Saturday, January 26, 2013

I finally saw Django Unchained

and my gut is telling me that I liked the movie. Maybe it's because it reminded me of the house Negro field Negro dichotomy here in America, or maybe it's because I kept making comparisons to Stephen and Clarence Thomas in my head throughout the entire flick. It was long, but I didn't really notice and that's always a good sign. The acting, as is to be expected with A-list actors, was also good.

I watched it with Mrs. Field, who didn't like it quite as much as I did. Girlfriend, you must understand, is from the South, and members of her father's family were share croppers not that long ago. Watching movies about slavery and pre-civil rights America always sets her off. She also had issues with all the blood and over the top gore. I guess I should have warned her about Tarantino and his heavy hand with the ketchup.

I could also understand why some other black folks had problems with it. (Not you Spike.Reginald Hudlin produced the damn film and the last time I checked he was a brotha.) You didn't know quite what to make of what Tarentino was trying to say about  racism and its stain on America's history. It wasn't over the top funny and satirical like Blazing Saddles (although I found some scenes to be close)and it didn't take a serious historical look at slavery like Amistad and Roots. It was just a spaghetti western about a very dark time in our country's history.

The over the top use of the N-word bothered Mrs. Field a bit, but I wasn't as bothered by it. I understand that the word can be used as a form of artistic expression ("Sucka Nigga" is still one of my favorite hip hop songs of all time), or to stay true to a formula in a play or a movie. Although I am not naive enough to think that many white folks who went to see the movie didn't get some form of satisfaction from the word being used so often in such a public and open forum. Surprisingly, though, even though there might have been two other black folks in the entire theater, there was no laughter after every N-word as some of my friends told me that they experienced.  

So three out of five stars for Django Unchained. Although, sorry Quentin, I am not holding my breath while I wait in anticipation for the sequel. 





61 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think I'm on Mrs. Field's wavelength. Watching over-the-top gore is not how I want to spend my time ("Pulp Fiction" lo these many years ago was enough for me). But I suppose it is a cathartic revenge fantasy.

However, I do think I will purchase a ticket when the Weinstein Company chooses to distribute "Fruitvale" out my way.

PilotX said...

What's Mrs. Field's problem with the pre-civil rights era? According to conservatives this was our golden era.

Anonymous said...

Field, "Surprisingly, though, even though there might have been two other black folks in the entire theater, there was no laughter after every N-word as some of my friends told me that they experienced."

Well, I went to see the movie in a theatre where a lot of Brothas and Sistas DON'T usually go because I wanted to enjoy the movie. Unfortunately, it was XMAS day and Negroes were filling the theatres all over Oakland. The movie was large enough to hold 700 people and most who showed up where Negroes from the wrong part of town. As usual, Negroes ruined things and I left early along with some other Whites and got a refund. I am still angry about those inconsiderate Negroes, whom Chris Rock wouldn't consider Negroes at all. Anyway, I haven't been back to see the movie and doubt if I will now.

If you want to see a suspense-action thriller go see "Jack Reacher" with Tom Cruise. It was terrific.

Anonymous said...

Cool! But It sounds like a guys film. The blood and gore I can do without also :)

The only place it's played here so far is in one theatre in San Juan. Which is too far for me.

Films to do with controversial matter are often not played here. For example most of Michael Moores films are not shown here.

Are they afraid of an uprising? :))



Bianca said...

"You didn't know quite what to make of what Tarentino was trying to say about racism and its stain on America's history."


But you did, right? Tarantino's movie is a indulgent Kill Whitey fantasy flick, a celebration of the strong's right to crush the weak. The truth is in America today blacks have the power on the street. They know it, and they enjoy it. The racial ideology is that all blacks are the helpless victims of all whites and that violence on their part against any white is justifiable both as revenge for past wrongdoing and war to remove any vestiges of white power and privilege.

White people justifiably fear blacks, but are taught to consider these thoughts unpure. So what do we do with thoughts like, "stay out of black areas" and "blacks are dangerous"? These thoughts will keep you alive. Do they lump innocent peaceful blacks in with barbarians? Yes, they do. But they keep you alive, and you don't want to drop them until you've replaced them with an alternative thought that also keeps you alive, while (hopefully) respecting the distinction between the civilized and the barbarians.

