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A History of Violence essay
Analysis of django unchained
Analysis of django: unchained
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Recommended: A History of Violence essay
Quentin Tarantino is often criticized for the use of language or violence within his films, and there are no exceptions with his latest film Django Unchained. Throughout Tarantino’s movies we are entangled into his storytelling, his characters, and more importantly his world. Django is set in 1858 during the Mississippi antebellum south at the height of slavery. While drawing some historical elements from this time period, the story is being told for Django (Jamie Foxx), and through him we see the world as it is horrific. While some Americans may be uncomfortable with the nature of violence and or language within this film, it is imperative that we as a nation never forget what took place during slavery and Tarantino did just that. Slavery is a topic that the majority of Americans have a hard time talking, or dealing with, yet Tarantino is able to bring mainstream audiences into the world of the South before the Civil War and have us talking about it. Django is the type of character that you instantly root for, regardless of his outcome you just know that you want Django to have his revenge. (1) Cobb from the New Yorker said “The theme of revenge permeates …show more content…
He has been critiqued in the past for his used of the word nigger through his films. If any of his movies required this language, it is Django. (1) David Cox from the Guardian stated that “Quentin Tarantino, the director of Django Unchained, maintains that the word has to be "part and parcel" of a truthful representation of life in the antebellum south.” Tarantino is telling us a story set during a time before the Civil War, and in the heart of slavery. Calvin Candy says the word over a 110 times, even Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson) who plays the house nigga says nigger many times throughout the movie. Spike Lee has voiced his opinions on Quentin Tarantino’s films before, in particular his usage of the
Of the given options of films to watch for the extra credit assignment, I chose to watch HBO’s documentary titled the Unchained Memories: Readings From the Slave Narratives, a production I thought was excellently put together. I was initially apprehensive of the film, thinking it would be extremely boring, but I rather found it to be quite the accessible medium of history both available and appealing to a broad audience including myself. I found the readings of the many slave’s interviews and firsthand accounts to be such a clever way to understand more about the culture of slavery in an uncanted light and it broadened my knowledge of what slavery entailed. The credibility of this film finds its foundations cemented in the undeniable and indisputable
The 13th, a documentary by Ava DuVernay, was released this year on Netflix. The hour and forty minute film makes visible a link between slavery in the United States and the modern day prison system. Specifically DuVernay looks at how race and the subjugation of black and brown bodies have been to forefront of these modern day prisons. DuVernay nicely ties in the social and economic factors behind the mass incarceration related to the progression of the US on the backs of black bodies. Through the use of statistical data it proves how pure racist reasoning in the United States has programed both white and blacks in America to fear the black body. Where the film falls short is that it represents black people as the face of the black men, and
It is in the aftermath that James goes into his violent detail about how the slave masters went about interrogating slaves for information. James writes, “For the next two day they strip all them niggers naked, wet they skin and whip them with the cowhide. … The commander have the soldiers light corn husk and scrape off the burnin’ bits so that the fire rain down on her belly, face and titties.” (p. 235) This scene really shows the power slave masters had over their slaves and how they would torture slaves until they got what they wanted. This is the case whether they wanted information out of a slave, or wanted them to work harder without mistakes. This use of extreme “positive punishment” is what ran the slave plantation and brought about fear in each and every slave. This use of sexual language as well as explicit scenery allows for the reader to easily picture the scene in their mind. Even though this is horrid scene, the detail given is important to telling a clear
The fictionalized portrait he penned in “The Heroic Slave” is similar to the personal experience related in his autobiographical work. Both works illustrate the cruel and inhumane treatment of slaves by their masters. Physical abuse, in the form of beatings and inadequate nourishment, is a common prevalence as was mental abuse, in the forms of derogatory language and the separation of family units. The pursuit of freedom from slavery is a shared theme of these two compositions. Douglass felt his pursuit was best served by an education. Madison used his innate intelligence, bravery and perseverance to secure his freedom. Slavery’s direct conflict with fundamental Christian values is illustrated in several places in each work. Abuse of any kind is oppositional to the Christian values of kindness and charity and the subjects of these works endured many instances of abuse. Douglass’s own eloquence is apparent in “The Heroic Slave” in his word choice. Phrases such as “made merchandise of my body” (B: 1263) and “children of a common Creator” (B: 1272) masterfully articulates the inhumane act of owning other humans. The passage describing how a snake would not “stop to take my blows” (B: 1256) illustrates the further degradation of humanity when mandatory compliance is coupled with the cruelty of physical abuse
Historical evidence is displayed and shown in a variety of ways through popular media, the most common way being a motion picture. For this extra credit essay, I chose to write about the movie 12 Years a Slave because I felt that it appropriately fit the time frame from the beginning of time through 1877. I have provided a short summary of the film, and then briefly described how and why I think that it has fit the time frame of this course.
