“The birth of a nation” was released to thousands of theaters across the U.S. last Friday. The movie is based off a true story and is set in America during 1831. The film is about Nat Turner, the slave who historically led a uprising in hopes of freeing him and his fellow slaves. Leading up to the film’s release, there has been positive buzz from critics that hope for it to earn Academy Award attention, especially after the “#OscarsSoWhite” controversy earlier this year. However, a nearly 20-year-old rape case has resurfaced involving the film’s director, Nate Parker, stirring up some controversy around the film.

Almost 20 years ago, Parker was accused of raping a woman who was a fellow student of his at Penn State, although he was never charged. The case was almost completely forgotten until last August, when Variety gave it some new life by revealing in an article that the victim had committed suicide in 2012 at the age of 30. With this new information brought into public knowledge, debate has sparked about whether it is morally right to support this film, considering Parker’s background.

According to IB Film teacher James “Jim” Peterson, there is no answer as to if it is right to support this film. But, Peterson said he personally believes that people should look at art separate from the artist, therein disregarding the accusations against Parker.

“It is a very gray area and you have to figure out where to draw the line and because film is such a collaborative art, obviously there are more people that worked on the film than just the director,” Peterson said.

Peterson also said that this is not the first critically acclaimed film to have a controversial background behind it.

“Roman Polanski is another famous director who fled the country after being charged of rape, but we still celebrate his movies like ‘Chinatown’ because they are still great movies,” he said.

Tanner Chaille, performing arts student and senior, said he agrees with Peterson. Chaille said he believes that the movie should stand on its own and be seen independently, regardless of what happened in the director’s personal life.

“In general, art should be separate from the artist, because something that you make doesn’t necessarily reflect everything about you, so someone could still make something good while being a bad person,” Chaille said.

Maggie O’Scanaill, performing arts student and senior, also believes art should not be judged based upon the artist’s previous actions. However, with this case surrounding Parker, she said she feels slightly different. O’Scanaill said she believes this scenario is different from others, because Parker, who also portrays Nat Turner, has a rape scene in the film.

“First of all, I feel like portraying rape in a movie is wrong, and once I learned this director was using it in the movie, it changed the whole situation for me,” O’Scanaill said.

With all of the sudden negative attention the film is receiving, many people are wondering how this case is going to affect not only the film’s box office returns, but also its chances at winning during award season. According to Peterson, the controversy could actually benefit the film in terms of how much money it makes in theaters by increasing publicity.

“There’s one philosophy that ‘The Birth of a Nation’ is going to be hurt (in box office returns) because of bad publicity, but on the other hand many people also say there is no such thing as bad publicity. My guess would be that it will end up getting more box office attraction with the controversy than it would have without it,” said Peterson.

Peterson said while the controversy will most likely benefit the film’s return monetarily, he does believe it will hurt the film’s chances of being nominated for the Oscars because of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science’s (AMPAS) voting habits.

“The Oscars are very political and, with any controversy, it is likely that they will back off from giving it awards attention,” Peterson said.

Regardless of box office and awards return for the movie, many will still be divided on how they believe people should interpret art in relation to the artist. Chaille said he still feels like it is okay to go support the film, but, ultimately, it is up to the individual  to decide what they think is right.

He said, “My stance on the issue is that artists can make good things without being good people, so if you can find something to appreciate in the movie you shouldn’t let the artist’s actions in real life take away from that.”