Django Unchained Film Analysis

Race, gender, and class manifestation are evident in the film ‘’Django Unchained ‘’ by Quentin Tarantino. It is a story of a rescued enslaved person named Django who teams up with a German immigrant Dr. King Schultz to capture criminal fugitives to get monetary awards. The film’s main themes are slavery and revenge where the German immigrant (Schultz) enlists Django, an African slave, to help him in a mass-murdering spree.  From the film, it is evident that African Americans were treated as slaves in the plantations of the white rich people. The torturing of the black slaves is evident as shown by Calvin Candie.  Besides continuous use of the word ‘’niggger’’ in the film, the choice of an African America as a murderer for hire is a clear manifestation of racism. The film trivialization of slavery to the black Americans and also depicts black Americans as agents of murder and violence (Fradley, 2010). The kind of violence experienced in the movie is too much and portrays the blacks as enemies to the whites.

It is also important to point out that the film also manifests different social classes that exist between the whites and African American. ‘’Django Unchained’’ is a film that depicts the blacks as lesser citizens compared to the whites. Besides working in their plantations, the African Americans get all forms of mistreatment from their white masters. According to the film, there exists social class difference amongst the whites. Although Django is allowed to kill different black and white master, he is not authorized to kill Calvin Candie (Clarkson, 2005).  It is alleged that only the Good White Master to kill the evil White Master. The role of killing Candie was left to Django’s master, Schultz, which is a clear indication of the social gaps between the whites and the blacks.  In essence, Django was always under instructions from his master King Schultz and was not entitled to kill Evil White Master.

On the same note, the film portrays Schultz as a super human simply due to the color of the skin. He is portrayed as a white ‘’god’’ who creates the Black Django. He is quoted saying to Django that ‘’ I feel vaguely responsible for you, I gave you freedom.’’ The movie depicts Schultz as a Superman and from him Django gets liberty. In fact, the first time we see Django’s face in the film is when Schultz shines the light on him. It is through Schultz that we can see Django throughout the film (Fradley, 2010). Django is transformed into a murderer for hire and also sculpts him into a full human being. From the film, it is evident from the film that Django is not independent minded and is under instructions from his white master Schultz.

The concept of gender is also evident in the film. From the movie, the concept of male chauvinism is evident. The choice of male characters to take a leading role in the revenge mission is an indication that the males were considered more powerful as opposed to the females. It is essential to point out that the film has a happy ending when Django finally rescues his wife, Broomhilda, from Candie’s plantations.  The ability to rescue the wife from the hands of white masters is symbolism of heroism in male characters (Clarkson, 2005). In conclusion, the film ‘’Django Unchained’’ is regressive because it is based on the imagination that White (the presence of all color) and Black (the absence of all color) are “colors” and that races and have existent correspondents. In essence, the film erodes and erases so many steps made over the years in the fight against racism and gender discrimination.

 

References

Clarkson, J. (2005). Contesting Masculinity’s Makeover: Queer Eye, Consumer Masculinity, and “Straight-Acting” Gays. Journal Of Communication Inquiry, 29(3), 235-255. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0196859905275234

Fradley, M. (2010). The Persistence of Whiteness: Race and Contemporary Hollywood Cinema , ed. Daniel Bernardi Cinematic Identity: Anatomy of a Problem Film by Cindy Patton. Film Quarterly, 63(3), 71-73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/fq.2010.63.3.71

FRADLEY, M. Masculinity, masochism and white male paranoia in contemporary Hollywood cinema. MAXIMUS MELODRAMATICUS.

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