Hmmm...I hesitate to enter this debate but it has some bearing on some
upcoming work that I am doing on film censorship.
I guess as a non-lit crit type, and as someone with both a humanistic and
social science orientation, I cannot wholly dismiss the relationship of
aesthetics to politics or society. What this means from me personally is
that I will choose not to "fawn over" Griffith although I am able to
recognize his aesthetic or "technical" contributions to the medium. I
guess what I do think is important is to discuss Griffith openly and
honestly in his full context, that to comment on the obvious tension
between his stature as film innovator and his politics --- I don't see
these as wholly unrelated.
In closing I might add that I do not advocate the censoring of this or
any other film mainly because of the generally negative consequences of
this action. It is my contention that the banning of BOAN assisted in
wiping any traces of race from the Hollywood screen for a good 50 or so
years.
Just my two cents...
Dianne