The text I chose to analyze was the movie “Django Unchained.” This film is set in the 1800s and is about a slave, named Django, (played by Jamie Foxx), and his “owner”, Dr. King Schultz, (played by Christopher Waltz). Shultz is a bounty hunter and he needed Django to help identify two white men who watch over the slaves in the fields. In return, he would buy Django his freedom. However, Django eventually becomes a bounty hunter with him to get enough money to buy his wife out of slavery.
This movie shows a lot of the disgusting acts that occurred during this time. For example, in the first scene there are a group of slaves who are all tied up with iron clasps on their ankles. It then zoomed in on the iron and how it absolutely tore away any skin underneath it. However, these slaves were still made to walk through the night to their destination. The gore and inhumanity in this made me squirm.
Shultz did not care for or approve of slavery, so he was happy being Django’s friend. He even bought a horse for Django, and they both went into pubs together. However, whenever people saw them in pubs or Django riding a horse, they always stared and then resorted to run away or yell derogatory words. I found interesting that the slaves did this, too. In addition, when the people yelled at Django, they always yelled at Schultz for “allowing him” to have a horse or to be in a pub drinking a beer. I thought this was interesting too.
I think this most closely relates to de Beauvoir’s One and the Other. Since Django has different colored skin, he is represented as the Other, because it deviates from the “class” that the One needs to preserve. I also think that some of the actions done to the slaves is similar to the John Lewis book we read. The slaves never asked for this and they never retaliated. They were portrayed as peaceful people who had horrible things done to them as they were stripped away from any humanity.
This is a link to a youtube video where the people are surprised to see Django riding a horse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCTj0TgyGH8