‘Birth of a Nation’ raises old argument

Pretty much anywhere you look you can find stories about the controversy surrounding Nate Parker, the writer-director of the soon-to-be-released film "The Birth of a Nation." And as with all art, critics are finding it difficult to separate the strength of the art from the foibles of the artist.

Still, the movie did attract an 81 percent rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, while it was a it less favored (70 percent) on Metacritic.

Following are some of the comments:

Brian Truitt, USA Today: "Parker creates a fascinating portrait of Nat Turner as neither hero nor villain. In the end, he’s portrayed as a man faced with tough decisions."

Stephanie Zacharek, Time Magazine: " 'The Birth of a Nation' isn't a great movie — it's hardly even a good one. But it's bluntly effective, less a monumental piece of filmmaking than an open door."

A.O. Scott, New York Times: "The movie, uneven as it is, has terrific momentum and passages of concentrated visual beauty. The acting is strong even when the script wanders into thickets of rhetoric and mystification."

The movie opens tomorrow in Spokane. The philosophy regarding the separation of artist and artistry is yours to contemplate.