I don't think that people from the past, such as D.W.Griffith, should be
judged by 1990s standards.  For example, I find the sexist attitudes in
older movies (those made before the resurgence of the women's movement in
the 1970s) to be laughable but find misogyny in more recent movies
troubling. Many films of Billy Wilder, a terrible misogynist, make me
uncomfortable (esp. "Some Like It Hot") but they must be put into
perspective.
 
Mary Kalfatovic