Important, yet boring. And offensive!

As I've mentioned before, I went and subscribed to Netflix. So far I've enjoyed my slow but steady stream of films. They haven't all been 5 star films, of course, but some of the movies I've rented are movies that I've always wanted to see because they star a particular actor or are by a certain director. For example, I have now almost seen all of Wim Wender's films - and even though several have really sucked the wad, I'm glad to have seen them. Generally, his view of the world and how he tries to portray it, are often more interesting than the resulting films. But that's an argument for another day.

Today I popped in Birth of a Nation. I am not sure what I was expecting, really. I only put the movie in my cue because I'd heard it was an "important" movie. I don't even remember where I'd heard that, or what was supposed to be so important about it.

The movie is still playing in the background as I type this, but I've long since checked out. Maybe this movie is "important", I don't know. It is just unwatchable.

Sure, the costumes are fun to look at, as are the titles (this is a silent movie, made in 1915.) English has changed quite a bit in the last century. I'm not even sure I understand all of what is being said here.

Aside from being bored and confused by war movies, (who is on whose side? What strategy is being explained and why is it relevant...?) there are other reasons to be bored and annoyed by this film:

1. Very many, if not all of the actors who portray slaves and other black people are obviously white actors in blackface.
2. This film does its best to show black people as wild, idiotic savages.
3. This film exalts the KKK: "The white men were roused by a mere instinct of self-preservation ... until at last there had spring into existence a great Klu Klux Klan, a veritable empire of the South, to protect the Southern country." Apparently this is a quote from, Woodrow Wilson.
4. This movie is just too hard to follow. But then again, I can never follow war movies.
5. The lack of dialogue is boring the pants off of me.
6. The movie score is fucking awful. It is a mixture of Christmas music and patriotic sounds.
7. There is a scene where a guy throws a dog. How could anyone throw a doggie?
8. Lillian Gish makes out with a bird and a bedpost.
9. I hate watching movies with hysterical women in them. All the women in this movie are rampantly hysterical.

It looks like I've made it through about half of the movie, so I'm going to add it to the movie list, but I think I'll leave the ending and the appreciating of this movie to film students.