Veteran filmmaker Quentin Tarantino does not care what reviewers say about his 2012 film Django Unchained, much more to the dismay of many Black critics. The movie proved to be a popular box office hit despite its mixed reviews.
The spaghetti western drama starred Jamie Foxx as a freed slave who worked with Christoph Waltz’s Dr. King Schultz, a German bounty hunter, to liberate Django’s wife.
Quentin Tarantino Remains Nonchalant About Black Critics’ Remarks On Django Unchained
In a candid interview with the New York Times, director Quentin Tarantino addressed the backlash that Django Unchained received from fans, particularly the Black critics.
“If you’ve made money being a critic in black culture in the last 20 years you have to deal with me. You must have an opinion of me. You must deal with what I’m saying and deal with the consequences. If you sift through the criticism, you’ll see it’s pretty evenly divided between pros and cons. But when the black critics came out with savage think pieces about ‘Django,’ I couldn’t have cared less.”
The Oscar-winning filmmaker remarked that he does not care if people don’t appreciate and understand his movies, emphasizing how “it doesn’t matter” what hurtful words they throw at him.
“It’s been a long time since the subject of a writer’s skin was mentioned as often as mine. You wouldn’t think the color of a writer’s skin should have any effect on the words themselves. In a lot of the more ugly pieces my motives were really brought to bear in the most negative way. It’s like I’m some supervillain coming up with this stuff.”
Fans would notably recall how his fellow director Spike Lee criticized the movie for its depiction of slavery and the excessive use of the ‘N’ word. Still, Tarantino stands by his own truth and will readily defend his project whenever the opportunity arises.
Django Unchained Was Less Horrific Than Real History
During his speech at the movie’s first UK screening, he told BAFTA members via The Guardian that the historical event is much worse than what was depicted in the movie.
“We all intellectually know the brutality and inhumanity of slavery. But after you do the research it’s no longer intellectual anymore, no longer just historical record – you feel it in your bones. It makes you angry, and want to do something. I’m here to tell you, that however bad things get in the movie, a lot worse s—t actually happened.”
Despite the massive backlash, the filmmaker is still keen on helming movies with the same theme. “I’d like to do a couple more, dealing with the same issue: but different story, different characters,” he quipped.
He has always been interested in the Italian-helmed variant of the Western genre, claiming he was inspired to create the film after he worked on a book chapter about movie director Sergio Corbucci.
This was not the first time Tarantino was criticized for the content of his films, though the director seems to know exactly how to justify his creative vision to the public.
Django Unchained is available to watch on Netflix.
