, together with the first-ever film sequel.
The film sequel has change into Hollywood’s bread and butter. When a film catches the general public’s consideration and brings in cash, studios have ample cause to attempt to head again to the nicely, and that continues to be the case in 2024. Whereas this method doesn’t all the time work out, with some actually horrible sequels, it’s nonetheless thought of regular observe inside an trade all the time seeking to flip a revenue and discover the following huge franchise. However what was the primary film sequel? Nicely, that honor goes to The Fall of the Nation (1916), a follow-up to the extremely profitable The Beginning of a Nation (1915).
Nonetheless, the historic first presents a hard fact about race relations throughout the interval, with The Beginning of a Nation thought of to be a landmark achievement in cinema, however heavy with racist ideology and imagery. This could largely be tied to creator Thomas Dixon Jr., a white supremacist who wrote the novel The Beginning of a Nation was primarily based on, in addition to moving into the director’s seat to attempt to recreate the success of the primary movie for the sequel. We are going to look at each films and the controversial figures behind every in Director D.W. Griffith and Thomas Dixon Jr.
The Beginning of a Nation Is an Extraordinarily Racist Movie
The Beginning of a Nation is split into two elements, revolving round two households, the Northern Stoneman household and the Southern Cameron household, whose sons turned buddies earlier than the Civil Conflict. Half one focuses on the occasions main as much as the conflict, with the 2 households going through their hardships whereas discovering themselves in opposing states. The conflict additional fragments the households when each lose their youngest sons.
From right here, the film shifts to after the conflict, depicting each ‘radical Republicans’ and the ‘Black Militia’ as a menace to the South. The decision to guard the nation falls on the Ku Klux Klan, led by the eldest Cameron son, Ben, to make use of techniques like voter intimidation and adhering to a spiritual coda to usher within the “second coming of the Prince of Peace.”
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The Beginning of a Nation made an estimated gross of $18 million by 1921, over $550 million with inflation within the modern-day, and primarily invented the movie trade regardless of going through censorship points on launch. The film, over three hours lengthy and “boasted a powerful 5 thousand distinct scenes,” was proven in theaters with an intermission in between. An estimated 50 million folks noticed the movie throughout its run, which lasted for at the very least 5 years after its launch after its premiere in Los Angeles on February 8, 1915.
The film starred many period staples, lots of whom would proceed to play outstanding roles within the movie trade. These included Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, and Henry B. Walthal, who would amass over 100 appearing credit throughout their careers. Regardless of ‘portraying’ the Black folks of America, all actors in these roles used Black-face, which was normal of the period. D.W. Griffith directed the movie; Griffith is taken into account a pioneer in movie and revamped 500 movies throughout his lifetime. The film was primarily based on the guide by Thomas Dixon Jr. “The Clansman,” who would additionally go on to direct the sequel to the movie The Fall of the Nation.
The Fall of the Nation (1916) Plot and Solid
Appearing as an assault towards the pacifism of two outstanding figures of the period, William Jennings Bryan and Henry Ford, and asking for preparedness for the potential of conflict. The film follows the invasion of America by the German-led “European Confederated Military,” which results in the slaughter of males, ladies, and youngsters. A millionaire accepts the position because the ‘prince’ of a puppet authorities, and it turns into as much as a pro-war congressman, John Vassar, and a suffragette, Virginia Holland, to defeat the invaders. Notably, Holland kinds a gaggle generally known as the “Daughters of Jael,” who seduce after which kill the troopers of the occupation pressure. The film ends with Holland and his allies driving again the European forces.
The film starred Arthur Shirley as John Vassar and Lorraine Huling as Virginia Holland, who would handle transient but unremarkable careers within the movie trade. Thomas Dixon Jr. acted as director and primarily based on one other certainly one of his novels, hoping to capitalize on the success of The Beginning of a Nation.
Nonetheless, the film was poorly obtained, past getting used as propaganda by Allied governments in Europe throughout World Conflict I, and the manufacturing studio arrange by Dixon, Dixon Studios, finally folded, having solely ever produced one movie. Nonetheless, the film broke a couple of historic firsts, having been the primary sequel and, based on Encyclopedia Britannica, containing “most likely the primary authentic symphonic rating composed for a characteristic movie.”
