Impact on Society.
This movie is an American silent era film released on February 8, 1915, 1nd was directed by W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The film records the association between two families in the Civil War and Re-establishment era.
This film portrays slavery in an untroubled light, presents the blacks as good as nothing but menial laborers. It shows the how the Radical Republicans had coerced the blacks into being involved in an abusive dominion against their southern white counterparts who existed during the Reconstruction Era. The film indicates freedmen as interested in intermarriages and indulging in vengeful violence primarily to pressure the whites into sexual relations. The whites of the South formed Ku Klux Klan to protect themselves against such abominations. The white-sheet-clad death squad is asserted to serve justice by denying blacks the right to vote. This brought order and civilization to the Southern region.
This film, “Birth of a Nation,” was sensational. The film portrays protest by civil rights societies by ecclesiastics and editorialists. “Birth of a Nation” effectively started flaming violence against blacks in many cities. The film's subject was the sin of the proximity of the white and black races. It starts by showing Africans been taken to America and been sold as slaves, and this was the first source of disunion between Blacks and Whites. The problem here is not slavery but the improper mixing of races.
Griffiths ends by showing the return of freedmen to Africa. The Radial Republican congressman took advantage of a situation which led to his aggressive, divisive and vengeful Reconstruction form. The blacks claim of the right of intermarriage spark the crisis of revolt of the southern whites. This is a notion of racial purity which is shown at the core of the film.
It is impossible to dispute the offensive content in the movie due to the merits of its grand and enduring aesthetic which also make it hard to love. This conflict renders the movie more despicable and the experience of the film yoked the immense talent to cause hatred.
The Lost Weekend (1945) film
The Lost Weekend was an intense, agonizing and uncompromising film which shows alcohol addiction in five days during a vacation in the lifetime of a long-lasting, strenuous alcoholic, and botched author. This social-problem film was a success.
This movie was revolutionary and ground-breaking gesticulation picture since this was had been the only time in the history of Hollywood that Hollywood had taken consideration of the annoying issue. The movie helped in the creation of awareness on the issue of alcoholism. The preceding movies had only made entertainment of drunks and lashes. The Lost Weekend’s release was threatened by the alcohol industry who wanted the film prevented from circulation. Contrary to expectations, the film succeeded in its general release and accomplishment.
The audiences and the studio viewed the movie main theme as that which was extraordinary, contentious and unambiguously true before its release. The determined black and white depiction used in the movie illustrated the threatening, and traumatic control of alcohol while a few of the booze-laden acts were taken in the presence of many alcoholic bottles and shot glasses. The central figure of the movie loses a couple of things namely money, right to freedom and the realistic senses when he is placed under confinement in a ward due to alcoholism. This made the society view alcohol as a societal evil. Alcoholism was a real menace in society and affected the productivity of the economy, and the movie was clear in its depiction of the scourge that the community faced. The film is set to enlighten the society on the problem faced by the community due to alcoholism through the provision of the various forms of challenges faced by the film characters and the reckless lives they lived.
The largest impact created was after the return of the war-exhausted GIs from WW 2 that were struggling and adjusting with their problems in a normal society after a very long period away from their homes. This made them turn into alcohol dependents. Post-war dramas between blacks and whites dealing with social problems were witnessed after its success.
Gang of New York (2002) film
Gangs of New York is an American film that was created in the 19th century in the districts of lower Manhattan that were 5 in number and released in 2002. The film was created and written by Martin Scorsese and Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan. This film was the brain child of Herbert Asbury’s nonfiction book called The Gangs of New York in 1927.
The plot is well-paced and tight enough and comes out as a neat piece of film artistry. It contains a lot of violence and does not portray America as a place of happy people, slaves or the benevolent rich, but it instead shows the perfect 1860 societies. Certainly not for the audiences who prefer their movies with plenty of happiness and excitement.
The film is epic and dramatic as it is centered on two men. In the immediate surroundings of these two men, things evolve and a brave new world arise. Only snapshots of that world are shown in the movie until the last sequence when the whole city explodes, and the streets are covered in blood. The main story and the events of the era are tied together in the same continuum. The director portrays the robust growth of the United States in the form of a parable. Scorsese tries to dive into the heroes’ psychology, but he fails to give an explanation of their acts.
Finally, the film is disturbing to the community as it contains extreme violence. There are streams of blood all over, crushing and depiction of gruesome acts like the butchering of individuals. The visually astounding part is the last sequence, and this may make viewers desist from watching the film over and over again if they do not possess the courage to cope with the disturbing and alarming images.
