20 'Controversial' Movies Everyone Completely Over-Reacted To
17. Django Unchained
The Film:
Quentin Tarantino's Revisionist Western, which has Jamie Foxx's freed slave go on a rampage of vengeance against slave-owners on a mission to rescue his wife.
The Controversy:
Despite being immensely popular, DJango Unchained has faced a lot of criticism for its gory violence, frequent use of the N-word and for its historically inaccurate and stylized depiction of American slavery.
Why It Was Wrong:
Though deeply flawed Django Unchained certainly isn't disrespectful to African-American history. Film-makers have various methods of discussing tragic events of the past; in this case, a B-movie genre framework is used. Ultimately, it's fairly respectful.
At the very least, it's a film about slavery that isn't from a white viewpoint and gives black characters real agency. The film's perspective is mostly aligned against the white characters. The film does omit black resistance, but mainly because the film follows a Western-style story that would've never contained such events. Django and Stephen are both very powerful black characters and any scenes involving slavery are extremely difficult to watch.
It's a fantasy, sure, but one that serves as an angry protest against history. And remember, this is coming from someone who doesn't like the film that much.
If anything, the problematic thing is the weakness of the film's only major female character. Regarding the violence and use of the N-word, with Tarantino violence is inevitable. The N-word would've been used all the time back in those days, so it is realistic for the historical setting.