But you have the power now. You will probably continue to have it for the foreseeable future, but maybe not always. In the meantime, why should you give a shit? Maybe you do care, or maybe other black people care, at least a little, and if so can you wonder why people fear you? Why they regard you as violent and hateful people that have no dignity or compassion? Not all black people are like that? Some are even comic book nerds, like Ta-Nehisi Coates!

Well every black person who stands up for the right of blacks to do this are all in the same moral category.

Anonymous said...

I really think Quentin would have done better with Denzel Washington or Don Cheadle as DJango. Jamie Foxx just wasn't that good along side the other brilliant actors in the movie. He was out-classed.

I suspect there are others who will agree. NO ONE has said a word about Jamie Foxx's acting in the movie. Let's face it. He was mediocre.

Anonymous said...

PilotX said...
What's Mrs. Field's problem with the pre-civil rights era? According to conservatives this was our golden era.


There is nothing new about the Quentin Tarantino black revenge fantasy “Django Unchained”. Indeed blacks have always loved the idea of taking violent revenge against any and all whites for wrongs historical, real and imagined.

But what’s new or novel about this? The original movie came out in 1966 and featured a white man. But blacks were encouraged to take revenge on whites even before that, and while the revenge violence waged by blacks after the Civil War ended with Reconstruction, the revenge violence wage by blacks in the Civil Rights era has continued unabated since 1965.

Where's the Klan when you need 'em?

Anonymous said...

Desertflower, "The only place it's played here so far is in one theatre in San Juan. Which is too far for me.

Films to do with controversial matter are often not played here. For example most of Michael Moores films are not shown here.

Are they afraid of an uprising? :))"


11:39 PM
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Get Real. PR's don't riot. And considering the size of PR, the island couldn't be any larger than Manhattan, which people can 'walk' from the Village to Harlem if they wanted to in 45 minutes.

So put on your walking shoes and head for San Juan. You'll feel younger and get to see a good movie that is 2hr 45mins. long!:)

field negro said...

"White people justifiably fear blacks, but are taught to consider these thoughts unpure. So what do we do with thoughts like, "stay out of black areas" and "blacks are dangerous"?

"Justifiably fear blacks"? I thought it was the other way around. I am looking at our history and it is blacks (and Natives) who should fear white folks. Just sayin.

"But you have the power now. You will probably continue to have it for the foreseeable future..."

I bet Bianca's boss is black and she just had a bad day at the office.

Anson Asaka said...

I agree with Mrs. Field. I had a problem with the excessive use of the n word, the mixing of slavery with comedy, the exceptional Negro doctrine, the narrow depiction of the other slaves and the white savior syndrome.

field negro said...

A son, I respect and understand that point of view as well. I heard that from a lot of people.
Anon@11:47, don't agree. I think Foxx is a fine actor (watch the movie "Ray"), dude has some range.
I thought he did a decent job and more than held his own with Jackson and DeCaprio.

field negro said...

Whoops, that was anon@11:46. Sorry.Anson, I left out a letter in your name as well. Hey, it's early. :(

Anonymous said...

Anon: Aahaahaahaa! Thanks for the first belly laugh of the day. The imagery of me walking to San Juan is too funny:)))

The island is about ( not sure and not going to google on this hand held) 35x100 miles. Something like that. But it is mountainous, tree and brush, river and stream, cave and gully infested. Not to mention the lions, tigers, anacondas, piranhas and elephant herds. ( not really, just some wild weasels, ferrets, snakes, chicken hawks, and yes we do have wild mountain cats and poisonous insects of all kinds!)

The only road that goes there is the #2 or La Militar highway, so called because the US military built it and thank God for that!

So if Django doesn't come to the Desert, the Desert cannot go to Django, kinda like you;)

On my next trip there I'm going to film a bit so you can get an idea:)


field negro said...

PC, what's up with the Blues playing to a 2-2 dra with that second division club from West London?

khia213 said...

