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Essay / Django Unchained: Racism as a Cancer of Modern Society
Quentin Tarantino is well known for his sadistic violence as well as his juxtaposing humor and tension. Django Unchained goes further than this expected emphasis: we, the audience, are led to believe that the film focuses on the brutal actions taken towards slaves and on Django's history through the slave era; however, as the film progresses, we are drawn into the trap of another Tarantino film. His films appear as a brutal yet fun action film, but as we delve deeper into the thoughts behind the film, we realize that the meaning is deeper and demands the attention of racial segregation. Tarantino's controversial postmodern film highlights the racism and institutionalized hatred of slaves of the time through Django and Stephen's excessive arrogance and pride, coupled with postmodernism and racism. Although the film is set during the slave labor era of 1858, postmodernism is a constant underlying factor in Django Unchained. The way Tarantino takes a different approach to developing the themes of racism and arrogance using comedy and sadistic violence shows a very postmodern way of dealing with the reluctance to address these very real issues that have and still mark our society . Tarantino frequently creates very postmodern films that cover important issues with a superficial layer of comedy, violence, and action, making the film more entertaining for the audience and less of a wake-up call to humanity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Early in the film, Django becomes a free slave working as a bounty hunter alongside Dr. Schultz, a German dentist. During the "100 Black Coffins" scene, Django and Dr. Schultz accompany Mister Candie on his trip to Candie Land. Dr. Schultz tells Django that in order to fit in, he must act as if he were a black slave. During the journey to Candie Land, Django puts into practice what Schultz said and acts as if he is superior to the other black slaves and he is depicted as believing himself equal or superior to some white men in the party. This is mainly shown with a low angle shot looking at Django, even sometimes from Mister Candie's point of view describing the manipulative power that Django has over him. As Django continues to play this compelling role, we, the audience, are left wondering if his arrogance comes with Schultz's order or after his freedom. Is this an opportunity for Django to repay the white men for what they did to him? His actions ultimately lead us to question whether his freedom should be celebrated or condemned. While the group is traveling, Django receives disgusted looks from the other slaves, mainly Rodney. They see him playing the *role of a . . . a black slave owner* and they don't want a black man turned white telling them what to do. Django, with his newly acquired power, addresses Rodney asking if he "has a problem with your eyeball" "you want to kick your heel in it?", the black men, now addressing him as " no sir", clearly show their disapproval of being betrayed by a man of his own nature, leading Django to make it clear that "niggas are going to understand something about me! I'm worse than any of these white men here! Get the molasses out of your ass and don't look at me! As this parade progresses, Django keeps his emotions in order, but it doesn't come with difficulty. After a while, it's shown how much Django perhaps likes his character and we start to believethat he doesn't act at all and enjoys power so much that he's actually turned white inside. This is extremely important to the purpose of Tarantino's film as it shows the widespread theme of single-pointed institutionalization of racial issues. The fact that Django finds it easy to adopt a white man's attitude makes the audience realize the power that imposing someone's credibility on a person can have and how easy it is for the former slaves to despise other slaves. When you are surrounded by lies and acts of arrogance your whole life, you start to follow them and, given the chance, you start to become the person who gave them. The relationship between Django and Mister Candie makes us wonder how different their natures are. During part of the journey to Candie Land, the group visits a cabin occupied by white mountain men with dogs, surrounding a slave, D'Artagnan, located in a tree. As the party breaks up and Mister Candie talks to the slave about how he wasted $500 on a man who only gave three fights, Mister Candie orders "Mr. Stonesipher, let Marsha and her female dogs send D'Artagnan to the paradise of the Negroes. As D'Artagnan is torn to pieces by dogs, Monsieur Candie approaches Django on his horse, while a low-angle shot from Monsieur Candie's point of view shows the dominance that Django exercises over Monsieur Candie in the same way that Django is a free black man and is trading with white men. This creates enormous tension and racial displacement in the controversial film because "they never seen a nigger like you in their life." As D'Artagnan is inhumanely torn to pieces by dogs, aspects of postmodernism appear as Tarantino covers up the blood with shots of Monsieur