Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The Birth of a Nation is passionate but careless

Nate Parker's Nat Turner

The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation

The Birth of a Nation — director, star, and cowriter Nate Parker’s take on Nat Turner’s failed slave uprising — may be a sadly timely movie. That certainly seems to be the point behind Mrs. Turner’s rather pointed, post-uprising observation that, “They killing people everywhere for no reason at all but being black.” It’s certainly a controversial movie, given its sympathetic portrayal of a religious extremist on a murderous mission from God. (Before he starts sharing his mystical vision wherein God authorizes rebellion, Nat spends time with his Bible, and the camera zooms in on 1 Samuel 15:3: “Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.”) But it’s not a good movie. It looks bad, sounds cartoonish, skips jerkily from scene to scene, and seems weirdly illiterate about its narrative lynchpin: namely, religion.

Sponsored
Sponsored

A minor but significant example: What proves to be Nat Turner’s breaking point — what sends him on his mad religious crusade? It’s not the beating and rape of his wife (she stays his hand by providing the film’s only quotation from Jesus Christ, the line about living by the sword and dying by the sword). Nor is it the pimping out of his best friend’s wife, followed by his friend’s agonized question, “Where’s God now, Nat?” No, it’s the beating he receives after baptizing a white man, who the film tells us has been banned from every religious congregation in the area. But to be banned, you’d have to first be a member. And to be a member, you’d have to be baptized; that was your ticket into a traditional Christian church. Turner rebels because he’s punished for doing God’s work, but the moment makes no sense.

Parker’s film opens with young Turner being brought before a shaman, who looks at the marks on his chest and declares that the child will grow to be a teacher and a prophet. And the boy does seem special: early on, he steals a book from his master’s porch(!) and we see him reading it at night — an ability that is declared “a gift from the Lord”(!). It isn’t long before he grows up into a fine preacher, and so fine a preacher that his master begins hiring him out to speak a calming word to his fellow slaves, lest they grow restless and rise up. He dutifully cites Peter 2:18, “Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh” (skipping over the reason for doing so, i.e., accepting injustice the way Christ accepted it), and he gets through, because, as one nasty master notes, “even the meanest nigger is afraid of the Gospel.”

Movie

Birth of a Nation *

thumbnail

Director, star, and co-writer Nate Parker’s take on Nat Turner’s failed slave uprising is certainly controversial, given its sympathetic portrayal of a religious extremist on a murderous mission from God. But it’s not good: it looks bad, sounds cartoonish, skips jerkily from scene to scene, and seems weirdly illiterate about its narrative linchpin: namely, religion. If you’re going to make a film about a Christian preacher who goes from preaching submission to his fellow slaves (without ever mentioning why, or even mentioning the promised deliverance by Jesus) to leading a holy war, it helps to know something about Christianity as preached and as practiced. We’re told that “even the meanest nigger is afraid of the Gospel,” but only heaven knows why that might be. A possible explanation, made more possible by the anachronistic sensibilities expressed by sympathetic characters: passionate amateur Parker is more interested in making Turner into a modern-day cultural icon than an actual historical character. A powerful story, sloppily told.

Find showtimes

Maybe so, but the film gives no sense of why that might be. Certainly, there’s nothing in Turner’s preaching to inspire fear, or much of anything else for that matter. Instead, we get modern-day Christian pabulum such as, “Take heart, for God is at work in your life, and he will not stop until that work is done.” Nothing about hellfire for sinners. Nothing about deliverance from this world of sorrows by the precious blood of Jesus. Nothing that would make a suffering soul pay any attention at all, not until he boldly preaches on the breaking of chains before an especially brutalized bunch. (And weirdly, is not punished for it by the men who earlier promised to kill him if he made any trouble.) It’s Christianity as social engineering, a tool wielded by both masters and slaves for earthly purposes. Which would be fine, except it doesn’t square with Turner’s own fervent belief or mystical visions. (The visions themselves are a bit of an ecumenical mess, suggesting a union between traditional African spirituality and Christianity that neither side would be likely to grant.)