My problem with is that it isn't a black person's movie about slavery. Hooray that it does portray slavery as the brutal, profit industry that it was. Yippee that it is a love story about a black man moving heaven and earth to get his woman. But what it isn't is a story about how black people rose and fell together. Django doesn't give a damn about anyone other than himself and his wife. Those other slaves? Not my problem. No demonstration that when a fight started against the masters, that other black people would have jumped up and got in on the rebellion. And we know they did because history shows us that they rebelled frequently to the tune of thousands of times. Candy refers to Django as a one in a million Negro. (That's not what he actually called him, but I don't have to get on that train just cause it's there.) In actuality, he wasn't. Black men and women struggled together to free themselves. Commuted acts of sabotage to slow the roll. Figured out how to go north without GPS. He wasn't alone in his efforts. And that's what bugs me. All the other slaves were just quiet Stephens. No shuffle alongs, but not awareness that black folks helped other black folks. And I think that's part of what makes this movie the obvious work of a white guy. No awareness of the group struggle.

The Purple Cow said...

"PC, what's up with the Blues playing to a 2-2 dra with that second division club from West London?"

Nobody cares about the F.A. cup anymore, Field. And the way Chelsea's fixtures are pilling up, I got the impression Chelsea's coaching staff would have preferred to lose than let it go to a replay.

That's why they filled the team with kids and ageing has-beens like John Terry.

**

On a not-at-all-related note, check out Ronsford Beaton he's a seriously rapid paceman from Monserrat, the most exciting Windies prospect I've seen in years. The kid's got some serious wheels.

Here he is giving Darren Sammy some SERIOUS chin-music last Thursday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLjo92e3ESY

And here he is beating up big Kierron Pollard (who is not exactly a shrinking violet himself) on Friday, before Beaton let's his aggression get the better of him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85DpyMzQUj0

(great catch by Johnson in this video)

Shannon Gabriel is probably quicker right now, but Beaton is younger and if he can learn to control his anger is a way better prospect.

Anonymous said...

Nice of you to recognize the token producer credit of Reginald Hudlin but he had very little creative input on the film, at best soundtrack selection and racial cover. Just like his token producer credit on this upcoming NAACP Image Awards, which has been given to a white production company. Black folks still need white validation and White folks still use Blacks as a front.

Anonymous said...

Attack on family in Compton latest incident in wave of anti-black violence


A Latino gang is intimidating blacks into leaving the city that was once an African American enclave. It's part of a violent trend seen in other parts of the L.A. area.

And you thought backing Obama in fighting for unfettered acess to Americas resources by illegal aliens was going to help Blacks somehow?

Obama will go down in history as the first President to completely marginalize Blacks to poverty and obscurity - Latinos are the most favored minority and Blacks have been relegated to the dustbins of obscurity.

For Spanish please press 1.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0126-compton-20130126,0,977110.story

Anonymous said...

Blogger PilotX said...

I guess the same influences that are fueling white dysfunction. Why don't you ask that of whites or are you not color-blind like conservatives claim to be.

BTW, the effects of Jim Crow didn't go away the day after there was a brotha on The Rookies. If someone's grandfather was denied a good education and a job because of his skin color his kids won't be as well off then the kid has a kid......I'm sure you get the point KN

First off the Black family unit is dysfunctional over 70% of children are raised by single moms/grandmoms.

Then with all the programs and funding provided to attempt assisting Blacks all you have to do is have a little brains and get out there and do it.

Not having rich family is a cop-out - 80% of Millionaires are first generation - meaning they made their own cash.

If a pakastani, Indian or other minority can come to the U.S and with a couple of years own homes, businesses and be quite wealthy when they barely speak the language. It's easy to see it isn't someone handing you money that is the issue.

PilotX said...

WTF did anon's response have to do with what I wrote? These guys are special.

field negro said...

PC, thanks for that link and the cricket update.

Hyundai123 said...

khia213 said...
>My problem with is that it isn't a black person's movie about slavery. Hooray that it does portray slavery as the brutal, profit industry that it was<

Django's cartoon portrayal of slavery was much less accurate the "Gone with the Wind". The reason blacks rarely rebelled was that slavery was not all that bad - evil yes in its dehumanization and exploitation, but not sadisitic and abusive as it is portrayed today.

Hyundai123 said...

khia213 said...
>My problem with is that it isn't a black person's movie about slavery. Hooray that it does portray slavery as the brutal, profit industry that it was<

Django's cartoon portrayal of slavery was much less accurate the "Gone with the Wind". The reason blacks rarely rebelled was that slavery was not all that bad - evil yes in its dehumanization and exploitation, but not sadisitic and abusive as it is portrayed today.

