Be it The scapegoat tale or the birth of a nation film, they both represent a if not-so-subtle violent competition to win over the minds of the people. People are the apparent "controllers" of their own governing system. If I have learned anything thus far from reading excerpts from Gustave Le Bon's manual of thought control, his highly acclaimed The Crowd: A study of the popular mind is that, the policies and rights offered (by those who wish to govern) to any people, of any culture, of any time are not the convincing factors to win over the masses. It has become clearer in my mind, though I continue to struggle with articulating the following: that having an emotionally charged group of people can have an extremely beneficial opportunity for those who have won the hearts of the masses.
In The birth of a nation, the action packed sequences immediately generated a feeling of adrenaline, due to the music and distressed "victims" running about...there something about crowds running in fear that cause distress to any spectator...I can see how this film was influential to white men who felt the need to align and "become a hero" like those in the film. The mob mentality is almost a primal reaction, animalistic even. This brings me to mention that politics in itself is a competition amongst wolves and i have come to believe that the representative of any party must be a master of rhetoric to disguise himself a sheep, in order to persuade any voter.
As with the above mentioned contest of wolves. The scapegoat's Mr. Asbury stated "oh yes, in politics we are all lambs and the wolves are only to be found in the other party..." It was this phrase that defined the very moment when the "war" amongst these men was truly coming to a climax. I say this because it gave me an glimpse of Asbury's mind at work. But these are not fairly original concepts, as a brief understanding of the Marxist point of view would allow any reader to see that notions like these are visible (perhaps subjective) in the Capitalist system. Capitalists are in a competition amongst each other, compelling each faction to maximize profits or go under and out of business...somewhere amidst this drivel is a Darwinist upholding this methodical form of violence.
... The chilling truths of a Red Record and the inspired by truths of The lynching of Jube Benson share not only similarities in that they had similar methods of "punishment" but also in the vividly and graphic nature of violence that was illustrated through a mastery of writing. Both works use tantalizing and detailed words to accurately describe the scenes of torture, I would say they read right out of a fiction novel depicting the horror genre. Pinhead, a Clive Barker character was famous for being a guide of sorts through hell and a master of sadistic forms of torture. "Come, We have such sweet sights to show you..." is what his invitation into his realm of unspeakable terror demanded. But not even Barker could conceive of such atrocities committed by the Southern White Christians in both a Red Record and The Lynching of Jube Benson.
In The birth of a nation, the action packed sequences immediately generated a feeling of adrenaline, due to the music and distressed "victims" running about...there something about crowds running in fear that cause distress to any spectator...I can see how this film was influential to white men who felt the need to align and "become a hero" like those in the film. The mob mentality is almost a primal reaction, animalistic even. This brings me to mention that politics in itself is a competition amongst wolves and i have come to believe that the representative of any party must be a master of rhetoric to disguise himself a sheep, in order to persuade any voter.
As with the above mentioned contest of wolves. The scapegoat's Mr. Asbury stated "oh yes, in politics we are all lambs and the wolves are only to be found in the other party..." It was this phrase that defined the very moment when the "war" amongst these men was truly coming to a climax. I say this because it gave me an glimpse of Asbury's mind at work. But these are not fairly original concepts, as a brief understanding of the Marxist point of view would allow any reader to see that notions like these are visible (perhaps subjective) in the Capitalist system. Capitalists are in a competition amongst each other, compelling each faction to maximize profits or go under and out of business...somewhere amidst this drivel is a Darwinist upholding this methodical form of violence.
... The chilling truths of a Red Record and the inspired by truths of The lynching of Jube Benson share not only similarities in that they had similar methods of "punishment" but also in the vividly and graphic nature of violence that was illustrated through a mastery of writing. Both works use tantalizing and detailed words to accurately describe the scenes of torture, I would say they read right out of a fiction novel depicting the horror genre. Pinhead, a Clive Barker character was famous for being a guide of sorts through hell and a master of sadistic forms of torture. "Come, We have such sweet sights to show you..." is what his invitation into his realm of unspeakable terror demanded. But not even Barker could conceive of such atrocities committed by the Southern White Christians in both a Red Record and The Lynching of Jube Benson.
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