The Big Picture: Is Django Racist?
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Yes, actually. Main Spill guy Korey Coleman has said that he could never get into The Boondocks, because the show seriously overuses the N-word.Arslan Aladeen said:
The Spill Crew also called the film a cartoon, like Bob suggested that some people might find it to be. Furthermore, they said it was "irredeemably uneven, way too long and not nearly as funny as it thinks it is", in the words of Spill Crew member Martin "Leon" Thomas. Leon - who, like Korey, is black - also said regarding Tarantino's statements about wanting to create a hero for black people in Django: "Hey, man; next time, ask me when you wanna do something for me, so I can tell you early on, 'That's stupid and stop, because you're making things worse'."
Movie Bob always manages to produce the most level and unequivocal justifications for his opinions than anyone else I care to listen to.
I'm happy to almost always take his opinion as the 'correct' option as I've been watching his videos for the longest time and I can count on the fingers of one hand the times I've disagreed with him.
I'm happy to almost always take his opinion as the 'correct' option as I've been watching his videos for the longest time and I can count on the fingers of one hand the times I've disagreed with him.
Not only am I mad that Spike Lee still has enough cachet to say he won't watch a movie and have people listen to him, I'm annoyed that he gets called a great filmmaker. Name a Spike Lee movie that's not "Do The Right Thing" (1989) or "Malcolm X" (1992). He hasn't made a great movie in twenty years. Why are we talking about him like he's some sort of visionary?
The thing is Basterds was kind of pulling double duty in terms of its themes/message compared to Django.hermes200 said:
ALOT of Basterds fixated around film-related stuff (the theater owns by the Jewish girl, the soldier/film star, the critic-spy).
Much of that plot centered at a movie made by Joesph Gurbals who made a ton propaganda movies for the Nazis in an attept to influence people. The tone of the movie and the Bastereds themselves were kind of cartoon-y and very "movie" like on purpose. Yes it was for Jewish revenge but it was also kind of "movies getting revenge" for being misused for evil by people like Gurbals (this is also shown by what was used to set the theater on fire).
Django had a different thing going on like Bob pointed out. Basterds was about movies getting revenge on people who use them for evil as well as a holocaust revenge film.
.....But thats just MY interpretation so maybe I am full of it =p
Maybe it's just me, but I felt greatly disappointed when Spike Lee pulled the equivalent of sharia-induced hatred on cartoon muhammad.
"I have not seen the movie, but it's racist and even trying to accept or actually watch it would mean to disrespect and denigrate my ancestors."
Not exactly something I can easily accept from a film maker and public figure. It's like he crawls up his own bottom to fire up Twitter.
Also, he just single-handedly crushed any and all hopes for his (obsolete) remake of Old Boy to be worthwhile or relevant in any way, shape or form. If you want to see Old Boy, go watch it, as in, now. Why wait for Spike Lee's vision of a decade-old movie?
"I have not seen the movie, but it's racist and even trying to accept or actually watch it would mean to disrespect and denigrate my ancestors."
Not exactly something I can easily accept from a film maker and public figure. It's like he crawls up his own bottom to fire up Twitter.
Also, he just single-handedly crushed any and all hopes for his (obsolete) remake of Old Boy to be worthwhile or relevant in any way, shape or form. If you want to see Old Boy, go watch it, as in, now. Why wait for Spike Lee's vision of a decade-old movie?
I appreciate there's only so much you can do in 6 minutes but I feel this video only skims the surface of the controversy. To begin with, a lot of the complaints have to do with the factual accuracy of QT's portayal of slavery in the southern plantations. There's also the issue of whether QT is in a position to preach about slavery or if he's just a casual spectator trying to impose his ignorant ideas into the debate. Many people have problems with particular pivotal scenes that don't handle the tone of the violence against black people with proper care. A lot of people have issues with the scarcity of well-developed, important black characters and the scarcity of dialogue lines spoken by black characters.
It's in no way a simple argument to take part in but the trend I find most worrying is that the camps of for/against can be neatly divided into black people noting it is kind of racist here and there and white people enthusiastically denying any possible hint of racism in any shape or form. I don't really feel there are many people who aren't black who actually want to have a conversation about why it is or isn't racist while there are a lot them who just want to completely win the argument and keep QT's record untarnished, as if that's the point of art or conversations.
I mean seriously, the film's poster shows three people: only one of them is black and all of them are middle-aged men. In a movie supposedly about slavery, this strikes me as odd.
It's in no way a simple argument to take part in but the trend I find most worrying is that the camps of for/against can be neatly divided into black people noting it is kind of racist here and there and white people enthusiastically denying any possible hint of racism in any shape or form. I don't really feel there are many people who aren't black who actually want to have a conversation about why it is or isn't racist while there are a lot them who just want to completely win the argument and keep QT's record untarnished, as if that's the point of art or conversations.
I mean seriously, the film's poster shows three people: only one of them is black and all of them are middle-aged men. In a movie supposedly about slavery, this strikes me as odd.
In some ways, arguably Django Unchained is a step up simply because Django is, in fact, the main character. Dr. King is an interesting character and an important one, and his presence is necessary not only as a mentor but to make the ruse that occupies the second half of the movie possible- but he's not the hero. How many movies "confronting" their issues are sure to make certain that the "real" hero isn't one of the afflicted, but someone the audience can more easily identify with and perhaps dodge any possibility that they'll feel guilt that people not so dissimilar from themselves were the villains in the related histories?
I'd also have to confess that after movies like Bamboozled I'm not entirely willing to give a filmmaker like Lee an automatic pass on his credentials to address historical racism with clear vision.
I'd also have to confess that after movies like Bamboozled I'm not entirely willing to give a filmmaker like Lee an automatic pass on his credentials to address historical racism with clear vision.
Crooklyn, Tales from the Hood, He Got Game, Summer of Sam, The Original Kings of Comedy, and 25th Hour I'm no fan of Spike Lee if I saw the man on the street I would probably just say hey there goes Spike Lee. I just only know these movies because of certain actors or actress.mrblakemiller said:
We're getting hung up on the n-word and missing the broader picture that with every blank Jamie Foxx fired, he wishes they were real bullets. He said the best part of the film was seeing white folks die. Tarantino should've cast another talent that wasn't so hateful.Markunator said:
I take umbrage with Spike Lee's statement because they were not stolen from Africa. African sold other Africans into slavery. Yes, that's oversimplifying how it actually happened. No, I'm not trying to downplay the European's involvement in the African slave trade. No, I'm not saying or claiming that's any better. I'm simply stating that the best way to honor them would be by acknowledging what happened accurately, not by trumping up an already tragic history for your inane argument about why you won't watch a movie.
So now that a sacred cow is in the crosshairs, now we get the qualifier that not everything is racist just because someone claimed it is.
Hey, maybe all you people who liked Django are just secret racists who are completely unconscious of how your predominantly white culture has made you so racist that you didn't realize how racist it was to watch and enjoy a piece of fiction.
Hey, maybe all you people who liked Django are just secret racists who are completely unconscious of how your predominantly white culture has made you so racist that you didn't realize how racist it was to watch and enjoy a piece of fiction.
Pretty much. I really can't think of a reason Spike Lee would dislike the movie so much apart from a white director beat him to the punch and did it better than he would.RJ 17 said:
Interesting. At least he's consistent. Not sure I agree that Django overused it. The movie is depicting a time and place where the white people in charge not only didn't care about hurting the feelings of those under them, but would actively do what they can to try to dehumanize them. Or maybe they did overuse it, but that was the point. I'll just stop before I ramble anymore.Markunator said: