Is Django Unchained racist?

[Laerod]

I like Christoph Waltz too, but I hope he'll manage to portray a different persona in Tarantino's next movie. As mentioned above, King Schultz was basically the good guy version of Hans Landa.

Landa with a beard and conscience.

[Free South Califas]

Oh boo fuckin hoo! Im so sick of white people trying to claim that they are being discriminated against. Races should be allowed to make fun of each other at will. The fact is whites have never faced historical discrimination and aren't under any system of economic repression at all whatsoever.

The Irish were white when they came to America, and they were facing discrimination.

Stop generalising, thx.

Stop spamming ploxkthxbai notamod. Perrrrrrrrty sure Cevalo Nacio meant "are being discriminated against", since that was explicitly said, and "by the movies" was implied.

If Crash is a "great film" then...well, it isn't, not by any measure. It's just a lot of PC BS. IMFAO. You now, I used to be very PC myself. I'd have had the same reaction to opinions such as I have expressed as the people who have criticized me. All I can say is, I got better.

And I'm sorry to say I didn't like Cronenberg's Crash either, but at least it didn't piss me off throughout.

If "PC" is all you got, your opinions have been calibrated appropriately now.

Besides, political correctness is why we don't have campaigns like "If you want a nigger for a neighbor, vote Liberal or Labor." Then again, that might be the problem for this cat...

You now, I used to be very PC myself.

If you're so anti-PC, why aren't you bitching about the OP demanding token characters portraying their particular ethnicity in a better light?

Because "PC" is a term that only applies to Human Type 2, of course.

[Orenica]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/ ... ngo-Racist
Quite relevant.

[Laerod]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/6714-Is-Django-Racist
Quite relevant.

Not really given the reason people are claiming it's racist.

[New England and The Maritimes]

Unfortunately, I saw it. Fortunately, someone lent it to me, so it only cost me time and aggravation. And my description is pretty accurate, IMFAO. All the white people are evil racist morons. All the nonwhites are fine, noble, wonderful folks. Of course, everyone in the movie seems to be in a contest to see who can act like the biggest idiot - the Iranian storekeeper, of course, wins hands down. (Technically, at least, Iranians are white.)

Wow. What you describe would almost be closer to David Cronenberg's psycho-sexual thriller Crash than the Paul Haggis drama.

The premise of the movie, far from being "Grr-arrr...whitepeoplebad" is stated in the opening line by Don Cheadle:

It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.

It was a treatise on isolation while in a crowd, that the nature of the sprawl of Los Angeles you can be alone surrounded by people, and the kind of mentality that can create. One of the things you apparently missed out in the movie is that not every instance of racism involved any white people.

And if you thought that Ludicris' character was en-nobled, than frankly you missed the entire point of that character much less the power of the scene when he tries to car jack Terrance Howard.

That you somehow got that all the non-whites were noble is frankly beyond me. As far as I can tell the only character to walk out without self-inflicted wounds is in fact the locksmith who manages to completely earn what could have, in a lesser filmmaker's hands, been one of the cheesiest moments in film but instead becomes incredibly moving.

Everyone else in that movie, be they white or otherwise, succumbs to their own prejudices and insecurities that threaten the illusionary bubble that the city has allowed them to live in.

I suspect you went into the film just a tad defensive, feeling that any discussion of race is going to have a long accusatory finger pointed squarely at you. You might want to develop a more nuanced look at race relations in the modern world.

There's a great film that helps demonstrate this, but that's already failed you once.

I always felt, honestly, that the car jacker(forgot his name) was kind of a representation of someone who has sort of transposed racism onto his life without it necessarily playing the kind of role he thinks it does, and the carjacking scene is such a shock to him because he suddenly comes face to face with someone who is everything he's been pretending to be, and who actually lives with the things he's been decrying from, quite honestly, a distance, and it just blows his expectations out of the water. That kind of scene(not uncommon in the movie) is one of the biggest things that makes it such a powerful film. Even the most "noble" characters(the cop who managed to save Terrance Howard's life,) manage to fall prey to prejudice pretty horribly.

[Howdoyoudoland]

That movie is incredibly racist.

[Laerod]

That movie is incredibly racist.

How would you know? You haven't even seen it.

[Phocidaea]

No.

In fact, I'd say the inclusion of a white co-hero (a German, no less) kind of automatically disproves the idea that it portrays all white people as evil racists.

If it did portray all whites as evil racists, or imply that all whites today should feel guilty about it, it would be racist. But it doesn't do either.

[Scholencia]

No, it is not racist because the whites were evil in most part of history (slavery and etc.). Since I am a extreme liberal I think that there cannot be racism toward white people.

[Laerod]

No, it is not racist because the whites were evil in most part of history (slavery and etc.). Since I am a extreme liberal I think that there cannot be racism toward white people.

You're not helping.

[Phocidaea]

there cannot be racism toward white people.

Intentionally inflammatory much?

[Esternial]

No.

In fact, I'd say the inclusion of a white co-hero (a German, no less) kind of automatically disproves the idea that it portrays all white people as evil racists.

If it did portray all whites as evil racists, or imply that all whites today should feel guilty about it, it would be racist. But it doesn't do either.

Buh-buh...

Wait! They knowingly added the non-racist German to counter the racist white people! That's racust!

[The Steel Magnolia]

Institutionalized discrimination against white people comparable to the institutionalized discrimination against minorities, perhaps, but by definition it can exist merely by discrimination on a personal level based upon race. Whether or not it deserves the same word is another matter entirely, however.

[Cannot think of a name]

That movie is incredibly racist.

How would you know? You haven't even seen it.

He just didn't want to say 'bump'.

[Esternial]

Institutionalized discrimination against white people comparable to the institutionalized discrimination against minorities, perhaps, but by definition it can exist merely by discrimination on a personal level based upon race. Whether or not it deserves the same word is another matter entirely, however.

If anything, they're mocking people who call this racist by being overly racist in a way that it's not even remotely serious, thus only being regarded as racist by people who take life too seriously.

[Scholencia]

there cannot be racism toward white people.

Intentionally inflammatory much?

I am white and I have no problems with anti-white slur. Sure, it would be unpleasent but for the person who said is more a shame.

[Republic of Neighpal]

you guys do realize that whatever amount of racism that is portrayed in django unchained, is probably done for the sake of historical accuracy. especially seeing as it probably takes place in the south, where slavery was much more brutal than in the north. after all, no self-respecting slave owner (or any white people at all) during that period of time would've said "good day there free man of color!" so yes. it is racist. but y'know what, that's how society was like back then!

and no, quentin tarantino isn't rascist. his movie just plays the part to be accurate.

[The Joseon Dynasty]

Intentionally inflammatory much?

I am white and I have no problems with anti-white slur. Sure, it would be unpleasent but for the person who said is more a shame.

If someone hurls at anti-white slur at you, they are being racist. How you feel about it is irrelevant.

[Esternial]

The Irish were white when they came to America, and they were facing discrimination.

Stop generalising, thx.

Stop spamming ploxkthxbai notamod. Perrrrrrrrty sure Cevalo Nacio meant "are being discriminated against", since that was explicitly said, and "by the movies" was implied.

Gangs of New York.

Whoopsie, I'll take your silence as an apology for going apeshit.

[The Legion of Kane]

...I mean, it seems like it's basically 2 hours insinuating that white people are stupid, bigoted, and evil. And it's absolutely okay for blacks to kill them because of this.

I mean, really, imagine if a white character in a movie said something along the lines of "You get to kill n*****s and they pay you for it? What's not to like?"

I think it's racist, Quentin Tarantino should be ashamed of himself, the movie should be pulled from theaters, and Jamie Fox should have to apologize for his racist comments.

I'd laugh too hard to care. Quentin Tarantino did an excellent job on the movie. It's a comedy, so stereotypes and all that are pretty common.

[Khodoristan]

you guys do realize that whatever amount of racism that is portrayed in django unchained, is probably done for the sake of historical accuracy. especially seeing as it probably takes place in the south, where slavery was much more brutal than in the north. after all, no self-respecting slave owner (or any white people at all) during that period of time would've said "good day there free man of color!" so yes. it is racist. but y'know what, that's how society was like back then!

and no, quentin tarantino isn't rascist. his movie just plays the part to be accurate.

Exactly. I call it the 'Huck Finn Syndrome'

[Phocidaea]

...I mean, it seems like it's basically 2 hours insinuating that white people are stupid, bigoted, and evil. And it's absolutely okay for blacks to kill them because of this.

I mean, really, imagine if a white character in a movie said something along the lines of "You get to kill n*****s and they pay you for it? What's not to like?"

I think it's racist, Quentin Tarantino should be ashamed of himself, the movie should be pulled from theaters, and Jamie Fox should have to apologize for his racist comments.

I'd laugh too hard to care. Quentin Tarantino did an excellent job on the movie. It's a comedy, so stereotypes and all that are pretty common.

Yes, that's the other thing people forget. It's not meant to be entirely serious.

You'd think this would be pretty obvious from the proto-KKK hood argument...

[Khodoristan]

You'd think this would be pretty obvious from the proto-KKK hood argument...

'So are the hoods on or off?' 'Fuck it! I'm going home!'

[Augarundus]

It's fucking awesome, that's what it is.

Honestly, though. It isn't at all. The OP asks whether or not it portrays whites negatively... yes, it does, but only certain whites. There is a white hero (Dr. Schultz, who is awesome in this movie) who is racially tolerant and abhors slavery. Moreso than the black hero, actually.

[Des-Bal]

There's also the fact that Django is sort of a cock. Sure he's sympathetic but he clearly takes a sadistic pleasure in killing white people, that's not played as a good thing. Just like we're not supposed to approve of Kilgore's lust for slaughter, Aldo's love of killing Germans, or... I forget the plot and characters of platoon but anyway we aren't supposed to be stoked on Django's hatred. When he massacres the denizens of Candyland (either time) he's exacting revenge and we're supposed to be rooting for him but when he shoots the farmer in front of his son that's not really played as a Hooray Django moment. Anyone who can interpret that as "white people suck it's cool to kill them" wasn't fucking paying attention.