The Big Picture: Is Django Racist?
- Thread starter MovieBob
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Oooooooh, that's a Bingo!Nautical Honors Society said:
Not only this but it's very obviously a fantastic film.
Spot on, Bob!
What are you going on about? You think that black people are suddenly going to become remorseless killing machines after watching Django? The same way video games cause young, stupid people to start school shootings? You might want to review your prejudices.Daaaah Whoosh said:
The guys over at Spill.com are still banging on about how this movie was "just an excuse for Tarantino to use the N-word" so I doubt this controversy is going away anytime soon.
Liked the movie just fine, myself. Would like to see Samuel L. Jackson get some very deserved props for infusing so much sheer hate into his character.
Liked the movie just fine, myself. Would like to see Samuel L. Jackson get some very deserved props for infusing so much sheer hate into his character.
Yeah, I think this will be a skip week for me. I really don't care about the opinions of someone who's relevance ended after he made Crooklyn in 1996. On top of that, I really don't see the point of people wanting to defend a movie they like as though liking it means you have to apologize for it.
I like a lot of movies that are questionable nowadays. I do not feel the need to defend them.
I like a lot of movies that are questionable nowadays. I do not feel the need to defend them.
Of course Spike Lee was going to be against this movie...it's a movie about black people (well, person in this case) and he didn't make it.
On a bit of a tangent: evidently a lot of people in Hollywood are pissed off at the director of Zero Dark Thirty because the director didn't use the movie to openly criticize "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" torture.
So apparently if your movie isn't openly pushing liberal/progressive messages, Hollywood's gonna be upset with you.
On a bit of a tangent: evidently a lot of people in Hollywood are pissed off at the director of Zero Dark Thirty because the director didn't use the movie to openly criticize "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" torture.
So apparently if your movie isn't openly pushing liberal/progressive messages, Hollywood's gonna be upset with you.
Yeah, tell me about it. Didn't even think it was a spoiler until you pointed it out then it finally dawned on my that "that one bit" was probably a big enough plot twist to take some of the fun out.Dana22 said:
Then again, wasn't going to spend any money on this movie in the theaters at least. I'm not a big western movie girl.
Nice one Bob. I always love to hear your thoughts on issues like this. My sister is with a black man and has a kid by him. They aren't married but are very much in love. I love my little niece and her father. They are part of my family. I had an awkward conversation with my sister's man before I went to see Django. (I friggin' love the film, by the way.) He isn't sure how he feels about the part of history the film reflects. For him, just hearing the word...ah I don't even want to type it. The "N" word will have to suffice I guess. You thought so too, it seems. For him, just hearing that word repeatedly and in the context of how it was used in the film was too much for him. He watched a bit of it and walked out. He said it was too much. He didn't really have anything negative to say about the film other than that. It wasn't that he didn't like the film. He just couldn't take the visceral stuff. He and I had a great conversation though. A series of them actually. I posited that maybe he didn't stick around long enough to allow the catharsis of the film to take hold of him. He posited that it was difficult for him to have fun in the film, even though he knew that was what Tarantino was going for. My sister's man "got" the film, he just wasn't having fun and in fact, was made so uncomfortable that he left. He wasn't mad at me for staying or anything though. The conversations are not done yet either. Tarantino accomplished what he was going for in my family for sure. We're thinking, and talking unguardedly about a very painful subject. It's been good. All that aside, holy crap was that a good movie. I really loved it! Great topic man. You nailed it.
I loved how that hit some media outlets over the weekend with "OMG Tarantino's bizarre rant!" and some screenshots taken out of context; spend a few minutes actually watching the interview, and you see how much Guru-Murthy was trying to bait him. "So violence, why do people like violent films, why do you make violent films, violence, violence, what about your responsibilities as a filmmaker using all this violence, do you think there's a link between violent films and psychopaths, violence, violence?"Anoni Mus said:
The Graham Norton Show was brilliant last week; with Tarantino, James McAvoy and Alan Davies. Not particularly deep (what do you expect from Graham Norton?) but a good laugh.
I think part of Bobs point is that Django ISN'T simple, that it actually is genuinely about something. Bob said in his review that Django is actually pretty down to earth when compared to, say, Kill Bill, because since the slavery era was already such a violent period of American history, Tarantino didn't have to make that much up.hermes200 said:
Bobs argument, and I would agree, is that to treat dark parts of history like they can never be spoken of has, ironically, the very same effect that people accuse Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained of having; it distances them from public conscience.
A great man once said "Artists use lies to tell the truth", and I think that applies; by being boisterous and over the top, by depicting these atrocities in a extreme way, you get people to pay attention to them, you make sure people don't forget them. An interesting fact is that human beings don't respond as strongly to large quantities of suffering as they do to individual suffering.
Sometimes just saying it how it is, just being cold and factual isn't enough, sometimes it's more important that you communicate what something meant to you, that you really make something FEEL real to your audience, instead of just telling them it is.
I completely agree with Bob's final points and also I think that's exactly what Mel Gibson was aiming for with The Passion of the Christ.
Well, I suppose I see your point. I guess I'm just worried about the young, stupid black people. The rest of them are probably fine, just like I'm sure the rest of the world that isn't young or stupid probably won't do much harm.PainInTheAssInternet said:
I believe it was Alexander Dumas, author of Count of Monte Cristo, and the Three Musketeers, and who was also black.Xman490 said: