D.W. GRIFFITH MASTER OF CINEMA CLASSIC SILENT FILMS on DVD at TVDAYS.com

[eclecticdufus]

Well, this comes up all the time in one form or another. Leni Riefenstahls's 'Triumph of the Will' is a great film but but has a dangerous, appalling message. 'Birth' is permeated with racism but it established film as an art. And the objectionable elements in it also helped galvanize protest and organizations pursuing racial justice. It was a huge recruiting tool for the nascent NAACP. Woodrow Wilson was a Southerner and shared the same reflexively racist attitudes as Griffith after all.

[filthypit]

@QueensLadyDay: FYI; "MILLIONS have had family members..." MYSELF INCLUDED. My people came to this country in chains. But, I don't use a period piece (which reflects sentiments held during that period) as justification for social/psych crosses I may bear.

Every time you sit down & enjoy an action film, thank D.W. Griffith. Vis-a-vis, I am able to enjoy General Tso's chicken knowing the dish was named after a man who executed his enemies by a "death of 10,000 cuts."

Relax ~ enjoy.

[QueensLadyDay]

REPULSIVE!! PROUD of the FILTH called "BoAN" and the kkk... Plain TRASH!!

[parlock480]

An evil evil man

[filthypit]

The argument is ridiculous. He was a pioneer whose opinions weren't/aren't shared by all. Nothing is black or white. You can't slam a master chef's whole career because he burned a cake... or because he doesn't like the taste of parsley.

Everyone hates something/someone ~ (ex: I hate my mother-in-law). Hate & love are both spontaneous emotions over which, we have no control. Most of the time, they are emotions straight from the heart.

[QueensLadyDay]

@filthypit ....... Your argument is specious! Millions have had family members....dismembered, mutilated, raped and outright murdered.....be they, Jew...Native American....African American. The belief in 'white supremacy' has caused more heartache than all the wars combined. This so-called masterpiece made it 'legal' to lynch black children! It has nothing to do with 'hate'.....it has everything to do with 'power'.

[MillaHead]

I think the portrayal of racism in Griffith's films are stark parallels to the ugly truth about America. Racism has been such a significant and ugly part of our history and Griffith has shown the world these tales for people to remember.

[jonathanjohnson123]

assandthem: you seriously thought that Gone With The Wind had "racism" in it. Oh come on, that movie was pretty much PC propaganda. That is part of the reason gone with the wind is so much more pop today than birth, even though it is a completely inferior version of Birth.

[BSNFabricating]

Personally I don't see him stirring up hate, burning crosses, etc... His viewpoint comes from growing up in the South soon after the War, son of a Confederate veteran. I'm defending his views, but in that environment, it wasn't considered racist; it was just the way things were.

[tvdays]

thanks for your comments

[BSNFabricating]

You're welcome...I messed up... I meant I'm NOT defending his views... brain shuts off at this time of night...

I need to get the taste of boot leather out of my mouth and get to sleep =)

[donnycarrin3d]

D.W.Griffith was no more of a racist than most people of that time.If you don't believe me, read almost any popular work of fiction from that era.Anyone other than a white male was regarded as less than a white male.He wasn't a "racist monster" , just a person of that era.

[ericthatsme1]

@donnycarrin3d .......Finally a voice of reason and intelligence....Well said!!!!!!

[ginko27]

Again the Klan was mostly evil, but they did gather money for poor people, help build houses for those who lost theirs in fire, and they tried to help out ex-Cofederates rebuild their lives. Interesting point, the Klan fist hanging victom was a white man! So, yes the Klan were evil for what they did and nothing else they did could make p for it. But people tend to look at every thing as being black and white when the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

[nortonscarton]

Hia, I,m from Brasil, and my friend is search for a movie called : After Many Years. If you have this movie, can you post that? I will be glad. Sorry about my poor English.

[magiclard]

An intellectual who was a daring film maker? Let people speak if they are wrong dont judge their whole life on that. Broken Blossoms is a beautiful film, but we dont go saying its anti Chinese, More tolerant than the survivors on the Titanic! And what of the film Intolerance? One of my favourite writers Douglas Reed had temerity to criticize Jewsafter WW2 -never got published again, despite being wanted by the Gestapo in the 1930s.

