Django Unchained, be your own judge

I saw Django Unchained on Christmas (opening night) at the AMC in Emeryville, CA. We originally planned to see the 3:15 showing and arrived at the theatre at about 2:15, only to discover that the 3:15 was already sold out.  So, we stood in the long line and purchased tickets for the 7:00pm show.

The AMC in Emeryville has 16 screens so it can hold a lot of people and on this day the crowds were crazy huge! I'm sure not all of the people were there to see Django but there was a pretty fair number of African Americans in line and my guess is that most were there to see Django.

Anyway we went home and returned around 5:30 where we were met with an already long line of people waiting to get inside the theatre. We joined the others and you could feel the energy and excitement of the people in line, and even though we were not let into the theatre until about 6:55, I didn't really care.

1970s movie going in SF photo source

The crowds on Christmas night, brought back memories of how it used to be back in1970's San Francisco. When you wanted to see a first run movie in San Francisco (in case you weren't around in the 70s or don't live in the Bay Area) you would undoubtedly encounter a very long line winding around your local multiplex. It was quite common to drop off a designated person to stand in line to buy tickets. The wait might be hours and hours. The rest of the group would join later as the line got shorter or after the tickets were purchased and the ticket buyer moved over to stand in the other long line of people going into the theatre.  It was a fun experience where you usually ended up making some new friends you met in the line.

That's how I felt on Christmas night.

I was a little nervous about seeing Django after hearing about the violence and the subject matter and it was only after watching a 2-part interview with Jamie Foxx on Oprah that I decided to see the movie.

I can tell you straight out, I don't see what all the fuss is about and why is Spike Lee boycotting the movie and making accusations about a movie he hasn't even seen?

My review:
1.We really liked the movie! I admit I had to close my eyes numerous times due to the bloody violence but its not the first time.

2. I thought Tarantino's use of humor was appropriately interspersed in the movie and diffused some racially awkward scenes.

3. Jamie Foxx was very charismatic and did a damn good job convincing us that he was really Django. We forgot he was Jamie Foxx!

4. The relationship between Jamie and Dr Schultz was very convincing. It didn't seem like the white man was sent in to rescue the struggling black person and save the day as is usually the case. For once the black man got to be the hero! We don't get to be heros very often.

5. Ok, so it was reported that the 'n' word was used some 141 times!  Although it might have been shocking to some, I don't think it shocked many black people and personally, I was hardly offended (hopefully neither were my ancestors). Was it used too much? Hmmm, maybe, but frankly, I am much more disturbed by the causal use of the 'n' word and the offensive profanity used to degrade black women in videos that are played over and over again on TV. After the 1st few times of hearing the 'n' word in the movie, I was pretty used to it.  I'm sure it was used more than a little bit during slavery, as it is still used quite a bit today (and by more than rappers) -- some people just try to keep it a secret.

6. Was this a factual portrayal of slavery? Well, yes and no. It is only a movie after all. Slavery is a topic African Americans have long been ready to discuss but white America, not so much. Slavery is America's biggest curse, and its deepest scar.

Trailer

If this movie spurs some dialog on the subject, that's a good thing!

I recommend the movie and I would love to see Jamie Foxx recognized for his role.

Oh and Spike Lee might try actually seeing a movie BEFORE he reviews it!

I'm Just Sayin!