I'm fascinated by him, because he's one of those people whose wildly successful but whom its hard to see the appeal when you're outside the scene.. I think there's a specific population of dudes who marry a combination of (a). thinking that we're smarter than everybody around us and (b). being more likely to accept conspiracy theories at face value (kind of a combination of cynicism and gullibility) that he speaks to particularly effectively.
I think the Joe Rogans of the world offer convenient rationalizations and easy outs to men who are feeling that nagging doubt about their own behaviours or views on complex topics. "Feeling helpless that you can't do anything to prevent your sister from getting groped at a family holiday event or your wife from being denied professional advancement by the boys club at work? Worried that helplessness is weakness and it makes you less manly? Make yourself feel better by supporting laws that protect hypothetical women from imaginary trandgender bathroom predators!"
Thinking that changing Joe Rogan's mind will change his audience is like believing in trickle-down economics.
Yup. I don't know if you read the NY Times but they had this wild story a few days ago on how retired Maga teacher is harassing Maga county clerk because Trump "only" won that county by 80%
(356 to 100). Votes were stolen by the deep state!
TL,DR but she's been super accommodated with facts and evidence but no-conspiracy! Sigh.....
Thanks for watching the full film for us and appreciate you putting it into a contemporary context. I am struck by the fact that White Reformer Ladies were the targets of so many social critics during this period. I'm thinking of Sinclair Lewis' protagonist in Main Street and in My Antonia by Willa Cather, the disdain for Mrs. Jim Burden. Enjoy a little of summer in the next two weeks!
I think it is broader than that. There were critiques of the women who financially supported the union organizers among the garment workers (after the Triangle Shirt Waist Factory) and those who advanced higher education for women. The role of white women in policing the margins is nothing new.
Terrific look at this 100+ year old film. I saw the whole thing in one sitting in 1969, which would have been closer to when it was made than it is to today! I've never had the energy (or desire) to see it again, but I've watched and enjoyed Buster Keaton's wonderful parody of it numerous times over the years. That one -- "Three Ages" -- is only an hour long, and it's on YouTube too. Highly recommend.
I was hoping that somebody would come here to rep Three Ages (which I've heard about but haven't seen). I'll admit, after watching a silent film that was high on craft but took itself so seriously, I found myself craving some Keaton (also high on craft, but not on self-importance).
You'll love it. (I believe it was the first feature Keaton released. I think he shot One Week first, but held it up for some reason. That one is a masterpiece!)
>> "a three-hourlong epic with four interconnecting storylines and a lot to say about the Huguenots in fifteenth Century France." <<
Are you sure you don't mean 16th century? I may be wrong, but the Reformation didn't even kick off until Martin Luther pounded a nail into a church door in 1517, and it's hard to imagine a protestant group being persecuted before the Reformation started.
But I am not an expert here, and maybe the Huguenots were in existence in the 1400s/15th century and just weren't protestants until after the Reformation kicked off later? I honestly don't know if the Huguenots were or weren't an identifiable group apart from their religious convictions.
Many years ago, I took a course at the American Film Institute on Griffith. We of course screened both Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. Those massive sets were astonishing as was the editing. If memory serves, Paul Kael said it was the greatest film ever.
The Babylon sets apparently stood (and rotted) for ages next to the corner of Sunset and Western in Hollywood. My grandmother lived just blocks away on Wiltern at Hollywood Blvd. (all dirt roads then), but she had graduated in the first class at Hollywood High by 1916 and was an early female student at Stanford University at that time.
The more amazing thing is that there are some films that are half a century old that don't show their age at all. My wife and I went to a 50th anniversary screening of Chinatown a month or two ago, and it's as impressive a work of filmmaking today as it was in 1974. There were *many* great films made in the 20s, but that next 50 year gap to the best of the 70s may as well have been separated by a century. (Which is partly why it's so sad that the vast majority of "A" pictures that have been produced in recent decades have been so lame.)
Hi there. I can tell from this and other comments that you've made on my pieces that you and I view a lot of issues differently. I've found from experience that back and forth in comments sections don't end up amounting to much, but if you want to send me an email (it's up above) I'm more than happy to discuss more with you there.
