Django is no longer a subordinate slave, but he has an aura of superiority to him. There’s an obvious flip in power throughout the film. The plot revolves around the fact that Django is able to kill the same people who persecuted his own. Vengeance from an ex-slave’s point of view is a core theme throughout the film. This film served to remind America of the past horrors of slavery, and the prejudices within the film rang true in an America that was increasingly dividing over race. With the death of Trayvon Martin handled terribly in the hands of white police officers in the beginning of 2012, the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement shortly after the release of Django Unchained, and an explosion in media coverage, Americans were finally made aware of the fact that racism was not over, yet. However, four years after his first election, racial tensions were still running high. In Peniel Joseph’s words, “The American presidency suddenly looked very different, and for a moment America felt different, too” (“Obama’s Effort to Heal Racial Divisions and Uplift Black America”). Making history as the first-ever black American president, former President Obama not only gave a sense of pride to the black community but seemed to begin an era in which we could experience a post-racism America. Right before the film was released, Barack Obama had been elected for president for his second term, defeating yet another white presidential candidate. For the audience watching the film when it was released, they are reminded of the racial tensions going on in present-day America. The film leaves the audience realizing that the constant brutality was a norm for everyday society, such as when Django shows all of his scars on his body, or when it’s not uncommon to see a slave being brutally beaten throughout the movie. Through Django’s complete turn from chained slave to freed man, the film brings about the story of slave resistance and politics that helped to bring forth the abolitionist movement. The scars on Django’s back and other multiple whippings throughout the film are a clear mark of the hold slaveowners had over their slaves’ lives. The slave owners controlled the lives of their slaves, seen in the way the slaves are put ruthlessly to work and the way the slaves fear their masters. This infinite power that the slave-owners seemed to have went beyond just women, too. Django Unchained depicted the notion of women slaves being sexually abused and the true power the white slave-owners presented within the plantation system as being fairly accurate to history. While the film portrays some inaccurate details, the overall depiction of slavery is fairly accurate to history. However, Tarantino’s goal was to create a story that redefines “black masculinity and classical Hollywood black cinematic stereotypes” (Carr, “Introduction: Django Unchained– Disrupting Classical Hollywood Historical Realism?”). Historians and critics claim that it’s disrespectful to create a false reality, or more so, a fantasy about slavery (Cobb, “Tarantino Unchained”). Completely rewriting history with this film created controversy for Tarantino, however. In other words, the film does not intend to represent an accurate history, but to retell the horrors of slavery in a way the audience might better understand. When talking about Tarantino’s way of creating the film, Patrick Rael, an Associate Professor of History at Bowdoin College, makes the notion that Tarantino rewrites “the past metaphorically rather than academically” (“Two Recent Films About Slavery”). Overall, Django Unchained strives to impart the violence associated with slavery to the audience. Django, of course, returns to the plantation, not only killing the people who live there but blowing up the whole house with a smirk on his face. In the end, Schultz and Candie are both killed and Django’s wit allows him to escape, and finally reunite with Broomhilda. Django and Schultz form the pretense that they are at CandyLand to purchase one of these fighting slaves, when they are actually there for Broomhilda. On this plantation, slaves are forced to fight each other to the death in gruesome ways. In order to reunite Django and Broomhilda, Django and Schultz make their way to a plantation known as CandyLand, owned by Calvin Candie, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. The movie takes place two years before the start of the Civil War. Django helps Schultz capture wanted criminals in exchange for the finding of Django’s long-lost wife, Broomhilda, played by actress Kerry Washington. King Schultz, played by Christoph Waltz, that gave Django his freedom. ĭjango Unchained focuses on a slave, Django, played by actor Jamie Foxx, who teams up with a German bounty hunter, Dr. Django and Schultz partner up by “Toure” 16 Nov.
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