1%'r said...

"...there was no laughter after every N-word as some of my friends told me that they experienced."
'Cause they lied.

"...many white folks who went to see the movie didn't get some form of satisfaction from the word being used so often in such a public and open forum."
Strange comment as the "N" word is used publicly and in an open forum every day. Where you live? Anyway, "white folk' like myself are not obsessing over race like you, field, or obsessing about evening up some score everyday. You're keeping that list, not us.

Sailer said...

Obama to go to highest unemployment state to call for more immigration to fill the jobs Americans just can't get:

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will employ Las Vegas as the platform to begin a new push for immigration overhaul that would include a chance at citizenship for millions of undocumented residents, the White House said Friday.
Obama plans to travel to Southern Nevada on Tuesday to promote an immigration overhaul, a cause that fell by the wayside during his first term. The president has reaffirmed the issue as a priority, and it has picked up bipartisan interest in Congress as well.
After Obama huddled for a strategy session Friday morning with a half dozen Hispanic lawmakers, the White House said the purpose of the trip was "to redouble the administration's efforts to work with Congress to fix the broken immigration system this year."
Obama told lawmakers the immigration reform was "a top legislative priority," the White House said. The president renewed a promise to Hispanics to move immigration to the front burner this year, a goal echoed by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the Senate majority leader.
The choice of Las Vegas to spotlight immigration was hardly unusual, as Hispanics in Nevada have grown to more than a quarter of the state's population, and Latino voters here backed Obama for re-election in November by a 70 percent to 25 percent margin over Mitt Romney.


Not long ago, the choice of a state with 10.2% unemployment (which ties Nevada with Rhode Island for worst unemployment in the country) to announce a new pro-immigration push would have seemed "unusual" just from a PR standpoint alone. But, in recent years, mainstream discussion of immigration has increasingly dumbed down. These days, mentioning economics in connection with immigration policy is considered way too complicated. Instead, mainstream thinking about immigration policy is conducted solely in tribalist terms. There are lots of unemployed Hispanics in Nevada, so that's where Obama is going to tell the world he wants more of them.

What do you think adding 20 million new democrats will do for black unemployment?

Keep applauding the destruction of the country, Field. Your hands must be getting sore.

Black Sage said...

I haven’t seen Django and it’s an extremely high probability that I will not go to see it. I’m just perplexed at how Blacks could be so easily duped into being an actor (Foxx & Jackson) in such a movie or as a mere spectator at the cinema. On a personal level, Django cheapens the inhumanity of slavery; one of the most atrocious encroachment of one group of people has ever made against another group of people. The hyped aesthetics or artistry of a movie should never be able to diminish the humiliation, terror, brutality and horrors of slavery. I’m afraid that with this movie, Tarantino just may have an opportunity to do just that.

Additionally, I understand that quite a few Blacks in particular accept this movie as a wishful, temporary escape hatch or a buffer against the true realities of slavery. I surmise that most Blacks don’t truly want to somehow envision or feel the pain or psyche ache that our ancestors surely endured from sun up, until sun down; from childhood until the balance of their lives were spent.

How come folks like Tarantino believe that they are authorities on the slavery? After all, you don’t see Spike Lee making a movie regarding the Japanese internment by the Amerikkkan government and refuse to consult with a few Japanese authorities on this matter. And you don’t see Antoine Fuqua in the production stage of making a film regarding Native Americans in relation to How the West was Truly Lost. You don’t see the Hughes brothers engage in making a film regarding the Jewish holocaust without speaking with the proper people. Even further, just imagine a dark comedy or spaghetti western being made about how some Jewish women were forced to perform sexual acts behind a barn at Auschwitz with SS Nazis in exchange of being marched off to an incinerator. There would be no humor in such a deed.

If the Hughes Brothers did, pardon me, I could hear the cacophony of uproar from AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) getting louder and louder already.

If we as blacks must view a movie for the subtleties of its artistic values, to me, it is then overwhelmingly obvious that this is a film that doesn’t deserve my hard-earned dollars, or any other black person’s money for that matter.

Simply put, Django Unchained is a crappy movie; we should all be in uproar in opposition to this movie.