Moreover, any time the slaves were transported the “civilized” people of the town they kept themselves at a distance because of their fear of them, they also held crosses up to them, prayed, and gave them bibles to rid them of their demonic tendencies. To add to this, the leaders of the countries remark that, “ the real determination our courts and President must make is not whether this ragtag group of Africans raised swords against their enemy, but rather must we?’’ (Spielberg, 1997). Thus, the slaves are again dehumanized and portrayed as beats who cast such heavy
The word nigger is actually derived from the Latin word niger which means black. Okay, so we’re getting closer to understanding now. So why all the controversy surrounding this word? I even have to wonder if “The Heart of Darkness” was written by a black author would I have been equally or less offended? This word nigger was recently the cause of a controversy between two very prominent directors, Spike Lee (black) and Quentin Tarantino (white), in regards to Tarantino’s new movie “Jackie Brown.” Lee felt Tarantino used the word nigger too many times in his movie and considered it a racist act. I’m not sure, but I believe Lee too has overused the word in his movies and yet he publicly cries foul when Tarantino does the same thing. What makes blacks so offended by whites using the word nigger when they use if themselves?
Tarantino likes to approach a screenplay like a Novel. He usually develops different characters in the story on the individual basis. Every character has his or her story. This is very unlikely approach while writing a screenplay. Let's take the example of 'Reservoir Dogs' and 'Pulp Fiction'. In 'Reservoir Dogs' he uses flashbacks to show the back stories of individual characters.
When 12 Years A Slave landed on the bookstore shelves, people were not sure if they were ready for another slave storyline. But after all the rave reviews and the decision to make the book into a motion picture, many people decided it was time to view and or read what this story was all about. Majority of people prefer attending a movie when there is an option versus reading, for they do not have the patience to sit and enjoy a good book.
Still today issues such as human trafficking are present which makes us question if slavery has fully been ended. Approximately 18,000 people are trafficked in the United States each year. Some question what the government is doing to help those who are trafficked “But proving it is difficult. And a report published last year by the Urban Institute and Northeastern University suggests why: a lack of law enforcement resources, legal guidance and cooperation from victims. But Burke said if what victims have experienced cannot be proven, she at least hopes that public awareness will put pressure on those who profit from exploited laborers” (Martin, 2013). Still today we struggle with many issues that are similar to slavery in the United States. It can be easy to question one no one did anything to combat slavery during the time of the film but still today we must ask ourselves that same
The documentary hit many points that I can and cannot agree with. One point I can agree with that being that the word "Nigga" isn't going away anytime soon. People use it as a slang word in many different scenarios: to show respect, to show distaste, to show a mentality, to show friendship, etc..
Saying 12 Years a Slave is a realistic film is an understatement. According to the British film director Steve McQueen, some people did not want the film made. He stated, “Some people want to close their eyes on some subjects. They don’t want to look behind them.” (Aspden 5). Others feel there have been too many films been made about slavery already, such as Roots, Django Unchained, and Amistad. 12 Years a Slave is a true story that needs to be told. In this writer’s opinion, it depicts the abuse of slavery in the United States with more intensity than any other film previously made.
Michael Apted’s Amazing Grace does not begin to compare to 12 Years a Slave’s accurate re-telling of American history and is more based on dramatized storyline for the interest of the viewers than the truth. In this case, 12 Years a Slave did an astoundingly better job. Although far off, in movies such as James Wan’s Saw franchise, viewers take enjoyment in watching people killed and tortured as if it’s an enjoyable sport. This is
12 Years a Slave is an accurate adaptation of what slavery was like in the southern United States. The movie does not try to exaggerate the hardships the slaves went through, nor does it try to down play their suffering. This paper will compare the movie to primary sources from that time period, as well as the book the movie is based off of.
One more reason why using the n word is wrong and disrespectful is because the word was linked to slavery, people think that the word “Nigger” and “Nigga” have different meaning and so they think is right to say the word “Nigga” because it means “Dude” or “Buddy” when they have the same meaning as the word “Nigger”. In a statement Cornell Dews said that Nigger is what Nigga is. “Nigga is what nigga is. There is no getting around it. Consider this, the word nigger is defined the same in more than thirty different languages throughout the world.” Cornell Dews. Nigger or Nigga, what’s the difference?. Uproxx. Nov 8, 2007.