I met Robert Croston in Teach for America purgatory summer training. Dude is an awesome school leader and had something smart to say about Django, so I'm turning over the mic.
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At it’s
core, Django: Unchained is a counter-narrative and graphic fairytale about a
black man’s commitment to honor his marriage vows and reunite with his wife
despite the institutional fetters of slavery.
But of
course, this is no kid's fairytale. The damsel in distress is an enslaved
comfort woman and the knight in shining armor is a runaway turned bounty
hunter. In this story, the dragon gets shot through the heart, the ogre gets
kneecapped, and the castle is blown to smithereens.
Django
(Jamie Foxx) is a black slave that hooks up with a bounty hunter by the name of
Dr. King Schultz (Christopher Waltz), who gives him freedom and a new job:
hunting white fugitives. Despite
his new employment and emancipation, Django never gives up on rescuing his
wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), who was sold down the river to Mississippi's fourth
largest plantation: Candieland. Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) owns the
plantation and his loyal houseman Stephan (Samuel L. Jackson at his sinister
best) runs the show.
When
Django tells Schultz his story, the German marvels at Broomhilda's name and
recounts a Norse legend about a maiden named Broomhilda who was freed from
mountaintop captivity by a shining knight. As the bounty hunters mount up for
their quest, it's hard not to see the enterprise as a fairytale.
Foxx does
not have to act an ass like the last black actor to land a major role in a fairytale
box office smash. In fact, Django, according to Monsieur Candie, is more than a
Mandingo fighter, a violent black male slave dripping testosterone; he is a 1
in 10,000 type “nigger” (sic). His ability to defer gratification—for blood or
sex—in order to carry out the clever ruse they use to purchase Broomhilda’s
freedom distinguishes him summa cum laude from all other Romeos and Prince
Charmings.
Unfortunately
for a fairytale about black lovers, Foxx’s and Washington’s performances are on
the pedestrian side. Apparently all that was needed was pretty faces and
household names to fill the roles. Interestingly, Django’s altruistic appeal to
take Broomhilda’s beating for running away is the single most passionate scene
they share during the entire film. Foxx and Washington spend little time on
screen with each other expressing their love in words or touch beyond the predictable
passionate kiss after the heroic rescue of the final scene.
Django’s
selfless love compels him to traverse KKK-saturated lands and defy black codes
to rejoin his wife. But beyond his death-defying conquest, Django’s love for
Broomhilda is only weakly portrayed by his daydreams, which call to mind a
General Mills farmer imagining his long-lost award-winning sunflower. Broomhilda is more like Django’s stolen
property, an object to be possessed rather than a
cherished companion. As a married man, I would have preferred to see daydreams
of the wedding ceremony, “honeymoon”, or a hand holding stroll through the
field.
Despite all this, Django is an American Legend. Django does
what maybe 1 in 10,000 men would do as a fugitive: He risks almost certain
death to infiltrate and destroy the master’s house in order to save his wife
and restore his family. Django is more than a cinematic tale of gore. It's a
clarion call to black men to fight for their families no matter the racially
oppressive economic and social conditions of America. Even so, as Americans, we
should consider the Broomhildas of our personal and collective hearts held
captive by any number of institutional “isms,” especially racism and
capitalism. Pursue her with a reckless abandon; there is no tomorrow.
-Robert Croston
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