The Birth of a Nation is a melodramatic revenge saga.
ON AUGUST 21, 1831, Nat Turner, a slave who saw himself as a prophet, led a brutal revolt in Virginia’s Southampton County. He and his fellow slaves hacked up, beheaded, and shot not just white slaveholders but also their wives, mothers, and children. After the marauders were killed and/or captured, bands of white men took revenge by roaming the countryside, shooting and stringing up blacks willy-nilly. It was an unholy bloodbath. The “peculiar institution” would endure for three more decades, but slaveholders could never again be certain that the blacks who were their “property”—and whom they regarded, in some cases, as “family”—would not someday turn on them.
This is the story that the writer- director Nate Parker sets out to tell in The Birth of a Nation, but his audacious title tells you something else. He’s not just taking on the Confederacy and a legacy that’s still cherished in parts of the South. He’s taking on D. W. Griffith’s seminal 1915 epic The Birth of a Nation, which sought to portray the aftermath of the Civil War—the “Reconstruction”—as the assault of lawless darkies on both the South’s social order and the virtue of its women. Griffith’s movie was also the most influential argument for vigilantism ever made. The Ku Klux Klan— a spent force by 1915—was reinvigorated by a scenario that had its members doing what officers of the law would or could not. The Klan was a holy cavalry.
Denne historien er fra October 3-16, 2016-utgaven av New York magazine.
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Denne historien er fra October 3-16, 2016-utgaven av New York magazine.
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A Wonk in Full- Ezra Klein, glowed-up and post-coup, was almost a celebrity at the convention.
Ezra Klein, glowed-up and post-coup, was almost a celebrity at the convention. Ezra Klein, who is known to keep his passions in check, did not have the right credentials to get into the arena. The Secret Service didn't recognize the New York Times' star "Opinion" writer and podcaster, but eventually he was able to figure out how to get in to where he belonged. This was, after all, as much his convention as any journalist's, since its high-energy optimism turned on the fact that President Joe Biden was no longer leading the ticket and, starting early this year, Klein had led the coup drumbeat.
The Afterlife of Donald Trump - The presidential hopeful contemplates his campaign, his formidable new opponent, and the miracle of his continued existence.
Donald Trump raised his right hand and grabbed hold of it. He bent it backward and forward. I asked if I could take a closer look. These days, the former president and current triple threat-convicted felon, Republican presidential nominee, and recent survivor of an assassination attempt-comes from a place of yes. He waved me over to where he sat on this August afternoon, in a low-to-the-ground chair upholstered in cream brocade fabric in the grand living room at Mar-a-Lago.
Danzy Senna Can't Stop Thinking in Black and White
Her latest novel holds diminishing returns.
Live, Laugh, Love
Dick jokes meet sentimentality in a wily Sandler-Safdie collab.
Tim Burton Is Great Again
A long-awaited sequel revels in gore and nostalgia.
In the Shack With Robert Caro
The Power Broker is turning 50. The final LBJ book is almostwell, he won't say exactly, but he's trying for 900 words a day.
24 Comedians You Should Know RIGHT NOW
THE COMEDY industry is undergoing a metamorphosis in 2024. Name-brand venues like the Second City and UCB are opening or reopening in New York, beloved local spots are being bought out by megacorporations, and streaming-service-helmed comedy festivals are usurping the old-fashioned ones. Post-WGA strike, TV-development execs are growing green-light-shy, Hulu is entering the stand-up fray, and YouTube specials are becoming just as worthy of watching as Netflix specials, if not more so.
Leading Lady
Anna Sawai could take home the Emmy for her performance in Shogun. But she's keeping her cool.
RESTAURANT REVIEW: Le Même Veau
The Frenchette crew has taken over the 87-year-old restaurant, and the snails are as garlicky and the duck as pink as ever.
DESIGN HUNTING: A LOFT WITH A HIGHER PURPOSE
Ali Richmond, co-founder of the nonprofit Fashion for All Foundation, has lived in this Brooklyn loft for almost 20 years with his archive of designer clothing.