History Film / TheBirthOfANation

A 1915 silent movie directed by D.W. Griffith, starring famous silent film actress LillianGish, and one of Hollywood's first great "epic" films.

Being one of the first feature films ever, ''The Birth of a Nation'' introduced, refined, and popularized zillions of tropes, and is considered one of the most groundbreaking films ever. But it is also extremely controversial - its view of Reconstruction is one that promotes white supremacy and that glorifies the KKK. In fact, the KKK had a ''huge'' revival in the years after this was released (it numbered around '''6 million members''' at its peak around 1925), and many people credit this movie as one of the reasons why. Not surprisingly, one of President WoodrowWilson's favorite films (Wilson segregated the Navy and introduced Jim Crow laws to Washington, DC). Even he had to distance himself from his praise of the film eventually, though. Fun fact: The movie was based on a novel written by Thomas Dixon, one of Wilson's former students back when he was a Princeton professor.

Being one of the first feature films ever, ''The Birth of a Nation'' introduced, refined, and popularized zillions of tropes, and is considered one of the most groundbreaking films ever. But it is also extremely controversial - its view of Reconstruction is one that promotes white supremacy and that glorifies the KKK. Not surprisingly, one of President WoodrowWilson's favorite films (Wilson segregated the Navy and introduced Jim Crow laws to Washington, DC). Even he had to distance himself from his praise of the film eventually, though. Fun fact: The movie was based on a novel written by Thomas Dixon, one of Wilson's former students back when he was a Princeton professor.

* FirstInstallmentWins: The film had a sequel called ''The Fall of a Nation'', which is probably the first movie sequel in history. It did not involve Griffith or any of the original cast, but was rather directed by Thomas Dixon, the author of the original novel. The film is set in [[NextSundayAD the near future]] and depicts the U.S. being invaded by a German-dominated Europe. Basically, the film was a plea for the U.S. to enter UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and stop Germany before it's too late. ''The Fall of a Nation'' was a commercial failure and there are no known surviving prints.

Being one of the first feature films ever, ''The Birth of a Nation'' introduced, refined, and popularized zillions of tropes, and is considered one of the most groundbreaking films ever. But it is also extremely controversial - its view of Reconstruction is one that promotes white supremacy and that glorifies the KKK. Not surprisingly, one of President WoodrowWilson's favorite films (Wilson segregated the Navy and introduced Jim Crow laws to Washington, DC). Even he had to distance himself from his praise of the film eventually, though.

* GoldenMeanFallacy: This movie tries so desperately to be neutral that it become monstrous. Siding neither with slavery nor with the "extremists" who want actual race equality, it supports the "neutral middle ground" of Jim Crow laws. The filmmakers seem to have thought that making Lincoln a sympathetic character and including a [[NeverMessWithGranny ass-kicking black heroine]] weighs up making the Ku Klux Klan heroes of the story.

This film is in the public domain and can be viewed in its entirety at [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEznh2JZvrI Youtube]].

!!Some tropes include:

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Especially prevalent in the novel. All the heroes are beautiful, all the villains (except for Lydia Brown) are hideous.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[ValuesDissonance In-universe]]. When Silas Lynch first informs his mentor, Austin Stoneman, of his intention to marry a white woman, Austin Stoneman is initially congratulatory... until Silas specifies the white woman to be Stoneman's own daughter Elsie.

* DeadLittleSister: Flora for Ben.

This film is in the public domain and can be viewed in its entirety at [[http://www.youtube.com/movie?v=FbYXF5HmEds Youtube]].

* CapuletCounterpart: Elsie and Phil Stoneman.

* WrittenByTheWinners: It certainly wasn't the most objective view of the Reconstruction Period.

* HairOfGold: Phil and Elsie in the book.

Being one of the first feature films ever, The Birth of a Nation introduced, refined, and popularized zillions of tropes, and is considered one of the most groundbreaking films ever. But it is also extremely controversial - its view of Reconstruction is one that promotes white supremacy and that glorifies the KKK. Not surprisingly, one of President WoodrowWilson's favorite films (Wilson segregated the Navy and introduced Jim Crow laws to Washington, DC). Even he had to distance himself from his praise of the film eventually, though.

* AdaptationDistillation:

* CategoryTraitor: The radical republicans are implied to have betrayed the white race, especially with Stoneman himself having an extramarital affair with a black woman - leading him to give power to the evil mulatto who later try to rape his daughter.

* {{Ojou}}: Elsie and the Cameron sisters, at least at first.

** LoveBeforeFirstSight on Ben Cameron's part for Elsie Stoneman, though. Like a proto-[[Franchise/Terminator Kyle Reese]], he acquires a picture of her from her brother Phil and throughout his military career, he holds on to it and looks at it on a regular basis before he finally meets her.

* DidNotDoTheResearch: Griffith later claimed that he hadn't realized that the books he used as the basis for the story were racist whitewashings of history. Whether this is true or not, his next film, the anti-racist epic ''{{Intolerance}}'', is widely accepted to have been made as [[TheAtoner Griffith's attempt at an apology]].

* FriendInLaw: The "chums", Ben Cameron and Phil Stoneman, end up as brothers in-law after marrying each other's sisters.

* BigDamnHeroes

* NeverMessWithGranny: In ''TheBirthOfANation'', we have an overweight elderly housekeeper leap into action and save her employer, knocking down at least one ruffian and two soldiers in the process. Interesting for a white supremacist racist work, the heroine is black and the man she's saving is white.

->--'''Cracked''', [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19826_6-iconic-scenes-ripped-off-from-lesser-known-movies.html 6 Iconic Scenes Ripped Off From Lesser Known Movies]]

Read more: 6 Iconic Scenes Ripped Off From Lesser-Known Movies | Cracked.com http://www.cracked.com/article_19826_6-iconic-scenes-ripped-off-from-lesser-known-movies_p2.html#ixzz1ur2ntUrb

->--'''Cracked''', [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19826_6-iconic-scenes-ripped-off-from-lesser-known-movies_p2.html 6 Iconic Scenes Ripped Off From Lesser Known Movies]]

Being one of the first feature films ever, The Birth of a Nation introduced, refined, and popularized zillions of tropes, and is considered one of the most groundbreaking films ever. But it is also extremely controversial - its view of Reconstruction is one that promotes white supremacy and that glorifies the KKK. Not surprisingly, one of President Woodrow Wilson's favorite films (Wilson segregated the Navy and introduced Jim Crow laws to Washington, DC). Even he had to distance himself from his praise of the film eventually, though.

* {{Bowlderize}}: In the original novel, Gus succeeds in raping [[ILetGwenStacyDie Marion Lenoir]], Ben's childhood sweetheart.

** In truth, the would-be rapist comes across less as a truly black man than as an unwashed (white) coal miner.

* {{Bowlderization}}: In the original novel, Gus succeeds in raping a white woman who later commits suicide in despair.