“Birth of a Nation” and “Within our Gates” are two films made in the early twentieth century, yet they present dramatically different portrayals of African Americans. “Birth of a Nation” is a caricature of revisionist history that portrayed African Americans as bestial beings who could almost not function if granted self-determination. While, “Within Our Gates” depicts diverse experiences of black people at the time with humanity, recognizing them as citizens and a community facing differing struggles. Black stereotypes in “Birth of a Nation” and black characterization in “Within Our Gates” can be most obviously compared when focusing on the concepts and issues dealt with in each, as well as the way miscegenation and sexuality are considered in the films.
While “Birth of a Nation” portrays all blacks as seemingly the same, savage and out of control, “Within Our Gates” deals with real issues affecting people at the time. In “Birth of a Nation” all of the black actors are merely used as background, and any actors portraying black characters in the film were white people in blackface. This is significant because it reflects the fact that it was made from a white racist perspective that does not include black people in the representation and portrayal of them. The characters in “Birth of a Nation” that are not wildly out of control and are in fact completely unthreatening are the “faithful souls”. Even the use of this terminology encourages and supports a docility in blacks that affirms and upholds a white power structure. “Within Our Gates” on the other hand takes on issues like education, black advancement, class issues, and differing experiences of racism in the North and South. It also considers how black people dealt with racism through religion and how some black leaders, like Ned the preacher in the film, also encouraged docility and submissiveness in black people.
Both films also discuss the concept of miscegenation drastically differently. “Birth of a Nation” presents images of the tragic mulatto as a sexual aggressive attack on white purity. Silas Lynch is the mulatto politician character whose attempts to build a black empire and have a white wife reveal him as even more devious and dangerous than non-mixed blacks that served as ridiculous caricatures that could barely function. The name Lynch is also significant because it implies that from the perspective of the filmmaker he should be lynched and this is “justified” by his actions that threaten white supremacy. The mulatta maid in “Birth of a Nation” portrays the hypersexuality and lust for whites of mixed race people in a different way. The fact that she desires her white master reinforces the power dynamic as something she wants and does not recognize the history of the rape of black women by white men, retelling history once again. In “Within Our Gates” black and white friendships are shown with a realistic portrayal of how racism permeated thoughts and interactions in the North and South. Mixed race characters are not really discussed until it is revealed that Sylvia’s father is white, yet she is characterized throughout the film as a real person struggling to find support for her cause.
Sexuality functions differently in both films and is racialized in “Birth of a Nation” through the portrayal of mixed race characters as hypersexual while affirming the necessity of protecting white femininity. The entire plot is centered around the attempted rape of a white woman by a black man and that the though of it was enough for the white female character to commit suicide. This action is what mobilizes the rest of the white community to “fight back”. “Within Our Gates” presents a much less one-dimensional portrayal of sexual desires and how they function within the power dynamics of race. When Sylvia, the main character, is almost raped by a white man and it is revealed that he is her father many common notions of racialized sexuality are debunked. By showing a white man attempting to rape a black woman, the film is speaking to a silent history. This scene is juxtaposed with the racialized violence of the lynching of her parents. This revelation shows the complexity of interracial interactions realistically.
“Birth of a Nation” and “Within Our Gates” present dramatically different portrayals of African Americans in the early twentieth century. One film stereotypes black people as homogenously savage and out of control, while the other shows them as a diverse group of people dealing with real issues facing their community. In each, issues dealt with, miscegenation, and sexuality were presented and played out in completely different ways. The comparison of these two films shows how much the perspective from which the story is told influences what the narrative says.
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