I couldn't agree more. It's the same PC stuff that makes students not want
to read Chaucer because he is "sexist." Despite the obvious racism of many
of his films, D. W. Griffith is the man who invented Hollywood. Still.

        Sandy Camargo
        Department of English
        University of Missouri

>from LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/news/comment/19991218/t000115137.html):
>
>
>
> I have always admired the Directors Guild for acknowledging the importance
>of D.W. Griffith with their award, and I am dismayed to hear they are
>withdrawing it. A sign of maturity is the ability to acknowledge greatness
>while not being blind to faults--Alfred Nobel invented dynamite, but his
>name remains on the Peace Prize.
>      However uncomfortable it may be, "The Birth of a Nation," beyond all
>other films, established the feature film and made it possible for the
>members of the guild to practice their craft.
>      The man whose name they dishonor was full of contradictions; yes, he
>made Hollywood's most racially explosive film, but he also made films
>attacking racial prejudice. In one early Griffith picture, the Klan was the
>villain and a black boy the hero.
>      Whose name will replace Griffith's? Another pioneer director--John
>Ford, perhaps?  No, like most of his generation, he revered Griffith. How
>about a foreign name, a director of impeccable reputation: Carl-Theodore
>Dryer? Not a bad idea.  Unfortunately, in a 1950s poll, Dreyer selected
>"The Birth of a Nation" as the greatest film ever made.
>                                                             KEVIN BROWNLOW
>                                                             Photoplay
>Productions
>                                                             London
>Full Alert Film Review
>http://wlt4.home.mindspring.com/fafr.htm
>
>Funhouse
>http://wlt4.home.mindspring.com/funhouse.htm
>
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