Birth Of A Nation Film Analysis

“The American movie industry’s view of the black prior to The Birth of a Nation is what one scholar called an “unformed image.” (Leab, 20) So why and how did these stereotypes become permanent embedded messages in the American psyche? Early films were the first to place such cultural images on screen. But were these real black characteristics of black culture? In addition, Edison’s first motion films starting in 1891 include 1896 Watermelon Eating Contest shows two black men eating watermelon creating more stereotypes of demeaning caricatures of blacks eating watermelon in political ads, newspapers, and books throughout American culture. D.W. Griffiths, “Birth of a Nation” (1915) motion picture adapted by the book “The Clansman” (Dixon) is