Nat Turner's The Birth Of A Nation

Films that depict violence against African Americans during the years of slavery have become very popular over the last five years. The popularity of theses film come from the constant brutality from the police and school shootings. As a viewer, of the previous historical films about slavery, overall the plots have become very repetitive in the recent remaking of the historical struggle for African Americans. The new film, The Birth of a Nation, depicts African Americans resisting the oppression that they have been pushed into for hundreds of years.
Nate Parker’s The Birth of a Nation is a retelling of the rebellion in 1831. Nat Turner was a preacher that led a rebellion that resulted in the deaths of many whites and African American slaves in the 1800’s. Turner’s story is very significant because he is the
only African-American documented that became outraged and attacked the white oppressors in public. During the film, Turner and his followers travel from house to house killing white families and freeing the enslaved African Americans (Nat Turner’s Rebellion). This film secured the basic story about Turner and depicted him as a religious man who saw a sign from God. The film itself continues to present his visions as a reason for his actions and downplays the overall violence in the story and tragically ends with Turner being hanged and publicly shamed for fighting for his rights as a human being.
In the film, The Birth of a Nation the movie lacked depth when it came to the overall image of who Turner was. The film seemed very calculated and lacked a lot of key information that could have made the film more authentic. One example of the question of the film's authenticity is the very beginning. The viewers are shown a scene of little Turner playing with the master’s son as though they are long lost, friends. This is very inaccurate since Turner chose to be more to himself and pray and fast. The film becomes even more flawed when Turner becomes a man, and it appears Turner and his new master Samuel Turner are friends. This perception is also proven inaccurate since Turner ran away from the plantation in 1821(Nat Turner’s Rebellion). Though pleased that the film offered some religious insist during Turner's life the viewer misses the key points that Nate Parker wanted everyone to see. The film was ignored since the overall project was cramped together.
The retelling of the Nat Turner rebellion could not come at a more crucial time in our history as of right now.
In today’s world, there are present similarities between our current problems with our leaders from then and now. Back then African American’s did not have a voice when it came to their well-being. In this era, the minorities do have a voice to speak out against injustice. This film revolved around injustice done to African-Americans and made sure to show the war that was waged between the slaves and the slave-owners. The end of the movie is set up as a preview of what could happen if we continue to fight without really developing a plan of action.
Parker managed to inspire curiosity about the true story of Turner. Aside from the missing information about Turner, the film still managed to tell a story and shown that racism never died. Due to the loss of certain information, it was very difficult to comprehend his theme for the movie. The Birth of a Nation is a brutal movie, yet despite the film’s flaws, it is an impactful story to go see. Overall, the film accurately depicts Turner as a role model for future leaders that want to make a change
today.