Wow. That was something. Do you know anything at all about Gender Dysphoria and the suffering it can cause? I have a cousin whose child has been a trans girl since she could walk and talk. It's been hard for her parents, but they are absolutely neither child groomers nor pedophiles. The whole family has had a hard road, with a harder one ahead, but it isn't made any easier when they are faced with hateful ignorance. You have your "opinion" from afar, but I have my knowledge from up close.
No need to respond. I'm just sharing my personal thoughts.
Maybe if we agreed that some males get to be “sensitive” or some females get to be “aggressive” we wouldn’t have people wanting to change their official gender?
Hi all-- I'm strongly encouraging that there not be any further responses to this comment-- I don't have any optimism this'll result in anything productive or liberatory. If anybody would like to discuss with me directly, my email address is up above and I'm always (legitimately) happy to hear from all of you. Future comments in this specific thread (meaning, in response to the original comment from TJ Swift) will be deleted, though.
It’s an impossible choice. Feed the troll and bolster their ego, or ignore the troll and let the poison stand unchallenged. FWIW, I honestly thought that the original post was being satirical. Poe’s Law and all that. I was genuinely let down that it was “real” in its ignorance and vitriol.
That’s why I neither engage with comments meant to provoke nor ignore them. As the original poster now knows, if they want to go back and forth with me on this they’re welcome to email me, just not in this space
thank you soooo much Garrett, for finally writing about D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance this week.
Your check is in the mail, Chuck.
Great! Now do Broken Blossoms, please.
Completing the Griffith/Lillian Gish cycle! And also a rich text fro a racial/gender analysis perspective.
I'm clapping!
Alot!
👏👏👏👏👏
You had to listen to Joe Rogan?
Man, I feel your pain.....
I'm fascinated by him, because he's one of those people whose wildly successful but whom its hard to see the appeal when you're outside the scene.. I think there's a specific population of dudes who marry a combination of (a). thinking that we're smarter than everybody around us and (b). being more likely to accept conspiracy theories at face value (kind of a combination of cynicism and gullibility) that he speaks to particularly effectively.
I think the Joe Rogans of the world offer convenient rationalizations and easy outs to men who are feeling that nagging doubt about their own behaviours or views on complex topics. "Feeling helpless that you can't do anything to prevent your sister from getting groped at a family holiday event or your wife from being denied professional advancement by the boys club at work? Worried that helplessness is weakness and it makes you less manly? Make yourself feel better by supporting laws that protect hypothetical women from imaginary trandgender bathroom predators!"
Thinking that changing Joe Rogan's mind will change his audience is like believing in trickle-down economics.
Really good analysis of the particular itch that he and others like him scratch
Yup. I don't know if you read the NY Times but they had this wild story a few days ago on how retired Maga teacher is harassing Maga county clerk because Trump "only" won that county by 80%
(356 to 100). Votes were stolen by the deep state!
TL,DR but she's been super accommodated with facts and evidence but no-conspiracy! Sigh.....
Thanks for watching the full film for us and appreciate you putting it into a contemporary context. I am struck by the fact that White Reformer Ladies were the targets of so many social critics during this period. I'm thinking of Sinclair Lewis' protagonist in Main Street and in My Antonia by Willa Cather, the disdain for Mrs. Jim Burden. Enjoy a little of summer in the next two weeks!
Oh that's a really good point-- that would be a fascinating thread to pull. I wonder if a lot of it isn't reaction to the WCTU specifically?
I think it is broader than that. There were critiques of the women who financially supported the union organizers among the garment workers (after the Triangle Shirt Waist Factory) and those who advanced higher education for women. The role of white women in policing the margins is nothing new.
Everybody in my house loves Chappell Roan, too!
Bridging generations!
Terrific look at this 100+ year old film. I saw the whole thing in one sitting in 1969, which would have been closer to when it was made than it is to today! I've never had the energy (or desire) to see it again, but I've watched and enjoyed Buster Keaton's wonderful parody of it numerous times over the years. That one -- "Three Ages" -- is only an hour long, and it's on YouTube too. Highly recommend.
I was hoping that somebody would come here to rep Three Ages (which I've heard about but haven't seen). I'll admit, after watching a silent film that was high on craft but took itself so seriously, I found myself craving some Keaton (also high on craft, but not on self-importance).
Also the "1969 is closer to 1916 than it is today" fact is true, of course, but that doesn't mean it didn't just blow my mind!
You'll love it. (I believe it was the first feature Keaton released. I think he shot One Week first, but held it up for some reason. That one is a masterpiece!)
197 minutes and he couldn't give us 30 seconds at the end to tell us what happened to the baby.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BABY, DAVID???
I regret to inform you that the baby grew up to be an Uplifter
Oddly, the Gish Gallop was not named for Lillian Gish.
But the first Smashing Pumpkins album was!
>> "a three-hourlong epic with four interconnecting storylines and a lot to say about the Huguenots in fifteenth Century France." <<
Are you sure you don't mean 16th century? I may be wrong, but the Reformation didn't even kick off until Martin Luther pounded a nail into a church door in 1517, and it's hard to imagine a protestant group being persecuted before the Reformation started.
But I am not an expert here, and maybe the Huguenots were in existence in the 1400s/15th century and just weren't protestants until after the Reformation kicked off later? I honestly don't know if the Huguenots were or weren't an identifiable group apart from their religious convictions.
You're right! Just a typo! Will fix!
Phew, glad I didn't bother you for nothing.
I will happily add more of substance later, but still reading your OP.
Thank you for this!
Thanks for reading!
Never heard of it. Birth of a Nation yes but not his “sequel”.
I've only discovered it recently!
Many years ago, I took a course at the American Film Institute on Griffith. We of course screened both Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. Those massive sets were astonishing as was the editing. If memory serves, Paul Kael said it was the greatest film ever.
That's right! Karl loved it. That sounds like a fascinating course
It was.
The Babylon sets apparently stood (and rotted) for ages next to the corner of Sunset and Western in Hollywood. My grandmother lived just blocks away on Wiltern at Hollywood Blvd. (all dirt roads then), but she had graduated in the first class at Hollywood High by 1916 and was an early female student at Stanford University at that time.
Garrett, it blows my mind as well!!
The more amazing thing is that there are some films that are half a century old that don't show their age at all. My wife and I went to a 50th anniversary screening of Chinatown a month or two ago, and it's as impressive a work of filmmaking today as it was in 1974. There were *many* great films made in the 20s, but that next 50 year gap to the best of the 70s may as well have been separated by a century. (Which is partly why it's so sad that the vast majority of "A" pictures that have been produced in recent decades have been so lame.)
I’m confused “(see also: how quickly “Karen” was fully adopted by the right as a slur for any left-leaning woman they don’t like)”
I thought “Karen” was adopted by the left as a slur for racist right-leaning woman.
I can’t keep this stuff straight.
It is confusing, not just you at all! But yes, just like "woke," the term "Karen" has largely been co-opted by the right at this point.
Hi there. I can tell from this and other comments that you've made on my pieces that you and I view a lot of issues differently. I've found from experience that back and forth in comments sections don't end up amounting to much, but if you want to send me an email (it's up above) I'm more than happy to discuss more with you there.
You’re a bigot.
Its a definition. It’s not a daily talking point. You took care of that quite nicely with a lot of GOP gibberish in your bigoted rant.
Sorry if reality triggers you so.
Wow. That was something. Do you know anything at all about Gender Dysphoria and the suffering it can cause? I have a cousin whose child has been a trans girl since she could walk and talk. It's been hard for her parents, but they are absolutely neither child groomers nor pedophiles. The whole family has had a hard road, with a harder one ahead, but it isn't made any easier when they are faced with hateful ignorance. You have your "opinion" from afar, but I have my knowledge from up close.
No need to respond. I'm just sharing my personal thoughts.
Maybe if we agreed that some males get to be “sensitive” or some females get to be “aggressive” we wouldn’t have people wanting to change their official gender?
Hi all-- I'm strongly encouraging that there not be any further responses to this comment-- I don't have any optimism this'll result in anything productive or liberatory. If anybody would like to discuss with me directly, my email address is up above and I'm always (legitimately) happy to hear from all of you. Future comments in this specific thread (meaning, in response to the original comment from TJ Swift) will be deleted, though.
Translation: Please don't feed the troll.
Yeah. I should have thought of that before responding.
It’s an impossible choice. Feed the troll and bolster their ego, or ignore the troll and let the poison stand unchallenged. FWIW, I honestly thought that the original post was being satirical. Poe’s Law and all that. I was genuinely let down that it was “real” in its ignorance and vitriol.
That’s why I neither engage with comments meant to provoke nor ignore them. As the original poster now knows, if they want to go back and forth with me on this they’re welcome to email me, just not in this space