Today, Quentin released the trailer for Django Unchained, his latest film. It was made as a tribute to Quentin's favourite film, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Quentin said that we've seen lots of Westerns, so he wanted to make a "Southern". It takes place at the height of the slave trade almost 200 years ago. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie, the vicious owner of Candyland - a brothel/casino where slaves are forced into prostitution and death matches for the guests. Django is an escaped slave who returns to Candyland to free his wife, with help from a German bounty hunter played by Christoph Waltz (who so perfectly played Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds).
When it comes to defeating racial bigotry, there are generally two approaches. These are generally attributed to their most renowned proponents, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Dr. King wanted to bring unity through peace and open discussion. Malcolm X wanted to fight his oppressors directly. Of course, these two views can be applied to almost any type of persecution. History has shown that Dr. King's method is the one that works. It worked in the Civil Rights movement, as we can see. It's also working in the current fight for gay rights. It used to be about protesting and actively condemning persecution - "We're here, we're queer, get used to it". But that just further divided us from the religious fundamentalists who see homosexuality as evil. But over the last few years, the message has changed. Now, the LGBT community is trying to show that deep down, they're just people like anyone else. And it's working. I'm shocked at how quickly things are progressing. I don't really get involved in it anymore, because I don't feel the need to. We got the ball rolling, and now it's rolling on its own. So many people are changing their minds that it's becoming a bandwagon.
But even though these battles are won by peace and love, it's hard for me to take that route. Frankly, I tend to side with Malcolm X on a moral level. Our species has a pretty nasty history, and we're still not over it. It wasn't so long ago that we finally abolished slavery. Less than a century later, we failed to stop the Holocaust (which happened recently enough that some of its participants are still alive). And today, we're still faced with that kind of hate from religious extremists. From Bible-obsessed Christians who scream that "God hates fags", to Israeli Zionists, to Islamic jihadists, we're still facing a lot of hate from people who just know that their bronze-age books are the right ones. If we ever get through to these people, it'll be through kindness and love - it really is the only way to show them they're wrong. But on a moral level, that just seems slimy to me. They don't deserve our tolerance. If they're going to spew such primitive hate on our species just because they won't grow up, then they don't deserve to share the planet with us. If you attack modern science, then you shouldn't get to use computers or hospitals. If you refuse to learn about the world, you shouldn't get to vote. And if you think you have the right to enslave or kill people because they're not like you, then you shouldn't get to live amongst us at all.
Quentin took those feelings and brought them to life so perfectly in Inglourious Basterds. It was the perfect revenge film. When I was in Washington DC, I saw it for sale at the Holocaust Museum, and I thought that was so perfect. Our culture is too politically correct about everything. For example, Schindler's List is a great film, but I can't quite appreciate it - it's overly sentimental and artificial. These types of films treat our history as though it's a giant taboo; and that limits the way we react to it. We watch The Color Purple and cry, and we watch The Help and cheer, because we only want to feel emotions that can be expressed in Hallmark cards. If you ask me, it's time for some vitriol. We're so passive about things, and that's why these problems never quite go away.
Django Unchained is a breath of fresh air for this reason. It's angry, it's sharp, and most importantly, it's fun. When it comes to these difficult topics, we're supposed to reverently bow our heads in remorse. Don't get me wrong - what happened was inexcusable, and I'm as sickened as anyone over it. But if you want to fully destroy a problem, you can't let it become an unmentionable, censored topic. You have to be able to talk about it freely. Quentin has never been afraid to do this, and I expect this film will be hugely controversial for this reason. But deep down, you know that if the slaves were alive today, they'd love this movie!