The Big Picture: Is Django Racist?

MovieBob

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Dec 31, 2008
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Is Django Racist?

MovieBob gives us his opinion on Quentin Tarantino and race in this.

[This review contains spoilers concerning Django Unchained]

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bandit0802

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Dec 24, 2008
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Bob has nailed it. Again. Combine him with Jim and Yahtzee, and you have a super nerd with enough common sense, charisma, and international followers to scare the world's politicians.
 

Canadamus Prime

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Jun 17, 2009
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Yes, the only way we can learn from these atrocities is to face them in the same way that removing any reference to Nazi Germany in games like Wolfenstein is only going to ensure that atrocities like the Holocaust happen again.
 

hermes

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Mar 2, 2009
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I am confused (haven't seen Django yet), but is this not the same argument that can be used for Inglorious Bastards; i.e. that the oversimplification and cartoonization of a dramatic period and the protagonists makes the power fantasy backlash on its intent? So, I guess Django is as racist as Inglorious Bastards was antisemitic. Or is it that nazis are a valid karmic target for people, while white colonial landlords are not?

I am genuinely curious, since I didn't like the way the power fantasy plays on Inglorious Bastards, but I got that it was not meant to be an historical reconstruction; so I don't really get where the Spike Lee comments come from.
 

leviadragon99

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Jun 17, 2010
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Huh, wasn't even aware that supposed racism was even a thing some people were worrying about... ignoring that rivalry, it does seem like Spike Lee meant to say it was disrespectfull rather than racist given the wording of his follow-up comment, not to put words in the dude's mouth or anything.

And yeah, trying to make somber stories about atrocities runs the risk of distancing people from the true brutality and suffering that went on then, causing the next generation to subconsciously downplay just how serious the crimes were.
 

Lvl 64 Klutz

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Apr 8, 2008
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Good thing I'm not a Tarantino fan and wasn't planning on seeing this movie. 4:50 seems like a bit of a massive spoiler.
 

Arizona Kyle

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Aug 25, 2010
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Nautical Honors Society said:
Short answer, no. Long answer no it is not racist.
Short answer, no. Long answer noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

FTFY
 

themilo504

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May 9, 2010
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Even if it was just a very violent exploitation movie I don?t think racist would be the proper word anyway.
 

Xman490

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May 29, 2010
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Dr. Schultz added another literary reference by quoting a philosopher (whose name I forget) who spoke out against slavery or abuse right before...
shooting Candie instead of shaking Candie's hand, sparking the gun fight that seemed to end the movie.
 

gphjr14

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Lvl 64 Klutz said:
Good thing I'm not a Tarantino fan and wasn't planning on seeing this movie. 4:50 seems like a bit of a massive spoiler.
You're missing out its a good movie.

On topic Spike Lee complains just for the sake of gaining attention probably because he stopped being relevant after the 90's.
The movie was good I along with all the other black people in the theater enjoyed it I heard laughter coming from all around and no one left during the entire movie...except for me because a girl kept calling me...
 

Something Amyss

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Dec 3, 2008
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DVS BSTrD said:
19 seconds till the accent showed up, that's a new record.
Amazingly inconsistent in this one. Like he's screwing with us.

OT: Bob lost me when he started talking about Tarantino as savvy and someone who understands the context of the movies he's imitating. That's what's always made his movies ring hollow.
 

Falseprophet

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Jan 13, 2009
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Bob, I liked your analysis of Tarantino's meta-textual work.

I really enjoyed the film. Great performances all around.

I think Spike Lee is a good filmmaker. I'm glad he feels so passionate about some issues he'll confront a Hollywood luminay like Clint Eastwood head on over them, even when he might be in the wrong.

Am I going to wade into a debate with other white people over whether Django is racist when I've already seen black Americans passionately arguing both sides online? Not likely.
 

MB202

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Sep 14, 2008
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I just saw a video where these guys (The Young Turks, actually) were critiquing the fact that there are action figures of characters from Django Unchained, saying it's a "slap to the face of our ancestry". I'm like "they're just action figures, what's so racist about selling action figures?" I kind of knew there'd be a controversy, but seriously, some people will just find anything to ***** about.

Although, I kind of get the idea that some people don't want to see something they take so seriously drummed up in a fun, exploitative kind of way, and I respect that. That being said, I still enjoyed Django Unchained, and I like how the real heroes and villains at the end of the day were the black characters played by Jamie Foxx and Samuel L. Jackson. Actually, I liked how Jackson was kind of "the man behind the man" in this movie, even though he still serves and even greatly admired Leonardo DeCaprio's character. Somehow, the image of a black-hating black man feels a lot more disturbing and effective than the white bad guy.
 

bunji

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Nov 14, 2010
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For once I thought this was a great episode with a very rigid logical structure, but I wonder; if someone made a movie about all the black-on-black slavery that took place during this same period, would that be okay?
 

Gearhead mk2

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Aug 1, 2011
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No.
No no no no no no no.
N. O.
People, if you're gonna complain about prejudice and hidden mesages in media, at least complain about the ones that are actually there and not just you panicing over the slightest "controversy".
 

Daaaah Whoosh

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Jun 23, 2010
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The only problem I see about Django in regard to race is the ending, when Django and his wife have seemingly switched places with the recently departed white people. I mean, I understand the idea of a revenge story, and I understand that all them white folk who died deserved it, but when you are getting vengeance on someone who tortures and murders people, you shouldn't end the story with the hero torturing and murdering people. Or, at least they shouldn't be so damned happy about it. Django himself had misgivings about killing people, in the scene where he shot that man in front of his son. But after that, he turned into a remorseless killing machine, and he fared far better than the German with a heart of gold. Not to be racist, but I am a bit worried that some black people may walk away from Django thinking that it's a good idea to murder white people and blow up their houses, because then you'll get a wife and some fancy clothes, and overall a pretty happy ending. But I guess that's the world we live in, where anything, no matter how thought-provoking and good-intentioned can turn into an elementary school massacre.
 

BrotherRool

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I really love stuff like that, so many layers of thought going into that that I was completely oblivious to. And I like that you took me from flat out disbelieving Django could be racist on a superficial level, to opening me up to the idea that it actually could be racist in a slightly more subtle way and then ending up showing it was flat out not racist again but in a much cleverer way. And in five minutes

When you talked about Tarantino using genres to heighten aspects of his own films, you flashed up Kill Bill, would anyone like to explain to me what was going on in Kill Bill? There's so much I#ve missed/failed to understand when watching these films