On Thursday, USC's School of Cinematic Arts screened the upcoming film, "The Birth of a Nation," which tells the story of Nat Turner, the African-American slave who led the 1831 Virginia rebellion—the deadliest of any slave uprising in the South. The name choice comes as an ironic appropriation of D.W. Griffith's 1915 film, "The Birth of a Nation," which is still lauded as a grand innovation in film despite its sympathetic view of the Ku Klux Klan.
Yet, the film has been steeped in controversy after it surfaced that director, writer and lead actor, Nate Parker, was accused of sexual assault at Penn State in the early 1990s, and the woman involved ended her life in 2012. Parker was acquitted after the trial, but Jean Celestin, his Penn State roommate and the co-writer of "The Birth of a Nation" was charged with rape. Celestin's conviction was overturned soon after.
Tara Shivkumar, a junior studying screenwriting, felt conflicted at the film screening. While she appreciated the film, she felt that SCA professors didn't deal with the surrounding controversy appropriately—they told students before the screening to separate the "creator from the content," as Shivkumar put it.
"In a bubble, it was a great film, and it was beautifully shot. It's heavily allegorical with a lot of significance for what is going now in this country," Shivkumar said, "But that comes at the price of Nate Parker… As much as it was a powerful narrative in terms of race, it also prompts a huge discussion about rape culture. He's an unapologetic rapist."
One of the producers of the film, Jason Berman, is a USC alum and graduated from the School of Cinematic Arts in 2006. Berman believes that the film exposes the structures of racial injustice, which he thinks still stand today.
"There was a system put in place that was not right, and the residual effect of that system still affects people today. I don't think Sam Turner, the Armie Hammer character, was a bad person, he was born into a system and you see that with his own struggles throughout the course of the movie," Berman said.
Berman also hopes that the film will educate and empower young people to strive against discrimination in their own lives.
"I think that a lot of young people will see this movie, and will get an understanding of what those systems were, how wrong they were and that in society, it is important to fight injustice."
In terms of the sexual assault controversy, he believes that it's being emphasized more within the entertainment industry, and when the film is released across the country, the general public will be less bothered by the case.
"I'm not concerned about the wide release of the movie because I think people are going to want to see a movie about an American hero. I think anybody that does have any wavering about seeing it, will hopefully hear by word of mouth that the movie is inspirational and important and is something that can create change," Berman said.
Berman noted that the crew will continue to support the film and Nate Parker through the controversy.
"While we did have a huge curveball that has been thrown at us, there were 400 people that worked on this movie and we all stand behind our art that we helped to create. We have all obviously been there for Nate through this time."
Another student who attended the screening, Savannah Hemmig, is a survivor of sexual assault and believes that the glorification of Parker on stage at yesterday's screening by his castmates and the producers was unacceptable.
"By not condemning his actions, it is really disrespectful to survivors of sexual assault," Hemmig said, "They were talking about how he's so great, he's so passionate, how he was an amazing guy to work with. It's saying to thousands of survivors the life of this rapist matters more."
Hemmig believes that bringing the film to college campuses without engaging in open dialogue only serves to reinforce rape culture.
"By not condemning a rapist, you show that you don't care about the life of this woman."
Shivkumar echoed Hemmig's sentiment.
"This film is going to be remembered as something great in history, but the woman he raped is going to be forgotten. Six months from now, we're going to stop talking about this," Shivkumar said.
Watch the trailer for the film below:
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Annenberg Media