1. Though there's
no point denying it'll do its part, for better or worse, to shape young
Americans' thoughts and feelings on the subject of race, saying Django Unchained is a movie about
race is a little like saying Chinatown is a movie about the American immigrant experience. This is because Django does absolutely no serious thinking on the subject of race; it
attempts no insights about race as a force shaping American memory and
consciousness. What it is, simply, is a
movie about movies—and their seldom fully
exploited potential for wish fulfillment.
What's the most primal, enervating wish, arguably, a human being
can have?
That for revenge.
In what context might an American filmmaker set a revenge-wish-fulfillment
story if his goal is to make contemporary American audiences lose their minds with glee right there in their
movie seats?
Well, how about a scary abusive-husband context? (There's your Kill Bill.)
Or a Nazism/antisemitism context? (There's your Inglorious Basterds.)
Or—why not?—an American-slavery context? (Hello, Django
Unchained.)
It's hard not to think Tarantino will be doing Crazy Horse and Custer next.
