← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · xmetalhead
Thread ID: 14676 | Posts: 5 | Started: 2004-08-10
2004-08-10 17:19 | User Profile
[I]I hope this movie plays in New York City too![/I]
Four years after angry protests by the Los Angeles branch of the NAACP and other groups forced him to yank his planned showing of D.W. Griffith's 1915 film The Birth of a Nation, the owner of the Silent Movie Theater in Los Angeles has vowed to screen the film beginning tonight (Monday). Charlie Lustman, who describes the film as both "a cultural and artistic monument" and a "shameful stain" on the history of U.S. race relations, told Saturday's Los Angeles Times that he intended to launch a series on the most important silent films with Nation because he regarded it as "the biggest and most cinematic gem in history." (He intends to show the film with a disclaimer stating that he does not endorse the racist content of the film but wants to honor its place in cinema history, the Times observed.) However, L.A. NAACP President Geraldine Washington told the newspaper that she still opposes the screening. "This movie has no positive value whatsoever," she said. "And it runs the risk of creating unrest and hate crimes. It's just too risky to take a chance." [url]http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/#3[/url]
2004-08-11 21:45 | User Profile
xmetalhead,
D.W. Griffith's 1915 film The Birth of a Nation is a great film and good history. Everyone should get a DVD of it.
The Birth of a Nation [url]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00007CVS7/qid=1092260493/[/url]
2004-08-12 09:37 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Faust]D.W. Griffith's 1915 film The Birth of a Nation is a great film and good history. Everyone should get a DVD of it.
The Birth of a Nation [url]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00007CVS7/qid=1092260493/[/url][/QUOTE]
Somebody with some money, such as that "Yggdrasil" character and some of his presumably like-minded friends, should fund a filming of a remake of "Birth of a Nation." What a powerful piece of political propaganda that could be!
2004-08-12 23:32 | User Profile
Complaints, Threats Force Movie Screening Cancellation
NBC 4 (Cal.), aug. 9
LOS ANGELESââ¬âThe proprietor of a Los Angeles silent movie theater said complaints and threats led him to cancel Monday nightââ¬â¢s planned screening of the 1915 epic ââ¬ÅThe Birth of a Nation.ââ¬Â
An 8 p.m. screening of the D.W. Griffith Civil War film had been planned to launch the Silent Movie Theatreââ¬â¢s ââ¬ÅSilent Movie Mondayââ¬Â series.
Charlie Lustman, who owns the theater, said he hoped to present the filmââ¬âconsidered a pioneer in film techniques despite its portrayal of blacks as would-be rapists and stereotyped buffoonsââ¬âin the proper context, preceded by a debate and a presentation by a film scholar.
However, Lustman said he received calls and other communications that threatened the theater. He said he was also concerned about patrons and the 92-year-old organist whose music will accompany the film having to cross a picket line.
ââ¬ÅWe decided it would be the safest thing not to run the movie,ââ¬Â he said.
It is the second time the theater has canceled a showing of the film, which had also been scheduled for a screening during the 2000 Democratic convention before protest from the NAACP led to its cancellation.
This time, black activist Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the National Alliance for Positive Action, planned a news conference in Leimert Park this morning to protest the planned showing of the film, which features actors in blackface eating watermelon and taking over the federal government, while Ku Klux Klan members are depicted as heroes.
After Hutchinsonââ¬â¢s group received word that the screening had been canceled, the event turned into an announcement that the film would not be shown.
Hutchinson said this afternoon that his group did not call for the screening to be canceled, but sought to ensure that movie patrons were educated about the racial stereotypes in the film.
ââ¬ÅThe point was, show it, but at least provide some context,ââ¬Â Hutchinson said.
Lustman said he was never contacted by Hutchinson about how the film would be shown. He said if he had talked to Hutchinson, he would have told him the screening was planned in an educational context.
ââ¬ÅThey never contacted us at all,ââ¬Â he said.
Hutchinson said his group would still conduct an ââ¬Åinformational campaignââ¬Â that was to start at 6 p.m. in front of the North Fairfax Avenue theater despite the cancellation.
(Posted on August 12, 2004)
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Maybe whites better learn to protest.
Posted by 45degreesnorth at 4:37 PM on August 12
"Charlie Lustman, who owns the theater, said he hoped to present the filmââ¬âconsidered a pioneer in film techniques despite its portrayal of blacks as would-be rapists and stereotyped buffoonsââ¬âin the proper context, preceded by a debate and a presentation by a film scholar."
What do they mean by "would-be rapists" and "stereotyped buffoons"? The author should watch BET for a couple of hours between 9 p.m. and Midnight and get a hold of the most recent Uniform Crime Reports.
Posted by Howard Fezell at 5:04 PM on August 12
He should never have to explain anything that he shows in his own theater. The owner should take these organizations to court for conspiracy to incite a riot(protest) and denying his freedom of press.
Posted by Jason at 5:42 PM on August 12
This is what gets me about black people. They want to scream and holler about any given issue but let a white person try to practice his/her right to free speech and watch them attack. I bet that 92 year old man's life really would have been in danger if they had decided to play that movie.
Posted by Drew at 5:48 PM on August 12
The Birth of a Nation is a powerful tool against racism since it depicts the folly of those who felt segregation was necessary. Book burning is book burning and it is never excusable. I don't know very many films that portray white males as anything but fools and bufoons, yet I am not closing down any showings - but perhaps I should.
Posted by Walter E. Wallis at 6:27 PM on August 12
Those familiar with the true history of Reconstruction realize that "Birth of a Nation" is true history.
Posted by Bernie at 6:39 PM on August 12
[url]http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2004/08/complaints_thre.php[/url]
2004-08-17 01:34 | User Profile
Ive gotten into arguments over Birth of a Nation film with so-called Historians. The unaviodable fact about the revisionist historians is that they have absolutely no connection to the Past. Their words are like scientific theories, not true inquiries into the Past. They hide behind their non-truth agenda, because the actual Truth is against them being decent people. They have nefarious plans for this country, and have already infiltrated the top posts, so that if you send a son daughter or grand child to what used to be a top school, chances are he or she will be force fed Propaganda, Lie, Innuendo and walk away with an Outlook on the world totally Alien to You the Parent who Sent Them There. ALL of their cases, claims, and arguments and false ideologies are EASILY BLOWN TO NOTHING. But the one who does so is just a student, while the false feeder still collects 75,000/yr salary. I dont see a resolution.. I really do not.. this is the way it is. We have to go Underground, because to be UNCIVIL would put me in jail. Life and times under Tyranny. Hope my 45 % went to kill an Iraqi girl grabbing her bed while my tax dollars are at work.