I wasn’t going to do it. I wanted to just let it go away because there is no way that I would ever think I would see a day in which people are just way too complacent to care. First let me preface this to say that I did not see this movie. Django Unchained was never a movie I wanted to venture to see. I can never truly say that I would never watch a movie but I can say that I would never pay for it. Trust me, I would never pay to willingly see this movie. So, if you saw the movie and do not care about my opinion about this…then by all means, this is not the blog post for you.
Understand that there are at least a dozen ways for me to see this movie right now for free and I would not exercise that. Mind you, I love movies and I’m a big believer in paying to see movies. I am not into bootlegs or downloaded copies because nothing beats the theater experience. I need to state this because the idea of me not paying to see this movie is saying something. I am not saying that when it come on HBO that I am all over it either but many people are asking me, “what is the big deal about this movie?, why are you SO against it”
For starters I think there are 3 types of people when it comes to this flick. There are the people who saw it and loved it, the people who saw it and were truly disturbed by it, then there are the people who refuse to see it. I am in the last group. I refuse to see this because there is something not right about all of this. I felt that way when I saw the previews months ago. Fine, it is a slave movie that is fictional. Fine, it a movie made by Quentin Tarantino (who loves the n-word). But, a Christmas movie?
That is my FIRST issue and here is why. When I think about Christmas movies, I think about Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Die Hard, etc. These are movies that are fanatical and sensational. Movies that are meant to entertain or that maybe you can bring your kids to despite the parental ratings it receives. Christmas Premieres are meant to go out to a wide audience. So that means that we are going to exchange gifts in the morning and watch a fictitious slave narrative with my kids in which the N-word is said over 100 times.
Ok, that is fine, let’s just say say I am reaching with that. Let’s just say that I am being foolish. But, I think about the commercialization of slavery. We are now saying that we can make sensational movies about a very sensitive period in American History. Why does it have to be that way? I am sure Tarantino says he wanted to make a film about a Black Hero right? But, I am quite sure there will never be a movie about the first slave rebellion in the Dominican Republic in 1522. I am even more certain that they will never make a movie about Nat Turner’s Rebellion. So what are we talking about here? The Boba Fett of the Antebellum period?
Yes, there were other movies like Roots and Amistad. Neither of them were sensational and both were telling a story about true events. Here is the kicker though, just when anyone could think that this wasn’t about making money over slavery…we have the Action Figures for Django. So now everyone can play with “Slave Master Bill” and relive the glory days of Slavery. See, I compare this to the part in Fight Club when Tyler Durden renders the fat from the rich to create soap in which he sells back to the same rich people.
Many people do not have a problem with this. Most people will watch what they are told to watch and they buy what they are told to buy. Most people are ZOMBIES because all they do is consume in this world of consumerism. We tend to forget about the past and just do shit because the television said so with no regard for actual critical thought. If you think I am wrong, then let me ask you if it is too extreme to make action figures bases on Schindler’s List? I mean, can’t you imagine little boys and girl playing with Nazi dolls? I didn’t think so. They will never commercialize the the Holocaust nor with they sensationalize 9/11. Yes, they are different, but they were all tragedies that we will never forget.
I guess what really gets me is that people are defending the movie. Saying how good it was and they don’t get the big deal. There was one woman who said that the only part she didn’t care for was the fact that Samuel Jackson always seems to play roles in my movies that degrade his people (huh?). What really gets me is how people have been blasting Spike Lee for his comments about not ever seeing the movie because they think he is a hater (really?). So my question to all the Black and Latino people (yes, white people too), are you are really ok with the misrepresentation of your people as long as it is a cool movie?
There seems to be a goal in “Post Racialized” America to make it seem as if racism does not exist, but it does. You can actually buy it for $34.99 on Amazon.
Anthony Otero 
I felt like you did when this movie was first announced. Triggered every “uh-oh” mechanism in me. Christmastime?? Are they nuts I said. Now I like most Tarantino movies up to Kill Bill Vol 1 but like you, I said “They not getting my money off this!!” That said I did get the DVD screener & watched the movie. I enjoyed it for what it was, a revenge flick. I think the real problems I have with this & the last one “Inglorious Basterds” is the use of history as the backdrop. Rewriting history to appease the audience & your writing is unnecessary and needs to be called out on every time. This movie has caused a lot of outrage that should have been there for the last one as well. We need to be consistent in this message & not only when we feel a personal stake in it.
Now where I disagree with you is on the Figures. They have been made for every one of his movies. Its Not new. But it isnt being sold to kids or Big retailers. There were Nazi ones for Basterds, Crazy 88’s Asians for Kill Bill & criminals for Resevoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction & Jackie Brown. And those Django figures are only going to be used however the person already sees fit. I saw them & I wanted to have them so I could beat down the Slave Master & House Negro. Im sure someone will purchase them & use them to fulfill some of their fantasies but thats what is already in them not influenced by.
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First, thanks for commenting. I hear what you are saying and I don’t expect people to agree with me on this. However, the toy thing is still crossing the line in my opinion, even if he has done it with his other movies. I just think it is a matter of doing something in poor taste…but then again it is QT.
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The Toy!! That is completely overboard and unacceptable.
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I don’t understand why so many Blacks give Tarantino an n-bomb pass. Most of his movie contain “n***er” a ridiculous number of times. It’s formulaic and if you see enough of his movies you realize that’s the case. His body of work conditions millions and millions of viewers to regard Blacks as n***ers.” It’s dangerous propaganda and in some ways Blacks are financing their own denigration.
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