By the way, I’m originally from the south and I’m in Mrs. Field’s corner in solidarity as well.

joy316 said...

Wow, what movie did you see? Django Unchanged was a story that is rarely told-A Black Love Story! It attacks the prevailing myth (or as some would call it "conventional wisdom") that three is no such thing as romantic love between Black men and women.(One of the things the media seems to ignore about President Barrack and First Lady Michele Obama.

It certainly was not a "kill whitey movie". The secondary hero was a WHITE man who killed white men for a living. It is very odd to me that you would label a movie containing a white bounty hunter who hunts and kills white wanted criminals a "kill whitey movie"? So my question stands, did you see the movie?

Tiffany said...

I am going to make an effort to see it. Folks tell me I will hate the violence.

Love, Peace and Chocolate,
Tiffany

PilotX said...

Funny how our sympathetic whites who either want to understand the plight of blah people or just want to feel superior seem to ignore the instituionalized factors that impede success for many. This fool suggests that there are people in the hood just handing out money left and right to us. Such simpleminded folks. No wonder folks like that thought Palin is a good politician. I can understand now why I make more money than 98 percent of white people, they're kinda dullards.

joy316 said...

I've often wondered why history books sanitize the horror and monstrous way white people treated the slaves? Barbarian is inadequate and I think that Django Unchained barely scratches the surface in showing what my people endured.

That you say you fear Black people is laughable. The truth is that the majority of white crime victims are attacked by other whites (the same is true for all races).

You say you fear Black people but do you have any real reason? Have you not hired a qualified Black person? Have you cheated a Black person at your place of business? Have you allowed white children to bully black in your classroom or school? Have to denied a black child an EARNED place in the college prep program. Is your own evil the cause of your fear?

field negro said...

Joy, great response to Bianca.

Black Super Genius said...

Black "Sage" said...
How come folks like Tarantino believe that they are authorities on the slavery?

Yes, Quentin should interviewed some ex-slaves on "the slavery" as research for his movie. Wait a minute, there aren't any, as slavery ended 150 years ago! Dang!

But definitely, if he makes a movie about rhymin', robbin' or bangin' hoes, he'll look y'all up!

debra said...

"I've often wondered why history books sanitize the horror and monstrous way white people treated the slaves? Barbarian is inadequate and I think that Django Unchained barely scratches the surface in showing what my people endured."

What history books are those? The truth is that slavery was much more benign than the way it is depicted in Django.

But that is ancient history. As far as the last couple of centuries go, "barbarian" is inadequate to describe black-majority areas.

Anonymous said...

PilotX said...
I can understand now why I make more money than 98 percent of white people

I can understand how someone as dumb as you might actually believe that, but you are probably just lying.

Either way you are not fooling anyone (white).

Whatever you do make you can chalk up to AA.

Bianca said...

"That you say you fear Black people is laughable. The truth is that the majority of white crime victims are attacked by other whites (the same is true for all races).

You say you fear Black people but do you have any real reason? Have you not hired a qualified Black person? Have you cheated a Black person at your place of business? Have you allowed white children to bully black in your classroom or school? Have to denied a black child an EARNED place in the college prep program. Is your own evil the cause of your fear?"


The truth is almost all race-based crime is black on white. That is a real reason.

Almost all inter-racial bullying of children in scool is black on white.

I have never discriminated against a black person. That would be a crime. Only discrimination against whites is allowed, indeed it is mandated by the law.

The evil I fear is the rising tide of anti-white hate that will someday culminate in genocide. You know this is what is in your heart.

Anti Racist = Anti-White

khia213 said...

Hyundai213 - you seem to have missed my point. Black people DID rebel, in big and small ways. White people lived in terror that they would, arming themselves and authorizing patrols to keep they from plotting or running. And no, it Was that bad. Rape, whipping and family destruction are "that bad."

The Purple Cow said...

Django isn't a movie about slavery, it's a movie about movies.

field negro said...

Debra, the truth of the matter is that long after slavery your white brothers and sisters continued to lynch and burn us.

field negro said...

Some of you folks really need to stop watching Fox News. It's f*****g up your reality.

Anonymous said...

Reality is Racist.

That is why deceit is so popular.

Anonymous said...