There’s more that could be said, particularly about the anachronistic sensibilities expressed in the dialogue. But it’s enough to conclude that The Birth of a Nation feels like the work of a passionate amateur who knows the power of the story he’s telling but seems careless about how he tells it.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Goose may have indie vibes, but they’re still a jam band

Fans turn out in force for show at SDSU
The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation

The Birth of a Nation — director, star, and cowriter Nate Parker’s take on Nat Turner’s failed slave uprising — may be a sadly timely movie. That certainly seems to be the point behind Mrs. Turner’s rather pointed, post-uprising observation that, “They killing people everywhere for no reason at all but being black.” It’s certainly a controversial movie, given its sympathetic portrayal of a religious extremist on a murderous mission from God. (Before he starts sharing his mystical vision wherein God authorizes rebellion, Nat spends time with his Bible, and the camera zooms in on 1 Samuel 15:3: “Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.”) But it’s not a good movie. It looks bad, sounds cartoonish, skips jerkily from scene to scene, and seems weirdly illiterate about its narrative lynchpin: namely, religion.

Sponsored
Sponsored

A minor but significant example: What proves to be Nat Turner’s breaking point — what sends him on his mad religious crusade? It’s not the beating and rape of his wife (she stays his hand by providing the film’s only quotation from Jesus Christ, the line about living by the sword and dying by the sword). Nor is it the pimping out of his best friend’s wife, followed by his friend’s agonized question, “Where’s God now, Nat?” No, it’s the beating he receives after baptizing a white man, who the film tells us has been banned from every religious congregation in the area. But to be banned, you’d have to first be a member. And to be a member, you’d have to be baptized; that was your ticket into a traditional Christian church. Turner rebels because he’s punished for doing God’s work, but the moment makes no sense.

Parker’s film opens with young Turner being brought before a shaman, who looks at the marks on his chest and declares that the child will grow to be a teacher and a prophet. And the boy does seem special: early on, he steals a book from his master’s porch(!) and we see him reading it at night — an ability that is declared “a gift from the Lord”(!). It isn’t long before he grows up into a fine preacher, and so fine a preacher that his master begins hiring him out to speak a calming word to his fellow slaves, lest they grow restless and rise up. He dutifully cites Peter 2:18, “Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh” (skipping over the reason for doing so, i.e., accepting injustice the way Christ accepted it), and he gets through, because, as one nasty master notes, “even the meanest nigger is afraid of the Gospel.”

Movie

Birth of a Nation *

thumbnail

Director, star, and co-writer Nate Parker’s take on Nat Turner’s failed slave uprising is certainly controversial, given its sympathetic portrayal of a religious extremist on a murderous mission from God. But it’s not good: it looks bad, sounds cartoonish, skips jerkily from scene to scene, and seems weirdly illiterate about its narrative linchpin: namely, religion. If you’re going to make a film about a Christian preacher who goes from preaching submission to his fellow slaves (without ever mentioning why, or even mentioning the promised deliverance by Jesus) to leading a holy war, it helps to know something about Christianity as preached and as practiced. We’re told that “even the meanest nigger is afraid of the Gospel,” but only heaven knows why that might be. A possible explanation, made more possible by the anachronistic sensibilities expressed by sympathetic characters: passionate amateur Parker is more interested in making Turner into a modern-day cultural icon than an actual historical character. A powerful story, sloppily told.

Find showtimes

Maybe so, but the film gives no sense of why that might be. Certainly, there’s nothing in Turner’s preaching to inspire fear, or much of anything else for that matter. Instead, we get modern-day Christian pabulum such as, “Take heart, for God is at work in your life, and he will not stop until that work is done.” Nothing about hellfire for sinners. Nothing about deliverance from this world of sorrows by the precious blood of Jesus. Nothing that would make a suffering soul pay any attention at all, not until he boldly preaches on the breaking of chains before an especially brutalized bunch. (And weirdly, is not punished for it by the men who earlier promised to kill him if he made any trouble.) It’s Christianity as social engineering, a tool wielded by both masters and slaves for earthly purposes. Which would be fine, except it doesn’t square with Turner’s own fervent belief or mystical visions. (The visions themselves are a bit of an ecumenical mess, suggesting a union between traditional African spirituality and Christianity that neither side would be likely to grant.)

There’s more that could be said, particularly about the anachronistic sensibilities expressed in the dialogue. But it’s enough to conclude that The Birth of a Nation feels like the work of a passionate amateur who knows the power of the story he’s telling but seems careless about how he tells it.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The vicious cycle of Escondido's abandoned buildings

City staff blames owners for raising rents
Next Article

Why did Harrah's VP commit suicide last summer?

Did the fight the Rincon casino had with San Diego County over Covid play a part?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader