DJANGO UNCHAINED (out Xmas of 2012), takes place two years before the American Civil War. A time when Historical Trauma was in the midst of it's beggining & in full throttle & well into the grips of everyone who breathed. Quentin Tarantino masterfully demonstrates in a homage to the Spaghetti Westerns of decades past, on how Companionship, Enslavement, Allegiance, Guns, Blood, Resiliency, Violence, Pride, Survival, Conformity, Freedom & lastly but not least Love - are what shape(d) us.
When powerhouse Django answers King, "I'm positive.", after learning the word & confirming the identity of a prospective payload, we are reminded
that in the era before HIV statuses, SNAP food stamps & unemployment
checks the one thing an individual was painfully positive about was
their living status. You were either Dead or Alive.
Violence. Yeah, this flick is bloody (so were the Michaels & Jasons), so get over it. Supervise your young-ins if you can't deal with Django Unchained being synonymous with bloodbath. As a Latina woman from NYC, I'm glad I can make an effort of licensing myself to bear the right of owning a handgun. Do I own one? No. Not my style. But rest assured I'm thankful for the option. People kill people. Don't forget that & if you're fantasizing about going postal please do us all a favor
and visit your local psych ER. For those of
you who have ADHD let me reiterate: PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE.
The theme of master & servant has always fascinated me. Alpha & beta. Who really needs who? Thankfully, I don't live in an antiquated culture or in an era where servitude was possibly the situation, (or do I still? When Stephen is composed in a Dutch Angle/Django POV, Samuel Jackson's genius character performance eerily predicts our future generations. Cutting big rocks into little rocks, i.e. crack - all day every day, i.e. marijuana) - I might've been born into. Just imagine being a slave ON TOP of being the love child ON TOP of being half white AND THAN forced to wash your white sister's bloomers for the rest of your life. Suddenly fuming over doing my lazy brother's dishes for the umpteenth time seems very inconsequential.
But back to Django & King. Their relationship is an inception of happenstance, entrepreneurship & kindness. For a moment one exists because of the other. For a moment one thrives because of the other. And in a dog eat dog world (literally) - one must've been counting their blessings of having someone having your back. My point? From a distance some people's dynamics look/are a slave & master scenario/situation, but for many others - transcendental allegiance is truly empowering and an opportunity for intellectual growth. So, be thankful of whomever you have the luck of calling your companion. If they got your back who cares if it's just your Nanna or doorman. Just as long as you know they are there to holdz itz downz for you - be thankful!
I can go on and on & type in italics the many strong themes of this film, but it's best you go see it. It might be one of the BEST ENTERTAINING films about an African American "ex-slave" who turned into a ten gallon hat wearing, bad ass looking for his boo - you possibly will ever see.
