Battleship Potemkin versus the Birth of a Nation Essay

Gen.   John J. Pershing   , a veteran of the Spanish-American War, commanded the AEF. The U.S. was far from prepared to send an army to the European front

Stanley Kubrick’s sexual parody, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, illustrates an unfathomed nuclear catastrophe. Released in the midst of the Cold War, this 1964 film satirizes the heightened tensions between America and Russia. Many sexual insinuations are implemented to ridicule the serious issue of a global nuclear holocaust, in an effort to countervail the terror that plagued America at that time. Organizing principles, such as Kubrick’s blunt political attitudes about the absurdity of war and the satirical genre, are echoed by the film style of his anti-war black comedy, Dr. Strangelove.

     The War of 1812 was a war between Britain and the United States fought primarily in Upper Canada. It had many causes, few which involved British North America. The results of the war include the fact that there was no clear winner or loser among them. The only real losers in the situation were the Natives in the region. They were driven out of their lands and customs. None of the borders was changed by the war, though many attempts were made. The Treaty of Ghent, which ended the war, did nothing to advance the state of the countries. It went so far as to end the war and put things back the way that they were, but the main causes of the conflict were not addressed or dealt with. In order to evaluate the

The War of 1812 was fought between the United States and England. Ending in 1815 with the Treaty of Ghent, the war did not accomplish any of the issues it was being fought over. For the US, the War of 1812 seemed to just be one failure after another. Although the military suffered great failure during the war, these were the direct consequence of the failure of the citizens to unite for the causes of the war. Because of these failures, it is quite valid to call the War of 1812 "America's worst-fought war".

In the books The Civil War and Limits of Destruction by Mark E. Neely and The Destructive War by Charles Royster, both authors examine and question the destructiveness of the war. Neely is of the opinion that the Civil War was not a total war, while Royster argues the Civil War was the first modern war in American history. Both authors take different approaches to examining the war, as well as the role specific people played in the war. While both authors offer valid arguments to support their positions, there is no argument from either author that the Civil War had a major historical impact on our nation. While both books focus on the destructiveness of the Civil War, they differ not only on their view of the war as a total war, but also on the level of destruction, the approach used to support each authors point of view and the role that race played in the war.

Birth of a Nation uses its histrionic plot to show how tangled destinies of a southern and northern family before and after the Civil War. It willingly portrays southern blacks as spiteful and uncivil, the northern whites as crafty, dishonest, and conceited, and the film’s southern whites as anguish recurrent radical and erotic mortifications at the hands of white northerners and black southerners before factually being saved by the thoughtful, Ku Klux Klan. The film is divided to show the different aspects of those two sides during this historical time. During this time Africans were coming to America and it started the reconstruction on our country. D.W. Griffith made this film to show us the reality of racism at this point in time.

The years Thomas Jefferson and James Madison took office were in many ways difficult for the United States. Several events which compounded upon each other lead to the American-British War of 1812 which ended officially in 1814 with the peace Treaty of Ghent. None of the issues which instigated war were really resolved and it would seem that for the US, the War of 1812 was just a series of failures and few triumphs that, in the end, cost the Natives more than anyone else.

The Birth of a Nation, arguably one of the most ambiguous names in the history of cinema, is only about to get more complex and chaotic. The Birth of a Nation was originally the title of D.W. Griffith’s 1915 racist propaganda film about the rise of the Ku Klux Klan who “saved” the South from being dictated by blacks during the Reconstruction era when the North tried to rebuild the South after the Civil War. Now, that title poises a new movie written, directed, produced, and starring actor Nate Parker that dramatizes the 1831 slave rebellion led by enslaved African-American Nat Turner.

Throughout the 19th century, America transformed from a small, developing country into a world power. It was able to earn some credibility with other countries after it worked so hard to gain its independence in 1776. The United States also made many enemies after its monumental success. Acquisitions of land due to events such as The Louisiana Purchase, the Mexican Cession and the addition of Alaska, Florida, Oregon, and Texas tripled the size of the United States from 890,000 sq. miles to 2.73 million sq. miles in less than 100 years. One of the events that catalyzed this expansion was the War of 1812. The war is sometimes called “America’s second war for

In this movie the African Americans were treated nicely but in reality they did not feel this way. The masters mistreated their slaves but in the movie they were actually having conversations. There is a scene in the movie where a group of African Americans were shaking hands with the white Americans. The producer of the movie wanted to inform others that the “birth” of America was founded on the basis of equality rather than discrimination. If the producer of the movie did not show how the slaves were mistreated, the people will just see the world in only that point of view; the slaves’ point of view does not exist. Ruling countries oppressed both the undeveloped, barren places and the African Americans. The Birth of the Nation is a perfect example of a form of travel writing; the Americans wanted to inform others about America but this movie was only produced in their perspective. Rather than recording the reality, the produces or writers record history with the input of their own influences.

Within Our Gates plot and characters challenges the prejudice shown in the film Birth of a Nation. For instance, the character Efrem is an example of Uncle Tom because he tells his white master

Since 1968, there have been at least 25 films made that portray the events of the Vietnam War. Historians have to ask themselves when watching these films, "Did the fictional character represent historical figures accurately? Is this how a soldier would react in this situation?" The point of view of the director of the film can change with simple alterations in camera angles. For example, a view from the ground of a battle seen can show how the innocent people had the war in their own backyards. The view from a helicopter can show Viet Cong firing rounds at American troops and the troops can't tell the difference between the innocent and the enemy. The audience feels empathy and sympathy for the person from whose point of view the

The Birth of a Nation is divided into two parts: The Civil War and the Reconstruction. It follows the story of two families, one from the North and the other from the South. Both go through the hardships of war and elections. Some of the most controversial ideologies in the movie include: the portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan as the savior with just minds and honorable motives and the portrayal of black people as degenerates that the whites need saving from. Broken Blossoms shows a feminine side of the Oriental man. Chinese immigrant, Cheng Huan, moves to Britain in hopes of spreading his hometown ideology of peace and harmony. He is then exposed to the harsh reality of the Western world. Lucy Burrows, daughter of the abusive

contest. Parallels can be drawn to many of the other themes of the film from this

In “Battleship Potemkin,” released in 1925, opposition and comparison were used to idealize Russia as well. Any film that was not propaganda was seen to be against Soviet Russia. Montage was used to effectively transmit a certain political