Honeylen L. Casiple Mr.

John Adolfo
ABM11 – A1

Django Unchained is all about a German dentist buys the freedom of a slave and trains
with the intent to make him his deputy bounty hunter. Instead, he is led to the site of the slave’s
wife who belongs to ruthless plantation owner. In the film, we saw the clear difference between
Django’s personality and that of his mentor. At first Django had no idea about anything because
he has been slave for all his life, wearing nothing else that mere rags maybe partly due to a lack of
knowledge. Django had to learn to adapt to the idea of killing people as a ‘ business’. He worked
hard to establish his priority of securing his wife versus being a good guy. It is nearly impossible
to have a unified struggle for freedom when individual conception of what true freedom would
entail. We can see in the film that you have to negotiate desire with other people’s need and social
norms, to avoid punishment, social rejection and disgrace. Take for example, Dr. Schultz, and
black slave Django, the doctor wants the financial reward of killing outlaws and Django wants to
rescue his wife Broomhilda from slavery. Two are better fit together so they strike a compromise
to satisfy their desires.

The character of Dr. Schultz is very fascinating, he’s an idealist who’s been shaped in
equal parts by his native culture and by the American’s experience. He fights for Django’s
freedom, but he does so in n idealistic spirit, an enemy of the idea of slavery, as much as he is a
friend and mentor to Django. His idealism is encouraging but it is also suicidal. If Schultz had
seen Django’s agenda as his own and had considered Broomhilda’s rescue as a victory, he would
have shaken Candie’s hand and headed off into the sunset. His final act of defiance revealed that
he was a slave to pride, not to necessity. Candieland is a vivid symbol for the collusion of
wealth, power, violence and tradition of American history. Django himself embodies a racial
fury that echoes forward through the black people. Perhaps it’s fitting that at the end of the film,
Django has found his identity as a vengeful outlaw. He dressed like a white man, having adopted
the white’s man strategies and personality traits, mastered white skill of lies and deception,
appearing very happy, on a horse with his wife.

The film has triggered much controversy over what some regard as an insensitive
treatment of slavery in American’s past and also filled with violence and transgressive behavior.
The film’s understanding provides a sharp contrast to it’s depiction of the dehumanizing
treatment of slaves. Django Unchained was obviously an example ethnocentrism wherein the
whites invalidates the culture of the black people. It shows us that the white people we’re
Honeylen L. Casiple Mr. John Adolfo
ABM11 – A1

superiors, they do not allow black people in any position and make their own decision. There is
no humanity in their society. They treated black people as their slave/toy and even have the
courage to sell them. In this movie, Django was the first nigger that can ride a horse. The script
was strong and story line reflected many of the social dynamics that made slavery difficult. We
all now that nothing can be done to repair the wrongs of slavery. Although there has been a lot of
progress over the past years, there are currently many various problematic issues that are
contributed by discriminatory behavior and belief systems. No matter how much time goes by,
slavery will always be ghost in America’s past.

Racist who do not like people who belong to other races that are different from their
own still exist in our society today. These narrow-minded people, who do not respect other
people, think their race is better than the others. It can be painful that it can leave a scar and
anger that traumatizes other people. The problem of racial discrimination is extremely relevant
until now. Both non-white and white people have not learnt to treat one another in the proper
way. If we want to live in the peaceful and flourishing society, we should respect and support
one another in spite of the color of skin, gender or religious views.