D. W. Griffith's Silent Film Within Our Gates

Early in the twentieth century, D. W. Griffith produced the controversial silent film known as The Birth of a Nation that portrayed the African American male as a predator (dir. D. W. Griffith, 1915). Five years later, an African American filmmaker—Oscar Micheaux—produced the silent film Within Our Gates, which not only showed that African American males are not predators, but they just as civilized as their white male equivalents (dir. Oscar Micheaux, 1920). An early shot in the film reveals that Larry Prichard (Jack Chenault) confesses his love to Sylvia Landry (Evelyn Preer). However, Sylvia denies, revealing—in an intertitle—that she does not love him and that she is “already engaged” (Micheaux). When a similar event happens in Griffith’s

The costuming of Sylvia and Larry are elegant and clean. Sylvia is in a white, which symbolizes goodness, innocence, and purity. This attire helps to develop Sylvia’s characterization, which is of a generous young African American woman trying to raise money for a black school. On the other hand, Larry sits next to her in black, a color that has more negative symbolic meanings. We later learn in the film that Larry is a gambler and criminal. Though Larry has these qualities, he does not become aggressive when Sylvia denies his hand in marriage. Micheaux shows that though Larry is African American, gambler, and criminal, he is not malicious. This scene highly contrasts Griffith’s scene where the belligerent, black Gus (Walter Long) pursues the frantic, scared, white Flora (Mae Marsh), simply because she denied him her hand in marriage. Griffith tried to warp the image of the African American male by making him appear animalistic and aggressive. Thus, in this early shot, Micheaux attempts to mend Griffith’s distortion by presenting a similar scenario with a realistic and respectable reaction from his character,

In their racial formation theory, they stress that “race is a social construction and not a fixed, static category rooted in some notion of innate biological differences” (Omi et al., 12). The perceptions and beliefs of race are shaped and constructed by society. They are particularly shaped by the powerful voices in which people are influenced by, the media being one of the most prominent authorities. Griffith perverted his power of influence by portraying the African American male as undesirable and as violent. Griffith was not the only filmmaker depicting the African American as detrimental or unattractive. In fact, filmmakers during this era either portrayed those of color as criminals or as humorous objects. Then, Micheaux enters the film industry in attempts to reverse these shaped beliefs. Rather than take Griffith’s approach—showing white individuals as flawless and saint-like—Micheaux presented the African American male in a realistic way. Though we do not know in this shot that Larry is a gambler and criminal, Micheaux presents later that his African American male characters are not perfect; they are human, and they come with their own sins and imperfections. This, essentially, makes Larry’s reaction to Sylvia’s denial even more powerful. Though Larry is a character with many imperfections, he does not become aggravated or violent when, perhaps, Griffith or other filmmakers would suggest