“Django Unchained” is an entertaining movie. I don’t begrudge Quentin Tarantino for his directorial talent and, of course, the highly talented Christoph Waltz is a wunderkind. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give credit to the great acting by Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington, Don Johnson and others.
That said, “Django Unchained” is “Inglourious Basterds II.”
What do I mean?
The former is about Blacks’ revengeful killing of slave masters and slavers while the latter is about Jews’ revengeful killing of Nazis.
Is there a problem?
I don’t see a problem because the institution of Black slavery and the systematic extermination of the Jews are the twin Holocausts that should never be forgotten.
Could I be accused of being biased?
I could be accused of being biased since my father’s father’s father was a Jamaican Maroon and my mother’s mother’s mother was born and raised as a Portuguese Sephardic Orthodox Jew.
Was the movie credible?
The movie was very credible, well…
How about the use of the word, “Nigger” or “Nigga?” Was it acceptable?
Well, it was as acceptable as the word, “Nigger” in Mark Twain’s “Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.” Unfortunately, it would have been a whitewash job if the word was sanitized. For example, in an obscure interview, President Harry Truman’s biographer noted that he observed the president to only use the term, Nigger, when speaking of Blacks. He was just as racist as Slave Masters in Chief George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
Did I observe other messages in the movie?
Heck yeah! It fits right into some of the illustrious late Columbia University Professor C. Wright Mills’ theoretical frameworks and paradigms. However, I would rather discuss the preceding point of view in a more intellectual paper rather than in this forum.
What about Spike Lee’s assertion that Tarantino needs to chill on the use of the word, “Nigger” in his movies? I understand Spike Lee’s point of view. Mr. Lee is old school. (As a disclaimer, I have met Spike Lee six times.) Additionally, in this movie, I noticed Tarantino’s character used the term, “Blackie” (as in the “Force 10 from Navarone”) instead of the usual term, Nigger. Moreover, Tarantino’s character was blown to pieces by Django. Furthermore, he stylized Django’s afro (in the first few frames) in imitation of the renowned Frederick Douglass’ afro hairstyle(of course, not as well groomed).
How about the violence? Was it, well, too bloody?
It was bloody but you have to portray certain events in a very graphic way. For example, a Polish born historian (a CUNY professor and a mentor) once read my manuscript, “Afrika’s Struggle,” to make sure my historical timeline was accurate. As a Caucasian, interestingly, he told me to rewrite the chapter dealing with the Middle Passage. He believed it was not graphic enough. He told me that my reader should be able to see the end of the whip peeling off the slaves’ skin. The reader should be able to smell the stench of the slaves crammed like sardines in the slave ships. The reader should be able to hear the screams of the raped women. He alluded to Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” where Spielberg transported you right into the Holocaust because of his intensely graphical depictions. He told me I need to capture the essence of “Schindler’s List” instead of sanitizing the Middle Passage. He agreed with me that it was “Concentration Camps on the High Seas.” Afterwards, I made the changes to the particular chapter.
