Today is the release of Quentin Tarantino film D’jango Unchained starring Jamie Foxx. Though Tarantino films never cease to amaze with great films, there is always some kind of controversy that surrounds his films as well. Though filmmaker Spike Lee gave Jamie Foxx major props for snagging the role, he is refusing to see it because he says it’s disrespectful.
In a recent interview with Vibe Magazine he says:
“I cant speak on it ’cause I’m not gonna see it… All I’m going to say is that it’s disrespectful to my ancestors. That’s just me… I’m not speaking on behalf of anybody else.”
The film is the most graphic slavery movie since ‘The Roots’ back in 19___. D’jango shows brutal depictions of torture and whippings, and the comic, highlighted by much of the dialogue assigned to Christoph Waltz and Leonardo DiCaprio.
A fan wrote to Spike Lee saying: “Django was just a film and not to be taken seriously, Lee responded, "Wrong.Birth Of A Nation Got Black Folks Lynced [sic]. Media Is Powerful. DON'T SLEEP. WAKE UP YO."
Lee has long been a critic of Tarantino, whose films often deal with race in controversial ways. Following the release of Tarantino's 1997 blacksploitation tribute, Jackie Brown, Lee said, “I have a definite problem with Quentin Tarantino’s excessive use of the n-word. And let the record state that I never said that he cannot use that word -- I’ve used that word in many of my films -- but I think something is wrong with him."
Django, with its 100+ uses of the n-word and graphic depiction of slavery, has drawn its own debate, with many split on whether it belittles slavery or shows its true ills
