I will be honest. I watch a lot of movies, television, etc. And certain things catch my fancy like none other in those mediums. In the realm of the silver screen, nothing holds my fancy more than a Quentin Tarantino film. I like his movies, almost to the point of loving the shit out of them. Almost.
I mean, the guy has cinematic moxy, guts and huge brass monkey balls for writing, directing and producing some of the work he has given us over the years. Violent and profane as it all may be, Tarantino can tell a story. After seeing his films, many times, my mind is awash with blood, snappy dialogue, and unrealistically vulgar characters. Quentin Tarantino has got to be the Marque De Sade of modern cinema. He takes the ugly side of mankind, paints it up, makes it uglier and shoves it into our faces. And we, frankly, adore him for it.
Enough with the ass kissing. What is Django Unchained about and why are people so pissed off?
I am getting to that. Trust me. There is so much to say, and frankly I love it when a film challenges me emotionally, morally, and visually. Why? Well, if the silver screen is an accurate reflection of humanity, then a good film will make an audience think; mainly, about themselves. You want to be the hero or in Django's case (by the end of the film) the anti-hero. You want to laugh in the faces of your enemies while your gun hand sends them screaming to Perdition. Why? Because it is fiction. It is the slight of hand for the mind.
Now, Django Unchained is historically inaccurate on many levels. Hell, it starts off historically inaccurate. I blame the writer (my beloved Tarantino), but I digress.
Django Unchained opens in 1858 (with a subtitle that says two years before the Civil War). The Civil War began actually with the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Clearly Tarantino had not done his homework. I don't fault him for this. I suck at math too. But, when doing a period piece, accuracy is key.
Not being too worried about that, I continued to watch the film. The opening musical score, the lettering in the titles, even the landscape shouted, "spaghetti western". Most spaghetti westerns stories are told like years after the Civil War ends.
And as Jamie Foxx marched in that chain gang across that screen to the sounds of "Django" being sung poorly, with chains and shackles clinking to the beat, I had to wonder, what the hell is going on here, what hell did I just spend my money on and what the hell kind of story is Quintin Tarantino trying to tell?
My questions were answered beyond my wildest dreams.
Mahatma Ghandi said, "You can judge a society by how they treat their weakest members."
And, no, he did not make an appearance in this film. Slavery was a harsh reality for over 400 years in this country. It was not a spaghetti western, there was no happy endings for a lot of these men and women. And for what they really endured, frankly, I can't even speak on it and be truthful because my twentieth century mind can't fathom it. I have never been a slave. I have never been human cattle. And even if I was playing one on TV, I could just turn it off when the director yelled cut. That was not the case for millions of Africans and their descendants in this land. That is reality. Look it up.
In fiction, however, the storyteller is inclined to ask questions of each of his or her characters. The questions I asked myself while watching the beginning of this film were answered right in front me and that little inner voice inside of me mirrored that answer: "Why the hell not?"
Why can't this slave, this subhuman, this piece of meat, this cattle catch a break, get a hand up and regain his manhood and humanity? And what would be the consequences for his enemies if he did?
Well, for Django, the hand up came in the form of a German bounty hunter who had a distaste for slavery and the need to acquire his bounty. And the transformation from slave to freeman, for Django at least, was rendered with much blood and fury. I found it shocking, thoroughly engrossing and highly entertaining.
The main opposition for our anti hero Django is a plantation owner named Candie (played wickedly well by Leonardo Dicaprio) and his main house slave Stephen ( played by Samuel L Jackson), who have the main thing in their possession that will make Django whole. Django's saving grace is his love for his wife Brunhilde (played by Kerry Washington). She is part of him. She is his humanity and the reason he risks life and limb throughout the film.
Until the end.
Now, I don't give out spoilers like party favors here. That shit ain't my style. In a nutshell, the movie was everything I expected it to be. Profane, vulgar, and entertaining. But, it also made me think. There are many stories of slaves and slavery that will never be told. The harsh reality of the matter is just that. I haven't seen a film that tackled the subject of the American slave trade for the African perspective since Alex Haley's Queen and before that Roots. Those were true stories.
Django is not.
Django Unchained is a fable. One part Action film, Spaghetti Western, (historically inaccurate) period piece, and Lethal Weapon "bromance" with a strong pinch of love story in the mix. Much like the popular Marvel comics of the same name, "Django" takes the story of the American South and asks"What if"?
The word 'nigger' is used over a hundred times in this movie. Now, before this movie came out, I don't recall anyone wanting to go back in history and see how the word was made and used. Now, all I hear and read is that it is not what we were called back in 1858 or before the Civil War. Well, I wasn't there, and chances are, if you are reading this now, neither were you. It is offensive to say the word, use the word, spray paint it, etc. Somebody is going to fucking get upset when it is said.
But, no one usually gets there head blown off by a bullet a split second after saying it most of the time. Ahh, but what if?
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