Thomas Dixon, virulent racist and author of THE CLANSMEN, source material for BIRTH OF A NATION, told Woodrow Wilson that he should screen the film because he claimed it was "the birth of a new art."

But privately, Dixon bragged that he lied.

Dixon said that the artistry argument was a cover and that "I didn't dare allow the President to know the real big purpose back of my film-- which was to revolutionize Northern sentiments."

Mm-hmm.

(Not letting Wilson off the hook, he was a terrible racist as well.)

So, when modern people put forth the argument that BIRTH OF A NATION may be racist but, ooo, look at the art of cinema...

Congratulations. You are swallowing Dixon's old line whole. 100 years later and you bought the snake oil and now you're peddling it too.

And the excuse is just as lame today because every advance (yes, even "the grammar of film") credited to BOAN turns out to have been made by someone else.

Also, remember that Teddy Roosevelt was the guy with the earliest confirmed White House screening and he showed nature films

Not only are they promoting a love letter to the KKK, they're parroting the same marketing lies from 1915!

Since we're all being gullible in an old school way... I have this absolutely splendid bridge in Brooklyn that I can sell you at a rock bottom price.

Griffith fans:

P.S. Dixon later said this to Wilson: "This play is transforming the entire population of the North and West into sympathetic Southern voters. There will never be an issue of your segregation policy."

So the mask (hood?) came off.

What was that again about the film just being naive? That we just have to look at context? That we should ignore the racism? Hmm? What was that?

We can't give these people an inch.

Georges Melies is the father of film, Lois Weber was the greatest director of the 1910s and FROM THE MANGER TO THE CROSS is the groundbreaking epic you actually want.

Griffith can pound sand, BOAN can burn.

Here's a clipping about Teddy Roosevelt's entirely wholesome White House screening. Alas, I do not know which specific Kearton titles were shown or if they survive.

We have actually made progress, believe it or not. I remember years ago when I arrived on Twitter there was, I kid you not, a sincere and reverential DW Griffith roleplaying Twitter account.

But we still have a long way to go. So, for the foreseeable future, I will be doing this to Griffith, his filmography and the arguments used to defend both: