Monday, December 10, 2007

Reaction to "Rebirth of a Nation" by Paul D. Miller

I really had a hard time deciphering DJ Spooky's remix of "Birth of a Nation." I wiki-ed D. W. Griffith's 1915 white supremacist film. To be perfectly honest, I didn't feel that Miller made any interesting point with the remix, that I could understand, and I found his notes very frustrating and indirect. The only line I really could relate to what I saw was "But if you compare that kind of flux to stuff to DJ mixes, you can see a similar logic at work: it's all about selection of song as narrative." Griffith's original film used a very strong story/narrative to make a political statement with a strong emotional appeal. By telling a story, Griffith makes his audience empathize with the victimized white characters and celebrate the heroic ones. I guess this relates to DJing? Telling a story with the mixing of different songs? Miller connects his work with montage. Which makes sense. I really don't know what else to say. I didn't really appreciate it.

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