Comments on: Broken Blossoms (1919)

By: PK

PK — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:51:56 +0000

I think films can affect us regardless of issues, because well-made films have that emotional resonance, even when there are some major issues going on. (I wrote a term paper on Leni Riefenstahl as an undergrad, went into some of this then, too.) I find that I can sometimes ignore or set aside some massively fucked up stuff towards women or LGBTQ people in films and books, things that directly affect me, if it’s presented in the right way, as normal in context.

It’s something hard to grasp and deal with. Definitely won’t pretend I’ve resolved my issues with that yet.

By: Griffith’s stereotyped tolerance. | Like Neon

Griffith’s stereotyped tolerance. | Like Neon — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:02:03 +0000

[...] in love with an abused London waif. I’d never seen the film before, and while I stand by my rating and review as posted yesterday to Filmikaze, I’ve also had to complete a critical analysis of the depiction of race, gender and class [...]

By: Anita

Anita — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:25:26 +0000

Also, as an aside, I think it probably bears mentioning that I fully expect my attitudes and how I approach the film to change over time, since right now I’m essentially just a layman hashing this stuff out as best I can. I think I’ve got more critical viewing skills than the average person, but I’m nowhere near where I want to be, which naturally is why I’m in school for it. Right now I’m struggling a bit with how genuinely affected I was with the film despite the stereotypes and sort of…sidestepping of the racial issue, and I don’t know if that’s to do with my own privilege or if I’m simply making allowances due to the time period. It’s all really interesting, though.

By: Anita

Anita — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:12:02 +0000

Yes, absolutely; Griffith totally made BB because of all the criticism he was getting regarding his depiction of non-whites, and that’s obviously important in historical context, but when I sat down to write this, I decided I needed to focus on the merit of the film as its own entity. Otherwise I would have rambled on for ages about depictions of the Other, character archetypes and the patriarchy, and it occurred to me, but that’s really not what this blog is about. I’m considering posting some sort of meta to Like Neon as a companion piece. I’ve been pondering this review since I wrote it, about whether I ought to have gone into greater detail regarding the ideologies of the time, but I think Roger Ebert made a good, concise point in his own review of the film:

If the attitudes about race in “Broken Blossoms” are more well-meaning and positive than in “Birth of a Nation,” they are nevertheless painfully dated for today’s eyes. But of course they are.

And that’s essentially how I approached it. I have to assume, or at least hope, that anybody reading this understands it’s a film to be viewed as a product of its time.

I read that post about Short Circuit awhile back, and you’re right, it’s appalling. Ultimately, that’s what I took away from BB most: the fact that we’re so fucking slow to let go of racial stereotypes, cultural appropriation and general racial fuckery.

By: PK

PK — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:56:39 +0000

I also had to watch this for a class (Asian Americans in Film and Video) and found it fairly remarkable for the period in its artistry, though certainly problematic in more ways than one. DW Griffith was a scary man, but he was a ridiculously effective and talented filmmaker, and he was in fact making an intentionally sympathetic piece. And as you noted, the portrayal of POC hasn't gone very far--not to mention the portrayal of Asian men and the concept of yellowface. While it's not the only recent example, the Tiger Beatdown post on Short Circuit still just blows my mind.