Candie and Django talking about the slave. As they chat, Mister Candie notices that "Django's boss looks a little green around the gills for a blood sport like nigger fighting" while Django shown in a mid-close-up looking at his face does not look repulsed at all rather he just sits with a very solemn expression on his face never leaving Mr. Candie's gaze at any time. Dr. Schultz "is not used to seeing a man torn to pieces by dogs, that's all" while Django is "just a little more used to Americans than he is." These words show that Tarantino is not at all shy about telling the true brutality of slavery through the eyes of Django. This shows how other countries around the world are unfamiliar with the very real acts of slavery that took place and don't think it's right to do it to people of another race. This violent and gruesome scene demonstrates how Tarantino's film shines a light on racism and institutionalized hatred by focusing on the arrogance and violent nature of the slave masters, creating a film that speaks to us about our history and how we do not Let's not bat an eyelid when we see her sadistically on screen. screen. Tarantino's strong passion towards the negativity of slavery and racism comes through very clearly in every moment of Django Unchained. The film as a whole brings out the worst of slavery and leaves us wondering how and why it is a part of our history. Likewise, the way Django acts towards slaves and around white men, showing an overcoming of his racist and hateful past as a slave, is very similar to the way Stephen, Candie Land's "favorite slave", approaches the slavery and racism. Stephen prides himself on being the favorite slave, always managing to be associated with white men, and considers himself Mister Candie's greatest friend. SOAs Django, Mister Candie and his group arrive in Candie Land, we discover the character of Stephen for the first time. After seeing Django enter the gates on horseback, he almost doesn't pay attention to greeting Mister Candie because he is determined to find out "who's got a nigger on this nag?". As Mr. Candie tries to explain to Stephen that "Django is a free man here" and that he is one of their guests, he is mortified and thinks that it is not welcome that Django "can stay in the big house.” The disgust Stephen feels towards Django, shown through confused and angry facial expressions in a close-up of his face, is just another example of how Stephen has taken the role of the white man to heart . Stephen had been around white people his whole life and after having the opportunity to be Mr. Candie's closest slave, he completely lost sight of it all. He showed the power of his institutionalization by taking it upon himself to insult and stand taller than all other black men. Stephen's actions show a contrast in Django's morality and attitude, also showing a change in views on institutionalized racism and slavery. Stephen's acceptance and embrace of something as appalling as slavery shows how Tarantino's film attempts to help the audience move away from racial segregation by showing the effects that this habitual credibility has caused . Helping to highlight how we were accustomed to hating and disrespecting someone of color and forced to think this was normal and acceptable. Tarantino highlights racism and institutionalized hatred of slaves and how we have been accustomed to believing that others are superior to us for some fictitious reason. Stephen's contemptuous and superior actions towards Django show the hatred that not only many white people may have towards slaves, but also towards brainwashed black men. The hatred that Stephen has for Django comes almost from a jealousy of the fact that Django is freed and can walk with the white men when at the end of the day Stephen is still a slave and all he knows about his life is 'is serving Monsieur Candie.'100 black. "the coffins", the "mandingo dog scene" and the actions of Stephen, Mister Candie and Django all show how Tarantino's film highlights racism and institutionalized hatred of slaves through the excessive pride and arrogance of Stephan, Django and Mister Candie towards each other and how they all represent contrasting but similar passions towards the treatment of slaves at the time. Mr. Candie's actions towards slaves are not acceptable, but rather understandable. However, Stephen and Django's actions towards those of a similar past are questionable and selfish. Their racism and arrogance is so institutionalized that Django has no problem displaying his own disgust for slaves, even though he himself was one. This idea is vital to the film and to Tarantino's ideas because it is one of the most important meanings of the film. This meaning is a constant factor in Django Unchained and works to inform us how easy it is to give in to someone's beliefs and actions, even if it has caused you harm in the past. If Django were a kind, caring man like Dr. Schultz, he would take his freedom as a gift, go find his wife, free her, then run away and live the rest of his life as he should, but he don't do it. . When Django is first released, he immediately drops his blanket and dons the dead white man's cloak, unable to hide the scars of..