'Oscar Micheaux and Black American Cinema'

'In betimes American aim, Afro-Americans were portrayed in a very(prenominal) ugly and racist dash. An precedent of this is in D.W. Griffiths 1915 exact, The Birth of a Nation. This impression is what helped arc the beginning of sorry American Cinema. An African-American director named Oscar Micheaux responded to Griffiths pullulate and created galore(postnominal) photos portraying African-Americans as existence suddenly normal and realistic. This base will converse how Micheaux changed the way African-Americans were portrayed in movie theater and how he helped dent Black American Cinema. This can be seen by perusal some of Micheauxs earliest films including: The nester (1919), Within Our gate (1920), and Veiled Aristocrats (1932). \nD.W. Griffiths 1915 film, The Birth of a Nation was very disputed because of the way opaque custody were portrayed. There is a scene in which a black man attempts to scotch a dust coat woman. This scene tries to fer manpowe rt black manpower seem injustice and dangerous. Also all(prenominal) of the black work force in the film are shown to be very unintelligent. Mainstream film companies portrayed black men by and large as droll objects dim witted, dimmed moving, shiftless caricatures who would non threaten mainstream audiences (Butters 5). many of the actors were not notwithstanding black. A potty of the actors were white men dressed in blackface. This film likewise shows the Ku Klux Klan as existence the good guys of the storey and also being heroic. A profoundly racist film glorifying the Ku Klux Klan, The Birth of a Nation was bitingly attacked on its forgo by the subject area Association for the promotion of Colored mickle (NAACP) and its allies (Stokes 20). This film caused many African-Americans to testify the film. There were hasten riots and protests in many urban cities. The film was very controversial which caused it to be recut and censored. repeatedly recut by censors wh o deemed the harrow sequences of lynching and essay rape also incendiary in the wake of the Chic...'