First, let me start by laying my bias on the table. I’m not a fan of Quentin Tarantino movies. I didn’t like Pulp Fiction. Nothing personal, I just don’t like the overly violent nature of his brand of movies. Despite this, I entered the theater with every intention to love this movie. The trailers were inspiring. Jamie Foxx is “the Man,” and Kerry Washington is always strikingly beautiful with Oscar potential performances. Not to mention, I like westerns, and not many westerns are coming out of Hollywood these days. When they do, how often is there one with an African American playing the title role?
When the ending credits rolled on Django Unchained, I had mixed emotions. There were parts of the movie I loved and parts I hated. This made me think of the Founding Fathers of America. They were the giants of their day, men of genius, who laid the foundations of liberty unlike the world had ever seen. Yet, there was an ugly side to them. Many of the Founding Fathers were slave owners. They were so hypocritical in fighting for their freedom and dignity while simultaneously preventing that of their slaves. Many of them viewed my kind as a lower form of humanity worthy of servitude. Historians may argue that some of the Founding Fathers wanted freedom for slaves, but they did not want to risk the stability of the newly formed union. While I love America, there is no retribution for the price that my ancestors paid to endure the brutality of slavery, but I won’t dwell on this any further. Instead, here are several reasons why I both loved and hated this movie. [Continue reading]
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