“What do I do? When you have a certain level of success, when things start to work, things go under the microscope and become bigger and bigger things.” “I will not relive that period of my life every time I go under the microscope,” Parker told Deadline Hollywood. He also emphasized how he has led an exemplary life as a filmmaker, man of faith, social justice advocate, husband and father of five daughters.
In his statements to reporters, Parker didn’t address the trauma suffered by his accuser but sounded a bit indignant that he had to address his past. In an apparent attempt to get ahead of the story, Parker sat down with reporters to offer his version of what he called the “painful moment” in his life.
But he and Fox Searchlight, the studio distributing his film, apparently realized that the rape case wouldn’t stay in the background forever, especially as the brutal rape of Nat Turner’s wife is presented as the event that incites Turner to rebellion.
Parker’s rape trial has always been a matter of public record but remained in the background of most stories about him and the film. In January Parker became the toast of Hollywood when “Nation,” his dramatization of the 1831 Nat Turner slave rebellion, premiered to massive acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival. Parker was acquitted, while his roommate and future “Birth of a Nation” co-writer Jean McGianni Celestin, was initially found guilty but his conviction was overturned on appeal. Parker was a 19-year-old wrestler at Pennsylvania State University when he and a roommate were accused of raping an 18-year-old woman in their apartment. That controversy gained new urgency when it was learned this past week that Parker’s accuser in the 17-year-old case had committed suicide four years ago. She sees a direct line from Turner’s sentencing, his victim’s letter and the controversy surrounding Parker. “We’re in a new moment,” Dauber said in a phone interview Monday. And I loved, not only when I was distracted, but when I was distracted in a beautiful way.The letter, which detailed the physical, psychological and emotional trauma she suffered as a result of the attack, investigation, trial and aftermath, “crystallized” a long simmering feeling “that enough is enough,” especially among millennial women and female campus activists, said Michele Dauber, the Stanford University law professor who is spearheading efforts to recall the Santa Clara County judge who sentenced Turner. And, I just loved losing myself in a story, it helped me distract myself from reality.
And, as I got older and learned how to read, I became an avid reader because I’m actually pretty shy in my real life. And I have no idea why I used napkins as my medium, but I just loved the idea that I could make things up. I would draw these villages on napkins, and then write stories about the people who lived in that village. I started writing, in an age sort of appropriate way, at four years old.
GAY: I fell in love with writing very early. MCGEVNA: At what point in your life do you fall in love with words and prose, and just know that this was what you needed to do? So I would definitely start with those two pieces. And, my piece about trigger warnings and bad feminist, I think really holds up well, and keeps coming up again and again, as we have these cultural discussions about how do we protect people, while also telling stories that we want to tell in the ways we want to tell them.
And so, I wrote an essay several years ago called “The Price of Black Ambition,” that I think is something that I would include. I have pieces of mine I think have held up fairly well.