The Controversial Profession of Director D.W. Griffith
Whereas Thomas Dixon wrote the fabric that will encourage the movie The Beginning of a Nation, D.W. Griffith was nonetheless lively in bringing the film to life. Nonetheless, the historical past of the director and his beliefs in race relations and politics is considerably blurry (through Slate); as within the director’s biography, he admitted a disinterest in politics altogether and was as a substitute extra shaped by the hardship his household had confronted; being born in 1875 in Kentucky to a Accomplice household. His historical past as a filmmaker and his continued success within the trade over three a long time lend credence to his means as an artist, and whereas, on reflection, he has change into a controversial determine, his work on The Beginning of a Nation solely led to additional accolades as a filmmaker.
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It is not simple to separate the artist in excessive circumstances, and even in contemplating the local weather of the period, the content material of The Beginning of a Nation is tough to method with something however disdain, particularly with it thought of to be the movie that re-invigorated curiosity within the KKK. D.W. Griffith and his work are nonetheless taught in movie college, with The Beginning of A Nation thought of important viewing for its ingenuity on the time. This included utilizing superior digicam strategies by no means used earlier than and a story construction that set a brand new normal for cinema. It additionally gave the medium creative advantage within the mainstream and confirmed its monetary viability. Maybe the significance of the movie was greatest summed up by actor Charlie Chaplin, who was controversial in his personal proper, who mentioned, “The entire trade owes its existence to him.”
Thomas Dixon Jr., the White Supremacist Writer Turned Director
Comparatively, Tom Dixon Jr.’s profession was far more cemented in his political views via the various novels that he wrote and open sympathy for white supremacist teams just like the KKK. Thomas Dixon’s beliefs have been formed by his spiritual upbringing, notably having lived a lot of his life within the shadow of his brother, a Fundamentalist Baptist preacher, the racial tensions of the post-Civil Conflict South, and his household involvement in numerous White Supremacist organizations. As a part of the open W&M Scholar Works, the dissertation from “Historical past Written with Lightning”: Faith, White Supremacy, and the Rise and Fall of Thomas Dixon, Jr by David Micheal Kidd goes into nice element on how Thomas Dixon Jr. mixed numerous beliefs from his background to form his overt political and racial beliefs.
Thomas Dixon Jr. made a reputation for himself as an creator; between 1902 and 1939, he printed 22 novels and quite a few performs, screenplays, books of sermons, and miscellaneous nonfiction. His biggest work is taken into account to be 1905’s The Clansman, which might function the supply materials for The Beginning of a Nation. His transfer to filmmaking, regardless of making historical past as the primary sequel and first authentic rating, didn’t show fruitful, and it appeared to be a bid to capitalize on the work of a significantly better filmmaker to additional push his beliefs on the plenty.
Ought to You Watch The Beginning of a Nation and The Fall of a Nation?
This has all the time been a difficult query relating to The Beginning of a Nation. The work is past reproach when considered from an ethical standpoint, significantly underneath a recent interpretation. The straightforward reply is that there is no such thing as a cause for almost all to look at the movie, as its racist components are one of many few (although most notable) that make it unpalatable; sure, it outlined all the trade, however the 3-hour runtime silent period film could be an train in endurance for almost all.
Books have been banned for political, spiritual, and supposedly ethical causes, however they have been splendidly delivered to life with these movies.
However, The Beginning of a Nation remains to be thought of a necessary landmark and deserves exploration from a historic standpoint. In the end, the selection is as much as the viewer, however if in case you have any reservations in regards to the content material, it’s higher to keep away from the movie outright. In case you are , The Beginning of a Nation is within the public area, that means you’ll find it simply on YouTube.
Whereas The Fall of the Nation is historic in its personal proper as a result of it’s the first-ever sequel, it can’t even be argued whether or not the movie is price watching. The Fall of the Nation is thought of misplaced media. The soundtrack exists on-line, however solely a few frames exist of the film itself. That mentioned, when you discover a copy, you might have struck gold, however given the legacy of hatred that Thomas Dixon Jr. left behind, the movie will nonetheless possible not be price watching.
