Django Off the Chain

I give full credit to a dear friend in Tennessee who saw Django Unchained for the title of this blog and and wrote this, "What can I say about Django? It's not unchained, it's off the chain. Q.T. turns victim into victor, helpless into hero , makes White folks cheer and Black folks chuckle...using SLAVERY as the backdrop....It's a trip. In true QT fashion-lots of violence and gore like Kill Bill/Pulp Fiction."

At first I had no interest in seeing the film as I'm not at all a Western film fan (maybe you can see a pattern here with me and Western music, movies, etc.) but due to my friend's glowing review and Spike Lee's adamant refusal to see the film, well, I felt I needed to check it out for myself. So, on New Year's Day with my brother joining me, I sat in awe for over two hours to see slavery portrayed in all its ugliness yet with the crazy brilliance of Tarantino.

Now about the prolific use of the "N" word that Spike Lee objects to. Let me say straight out that it is NEVER, EVER appropriate to use the word even casually due to the weight of its history to oppress and denigrate an entire people. I know, I know, rappers use it and so on but think of it this way: If you're "in the family," words can be used in ways that those of us outside can't. It's kind of like I get to tease my brother but if you try to, watch out! Now you may disagree with me (and I'm sure many do) but language is powerful and we can't pretend that this word doesn't matter or simply a term of affection.

So, yes, the N word is used liberally in Django Unchained and yet, it seemed appropriate to me because of its context even if the fictionalized history in the film is somewhat mashed up. As my friend wrote, it was definitely a trip.

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