My son just informed me that he had downloaded Django off the Internet! he didn't think I'd be interested cause of the violence so he never told me!

So I'm about to watch it in the comfort of my home after I eat my milk and cookies cause he doesn't like anyone eating in his room, (Virgos and crumbs don't mix ;)

Black Sage said...

Wow, what movie did you see? Django Unchanged was a story that is rarely told-A Black Love Story! It attacks the prevailing myth (or as some would call it "conventional wisdom") that three is no such thing as romantic love between Black men and women - Joy316

@Joy, it appears that you missed my point. I don’t have a problem with Django at its core is regarding love between a black man and a black women. My primary concern with the movie is with its chosen back-drop, circa the slaveocracy era. Personally, I do not need QT or anyone else to make a movie regarding the love that exists between a black matriarch and patriarch. Hell,….. he could’ve easily held the same theme (black love) of a movie with the setting within contemporary Chicago as the back-drop. Take the current crime surge amongst black youths for instance and how the parents are running out of options or having their concerns fall upon the deaf ears of politicians relative to the violence. Wouldn’t this be pretty much the same type of movie? But no, it appears that QT would much rather diminish the brutality, suffering and the humanity of slaves in a so-called spaghetti western revenge film as opposed to finding an alternative back-drop.

By the way, do you see the Jews diminishing the brutal legacy of those who suffered during the holocaust? There is an obvious reason for them not to do so.

Again, my stance remains the same prior to you asking your question, this Django Unchained, trivial flick is personally unacceptable.

Black Sage said...

Wow, what movie did you see? Django Unchanged was a story that is rarely told-A Black Love Story! It attacks the prevailing myth (or as some would call it "conventional wisdom") that three is no such thing as romantic love between Black men and women - Joy316

@Joy, it appears that you missed my point. I don’t have a problem with Django at its core is regarding love between a black man and a black women. My primary concern with the movie is with its chosen back-drop, circa the slaveocracy era. Personally, I do not need QT or anyone else to make a movie regarding the love that exists between a black matriarch and patriarch. Hell,….. he could’ve easily held the same theme (black love) of a movie with the setting within contemporary Chicago as the back-drop. Take the current crime surge amongst black youths for instance and how the parents are running out of options or having their concerns fall upon the deaf ears of politicians relative to the violence. Wouldn’t this be pretty much the same type of movie? But no, it appears that QT would much rather diminish the brutality, suffering and the humanity of slaves in a so-called spaghetti western revenge film as opposed to finding an alternative back-drop.

By the way, do you see the Jews diminishing the brutal legacy of those who suffered during the holocaust? There is an obvious reason for them not to do so.

Again, my stance remains the same prior to you asking your question, this Django Unchained, trivial flick is personally unacceptable.

Anonymous said...

Desert, "So I'm about to watch it in the comfort of my home after I eat my milk and cookies cause he doesn't like anyone eating in his room, (Virgos and crumbs don't mix ;)"


7:00 PM
-----------------------------------
tell us what you think of DJango. I thought it was too long, and I thought Jamie Foxx was the wrong actor for DJango. It should have been Spike Lee.

PilotX said...

Cmon Field, you know white onservatives love to play the victim role. The brutality of slavery was somehow only hurtful to whites, they may have caused stress in their own family life oppressing and destroying blah families. It was like Disneyland for you darkies. And they wonder why we don't want to be in a political party with these fools.

Anonymous said...

OMG! it's pure camp! It's funny, sad,(theres a collection of all those leg, neck, body irons on the island,) dramatic, and ridiculous, pure farce and it's pure Tarantino!

A spaghetti western set in that era. It's got everything in it and just borders on satire without actually crossing over. Pure genius and they ride off into the sunset so to speak.

A film to be taken tongue in cheek with a grain of salt!

And I don't even like movies;)

Jamie was perfect for the part but spike would have been also if he'd had the mindset to do camp. I think it will become a classic.


Anonymous said...

And did anybody pick up on the incestous undercurrent between candyland owner and his sister? When she screams at him at table as he bares Broomhildas back "stop it we are still eating"? It was jealousy not table manners:) I'm telling you the film had it all!

White cake hahaha!

uptownsteve said...

