I have a piece up this morning at the Washington Post reiterating my belief that it's the duty of the critic (and, frankly, anyone interested in the arts) to separate an artist from their art. This is more or less the crux of my argument:
[Nate] Parker’s forthcoming film has long been treated less as a work of art than as a front in the culture wars: It was first seen as the great black hope after last year’s "whiteout" at the Oscars, earning a record purchase price at Sundance; it is now tremendously "problematic," dotted with landmines for those who claim to champion intersectionality. These stances are similarly reductive, shrinking "The Birth of a Nation" from a work of art to an ideological totem. The film either stands on its own as a work of art or it doesn’t, and nothing Parker did 17 years ago, nor the supposed racial imbalance at the Oscars last year, changes that.
For those of you who haven't been following Variety and the Hollywood Reporter and Deadline—and, really, what are you people doing with your lives?—Parker, the director of the forthcoming film The Birth of a Nation, has found himself in a bit of hot water. You see, 17 years ago he, along with his friend and the cowriter of his film, were charged with rape. Parker was acquitted, the friend convicted (the conviction was later set aside and not retried because the victim did not want to testify again).
Parker hit the press trail in an effort to head off what was certain to be a modest controversy ahead of the film's release. He did so in the most tone-deaf way possible, talking about how he has moved on and how much the struggle affected him—rather than, you know, the woman he allegedly had sex with while she was passed out before his friend did the same. This was ... not great, especially given the fact that he allegedly harassed the victim on campus. A victim who later left school because she couldn't handle it.
A victim who, we learned on Tuesday, committed suicide four years ago.
Now. To be entirely clear: this is a horrible story and sad for everyone involved, especially the victim and her family. It's a tragedy.
There is, however, something darkly ironic about the whole thing. Parker embarked on this preemptive strike of a press tour because Fox Searchlight is counting on The Birth of a Nation to be a big Oscar season contender. Fox Searchlight is counting on The Birth of a Nation to be a big Oscar season contender because the studio spent a record-breaking $17.5 million to buy it at Sundance in January. Fox Searchlight spent $17.5 million to buy it in January because, at that very moment, the industry was roiled in controversy over the fact that no actors of color had been nominated in any of the acting categories at that year's Oscars. Fox Searchlight spent $17.5 million on it, in other words, because it was a surefire Oscar contender thanks not to critical reactions to the film (which, granted, were generally positive) but to the political environment in which it was going to be released.
Now, of course, the political environment in which The Birth of a Nation is to be released has shifted, possibly irrevocably. Given all the outrage over the "campus sexual assault crisis" and the current mantra that we "must believe all rape victims," Parker’s in a tough spot with the folks who were previously his biggest supporters. Those who championed his film for purely ideological reasons—diversity, yay!—are now confronted by the desire to slam him for, again, purely ideological reasons—sexual assault, boo, acquittal be damned! There’s a grim irony here.
The two reactions are flip sides of the same coin. My suggestion to those torn between them? Take a deep breath, watch the picture, and decide if the picture—the picture—is good or not, whether it’s worthy of Oscars or not. Denounce Nate Parker’s behavior all you want. But consider his film on its own merits instead of trying to decide what social justice demands you support before you even see it. Your seeing The Birth of a Nation says nothing about your goodness or your decency. But judging it with an open mind uncluttered by concerns over the director’s misdeeds says everything about your critical faculties.