Delicious Western Set In America's Dark Past

Rating: 8/10 (6 January 2013)

The residue of the history of slavery still pervades happenings in the African American community and in the larger context the global community. Slavery in the United States officially began in 1619 in Virginia where able bodied men and women were stolen or given away from their West African, Central and South East African homes to work as non person in a country that was unfamiliar. The thirteenth amendment in 1865 officially abolished slavery, the after effects of the slave act existed and some say still exists centuries after. So, it is no surprise that a movie like Django unchained is being viewed as a very controversial one. Many important African American spokespeople in the arts like Spike Lee, who put African American Film makers on the map, have been quite outspoken about detesting the movie and themes portrayed in the movie. He views this movie as an insult on a painful heritage and that those who came together to create and promote this movie have no respect for the history of pain of the African American people. Is he right? I really don't know but I did enjoy the movie when I saw it.
The setting of Django Unchained is in Mississippi, United States during the period in which African Americans were slaves. It explores the concept of love, how love can make a person question what is considered normative, give the person the strength to stand and fight if necessary. Django fell in love with a slave girl who according to social strata was ahead of him because she was a house slave while he was a field slave. They fell in love, got married and ran away with hopes of getting to a place where they can be free. Unfortunately, they were caught and in punishment, both of them were sold separately. Django's punishment was that he was to be sold at the lowest price so anyone can get him, while his wife's face was marked with a tattoo, thereby ensuring that she can never be a visible house slave. Django is eventually rescued by a bounty hunter who needs help in finding some criminals. In the process, they become friends and Django shares his plans of finding his wife. Beyond the friendship that builds between them, Django gains his confidence and accepts his humanity while learning new skills that will help him survive in a new world where he is no longer a slave. They eventually track down his wife and save her after killing so many people.
Of course, being a movie by Quentin Tarantino, a lot of blood letting is to be expected and so there was no surprise there. It is quite safe to say there were lots of gunshots, rivers of blood, mature language and some mature scenes. This movie is not PG13. Now, beyond the content of the movie being a controversial one dealing with the issue of slavery in the United States, controversiality lies in its portrayals of the African American casts, in who directed the movie and if he has the right to tell this story the way he did, and if this movie is disrespectful? Personally, I found the movie well crafted and the content followed a logical progression. There were pleasant surprises through the movie. I loved how the director infused the movie with humor, so even though it was a dark movie and the theme was quite bitter but there were points in which you found yourself laughing and then wondering if you should really be laughing. The comedic relief was on point and occurred at the right places. Now, considering that Quentin is a Caucasian man telling an African American story, some have wondered if he understands the context and subtexts portrayed through his movie. They've wondered if some of his unchecked and subliminal perceptions are what we see in the movie, particularly when we look at the issue of casting.
Some have complained that his cast of African American characters were one dimensional while many of the Caucasian actors were multidimensional. For example, the role played by Leonardo Dicaprio was a man who was a slave owner, loved watching slave fights, yet had a black mistress, had a slave that he paid particular attention to (I suspected that they might have been in a relationship), loved his sister but had no problems having dogs tear up a human being for daring to run away. That's multidimensional: a mix of the good and the bad. The African American characters were flat, basically there to do what they were told to do, they showed almost no emotions beyond the ones of servitude or fear. Django was different but then some have complained that he wasn't able to translate emotions clearly and as such he could not carry one along with his acting. This could account for Jamie Fox not being nominated for any awards so far for this movie. This isn't his best movie. He did better in Ray.
www.pamelastitch.com