I saw Django two weeks ago and was somewhat disappointed. Not because of the excessive use of the N word or that a white director did a spaghetti western spoof about slavery. The fact of the matter was that the movie was too damn long and much of the premise was totally absurd. And how did Jamie Foxx' character transform from a semi-literate slave into Virgil Tibbs after a few scenes?? For those folks who are upset that a white director did a movie about black slavery, try getting Tyler Perry or Lee Daniels to do one. Good Luck.

Anonymous said...

@Uptown Steve: that's funny! Exactly, was a spoof, and I guess that's why the premise was as you say ridiculous, or not?

Because how do we know that slaves didn't maneuver to try and be with sold off loved ones? Remember the human spirit is powerful and where there's a will there's a way. My grandma told me some pretty astonishing goings on in her folks, who were slaves here, lives.

Actually the premises were not that absurd.
As for Stephen, well I was friends with a girl who told me the story of her great grandpas wealth in the south. The plantation owner left him much wealth with the promise that he would continue running the business that his foolish son could not! Upon the death of the son, everything was left to the grandpa now a free man. So I now for a fact that these things happened.

And the explosion at the end? Django just stood there, lol, when ostensibly it should have knocked him quite some distance away! Pure camp!

I think Tarantino meant it as campy satire from the music to the old western font he used in the final credits lol! And
And anybody that didn't take it as such, just didn't 'get' it

Frustrated Negro said...

I absolutely loved Smauel Jackson's...masterful portrayal of you ....

(Blogger Formerly Known as "Field")

Im sure now you can see your likeness shining through on the Big Screen.....

Man he did such a good job playing the character you strive so HARD to be...

Johnny T Malice said...

I didn't like the film - found it boring (the half-hour gun-battle at the end, with unlimited rednecks pouring in from who knows where, for instance) - but was more disappointed by Django's oftentimes passivity. For much of it he tags along behind the white guy (who tho a bounty hunter, has a liberal naivety about the evils of slavery), is schooled by the white guy, & at times fished out of trouble by the white guy when he gets hot-headed. For myself I'd've preferred a narrative where Django manages to escape slavery using his own wits (& heaven forfend, with the help of his fellow-slaves) & works out how to find his wife himself.

Like the ghastly Inglorious Basterds, it was an adolescent boy's unrealistic fantasy of catharsis set in a fantasy version of a time of hideously cruel & real oppression. Some people say it's a satire - but of what?

PilotX said...

Uh Desert, a blah man blowing white people away like Shaft in the 1800's is pretty preposterous. Then when the catch him they send him to a work detail????? They would skin you alive and burn you for not getting out of their way fast enough. For historical reference see John Brown, Denmark Vesey or Nat Turner.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I know that Pilot and Johnny! And thats exactly
It!

The rednecks pouring out of nowhere, Django escaping the slave women on swings,, its farce, and it satirizes the white plantation owner by presentimg them as stereotipical as possible.

It's total farce, but then I.guess one can argue that the subject of slavery or that era, should not be portrayed in a farccical or satirical manner.

The comparison would be the Holocaust and Japanese internment , but i believe there have been farcical references to that too. So I enjoyed it

Even the blood gushing which was funny because it looked so thin like red ink, blood is usually portrayed much thicker and truer to life . That, i'm sure was also meant as an exageration.

Desertflower

Anonymous said...

@Bianca,

Thank you. You speak the truths and cite the FACTS that Failed Negro continually refuses to and probably fears to recognize. Whites who see through the liberal BS.

Norah

PilotX said...

I think he stole the idea from the Boondocks episode with Cutter Freeman

joy316 said...

You need to read the autobiography of Frederic Douglas to start because your ignorance is showing. One of the main reasons the slaves were freed was the fear the whites had of uprisings. Do you have any idea why Haiti has been isolated from trade with the world?

joy316 said...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2013/01/15/dick-gregory-django-unchained-spike-lees-comments_n_2481918.html

joy316 said...

Thank you Field, you made my day.

PilotX said...

Norah Jones is a racist? Aw man, we gotta burn her CD's.

Patricia Kayden said...

Why are the Black people responding to the White racist comments? Ignore the trash! Stop acting as if you can have a conversation with racists.

tommy said...

i like your website its very different. it has a lot of interesting things to read about.

www.joeydavila.net