[jerel011]

Why can't he be both??

A monster racist master of cinema

[xStarkiller]

Agreed!

[GriffithMovies]

Is the world RACIST. NO But we all Jog a little.

[UofLCardFan08]

My vote is matser of cinema.

[ericthatsme1]

@UofLCardFan08 ....I am with you

[RomneyGack]

"White Men Can't Jump" is a "racist" movie. I hope I will live to see the day when black folks aren't treated like they are some special species of ape that can be wounded with words. Either they are men or they are beasts.

[ash4432]

no its not then stop acting like white people who think there better than everyone there not you been brainwash to think you are...

[RomneyGack]

"No, it's not. Then [please] stop acting like[as if] white people think THEY'RE better than everyone [else]. THEY'RE not. You have been BRAINWASHED [indoctrinated?] INTO THINKING you are". PS "There is no Greek or Jew here, circumcised or uncircumcised, foriegner, Scythian, slave or freeman. Rather, Christ is all and is in all". Colossians 3:11

[Basssinger86]

In my view of him, is that he was brought up the southern way and that is what he feels. Racism, IMO, isn't genetic, it's taught. Don't forget that The Birth of a Nation was made with the point of view of the confederate side. If he made a movie about the Union, maybe it might have been different. I'm not defeating his view point in the movie because it is totally racist. HOWEVER, I don't judge a man on one side, even it is a dark one. He is still one of the all time greats.

[ginko27]

Well, to say that he was a racist may be a bit of an overstatement. If you watch Birth Of a Nation, not all black ppl are evil, he gave alot of sympathy to the President's death, and was well known for paying his black workers more than what would be considered "standard negro wages". But yes, the Klan as a whole did more BAD than good, AND D.W. stained one of the great movies of all time by adding them to it. However, he is still one of the best film makers in the world!

[saltyseaweed]

"The Klan as a whole did more BAD than good?" Well, what kind of good did it do? Pray tell. . .

[assandthem]

Even "gone with the wind" (1939) has some kind subtle form of racism(in the form of instigation to race rage),especially at the start. But that film is still so popular even today.

[JFMJJ]

He was both a racist and a master of cinema. The two are not exclusive. It's something else altogether, however, to argue that it's fine that he was a racist, since racial discrimination against blacks was accepted back then. Sorry, but that doesn't excuse his bigotry. "Birth of a Nation" is a major technical achievement, and is also full of vile, racist filth. I'm in awe of "Triumph of the Will" whenever I watch it, but I'll never forget what it really is. Same goes for "Birth of a Nation".

[assandthem]

Griffith's been an innovative director one of the few who wrote history of cinema. Was he racist? Surely he was a man of his era, when the sensiblity was kinda different about certain stuff, and "political correctness" had still certainly to come. On the contrary Directors Guild (or... Guilt?) Of America is a poor politics thing that nothing has to do with cinema, they simply pissed off their proper pot. Blame on them.

[phillitupp]

These films are classics i don't even care if a china man was played by a white man and had fake goofy teeth still would be classic =p

[pearldrummr86]

hahah those black people are real man they don't have shoe polish on their faces hahah DW RULES!!!!!!

[Thedivinewoman]

It is an irrelevant question as Griffith is long dead and his legacy is his wonderful and innovative film making. I'd be more worried about the racist film makers of today as they have no excuses.

[ryryruru18]

he was both

[hammerofuglytruth]

I don't know anything about this "play" but with a name like Ira H. Gallen I doubt D.W. Griffith will get a fair shake. For me the great creators and innovators of what became known as "Hollywood" are three people. Mack Sennett: Creator of first truly successfully motion picture studio. D.W. Griffith: Creator of the motion picture epic. Walt Disney: animation and combining motion pictures with marketing and merchandising.

[RGamesINC]

It seems rather unfair to critisize Griffith for his views, judging that he grew up during a time where it was widely accepted and that racism was beat into his family considering that his father lost everything in the civil war. It's not really his fault that he had the views on race that he did, and I don't judge him for it. I still think that he made legendary movies and deserves credit for that.

[luridplanet]

Few remember the author of The Klansman, so Griffith is a convenient target. The trouble that Birth of a Nation stirred up just shows what society was like back then. Griffith was no more evil than Hitchcock or Scorsese.

[NGS712]

lurid: I agree.

His opinions are not something to admire, but the man himself doesn't seem to conjure up hate. It's just as ridiculous blaming racism on a film like The Birth of a Nation as it is to blame violence on video games.

Both are products of the times, so the fault lies with the people. Think about it, if Birth of a Nation hadn't been created would the U.S. have been any less racist?

[LazlosPlane]

Can't he have been both?

I mean, what do we want of our artists? Perfection? Isn't that what they produce? Beethoven was no picnic, neither was Wagner who was a virulent anti-semite. Does it make their achievements any less profound?

Who was a bigger bigot than Henry Ford? Driven a Ford lately? If we learned that Mozart was a slave-owning, anti-semitic, pedophile, would his symphonies be any less perfect all of a sudden.

There needs to be some GROWING UP going on here.

[gnocchitimms]

Well said, LazlosPlane. Griffith certainly did not stand alone in his racist views. At the time they were shared with a huge number of his countrymen. To judge one man based on today's social mores is to point fingers at the racist attitudes of most of our great, great-great grandparents, etc. Griffith was a brilliant film maker and truly the Father of Cinema and should be honored for that.

[LazlosPlane]

Thanks.

[ekocentric]

I don't think that it matters if DW Griffith hated blacks. He is dead.

Any of the lynchers who used Griffith's movie as an excuse is probably dead too. If not, the are too old to do anything either.

In short, we need to know that it happened and not let it blind site us to the point that we can't apply that good energy to life today, in the 21st century.....that is the best way to get even.

[ramacuervobsas]

he was a racist monster

[samsamiisamiiii]

he was agreat film maker , exactly as pudovkin and sergei isensein where, he should be recognised fo his great talent, as a afilm maker

[javan82]

man was racist

[iraRona]

your wrong

[boomloom]

Everyone was racist back in those times. It's not a big surprise if he was. Big deal. Times have changed.

[hemming57]

Can't fault a guy for being a product of his time

[newsreels]

There was more to the man then this one film. What about all the films at MGM

[insaneberry]

Why does everyone accuse him of being racist? if anything the blame should lie in the author of the books hebased his films on, then the prime scenarist. He's only the director...not the creator. The book this was based on is called "The Clansman." Find it and read it. Much more vivid than anything the motion picture could conjur up!

[Gabster1990]

I heard the only non-white people he liked were native americans.

[iraRona]

not true....

[000266617]

The question is kind of silly as Griffin was both. Hitler was both a monster and genius. "don't think it is correct to call anyone a racist monster" What then was he, a nice, sweet guy who loved all people? For some people, its not name calling but an accurate description.

[tehmode]

I don't think it is correct to call anyone a racist monster. Calling anyone a monster is way of creating distance between yourself and that fellow person. And the truth is - you need to understand that they are human, and there is a very human reason behind anyone's deep routed prejudices, no matter how misguided or down right shocknig they are.

[OlderPete]

Meh! Speaking as a white man, it is who we all were in the early 20th century.

[soulja4lyfe]

birth of a nation was an excellent movie even though it was historically inaccurate and full of racist propaganda its an excellent film but u have to realise that griffith was a man of his time and this is how most of america felt at that time plus he made inntolerance after he realised what Birth of a nation did to help perpeptuate negative stereotypes of the black race all in all great film

[Weekyl]

Dude's racist. Doesn't change his influence on films, though.

I couldn't hear most of the dialogue.

[OnOctober4th1957]

Fictionally, could he be a decendent of Andy Griffith of Mayberry?

[iphz]

he's both the monster and the genius , by creating the alternated montage ... and using it for a racist propaganda in a birth of an nation ! /troll off

[richardbrompton]

Griffith was Not any sort of a "Monster"! He was a Genious and a Southern Gentleman!

[SamLowry99]

It is disgusting that they caved into Political Correctness, and took his name off the award.

BTW what is the story behind this clip?

[shumdavar]

freemason klansman