12 thoughts on “Django Unchained: Blame Game?”

1. I must respectfully disagree. While I agree sin lies in the heart and you cannot blame Tarantino and others, but they are indirectly responsible.

   Anything that does not come from faith is sin and while Tarantino at the video store may be prevented from acting out his violent fantasies, some other kid looks up to him. So instead denouncing criminal activity, he inflames it, fans the fire and gives vision to his demonic mental world.

   The same way the pornographer may not be responsible for the rape, I think Jesus said woe to the one who the offenses came from (alli’s paraphase). I mean it’s usually the extra push that someone already crazy needs; where without him it’s something that may just be a passing sick thought. You mean if I slaughter all these people I can be cool like Tarantino? Sorry, try again. Pearl Jam had a video when I was a kid ‘Jeremy’ about this. They banned it on TV bc some troubled kid might be affected.

   So if advertisers spend millions of dollars bc they know you will eat pizza instead broccoli, they’ll do it. God knows this. That’s why He said I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. It has an effect no doubt. The Main issue however is bad parenting. But Tarantino and others king etc are making the devils job much easier…he needs to make up his mind. His freedom is affecting others but the devil gone be the devil.

   I would not be suffering today if certain people hadn’t decided their rights were important than my nine year soul….sorry for the book. Its all love though 🙂

2. Sorry. That their rights were more important than my nine your soul… There’s always a price. He needs to decide.

   1. I hear you, Allison.
      Lots of folks disagree with Tarantino.
      I found it impossible to remain ‘unaffected’ by the violence in Django. I’m not sure how the fellas did it, but there were lots of moviegoers in the theater with us that didn’t see the same thing I did. They saw blood packs and film-making cleverness. I’m not there yet, and I don’t aim to be there. I would have to turn off a whole side of me to not be impacted.

      I had a fascinating conversation at a producers’ roundtable recently where we discussed Steven Spielberg films. One person commented on how very violent the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan was, but how they survived it. Another commented that it wasn’t that bad to him because he appreciated Spielberg showing the reality of war and how messed up it is. Another didn’t think it was too violent at all. Three reactions to the same violence. Personally, I couldn’t make it through the first few minutes. My spirit was vexed, but that’s me.

      I think this is a very real conversation that our culture should have without passing blame. I think if we each took responsibility for our part, we could get somewhere.

      My heart breaks that you had to experience violence as a child. I apologize on behalf of the person who harmed you. No child should be hurt at the hand of another. I hope the perpetrator has expressed remorse to you and forgiveness is able to be given. We’ve got a long way to go in terms of how we treat one another. Lots of love, Lady.

3. Other countries enjoy the same movies and video games, yet are not as violent as America. Red States are the most religious, yet the most violent and consume the most pornography. BTW, Allison pornography leading to rape is factually false. Violence is throughout the Bible, Rape is in the Bible. Just don’t kill your slave, and give the rape victim’s dad 30 pieces of silver and marry her. If we were really being desensitized by definition, there would be hardly an outcry over the shootings in CT. The fact that a vast majority of the public is disgusted by this act shows society is still sensitive. Factually the world is less violent and barbaric, media sensationalism would have you think otherwise, but at the end of the day that kid was crazy, crazy is as crazy does. point blank

   1. Hi john God bless u, actually david berkowitz who is now a christian was indulging in pornography it was lining the walls of his cell. There are some criminals i believe who cannot cannot commit crimes w/o listening to violent music because it ‘helps’ them in other words no sane human can b able to carry it out without the mentality. Ted Bundy as said pornography had a grave affect on him. It awakens desires that should b otherwise kept in marriage creates lust and covetous which cannot b fulfilled. And lanza destroyed his hard drive before he committed suicide. i will bet you money he was filling his mind with junk. If Tarantino wasnt making movies, how do we know but by he grace of God he wouldn’t be one of them? its obvious he has issues. Violence occurs in the bible and life. The DIFFERENCE is in motive. are showing me to document or to inflame. Reservoir dogs the first film by Tarantino was akin to violent episodes people have in war or prison without the consequences, in Rwanda listen to testimonies of killers during the genocide and they had a lust for violence. Tarantino and others made the violence less gruesome by adding music and cool to it. Nightmare on elm street is about a rapist. these are actual sins we have watched for enjoyment so to say it has no effect on us im sorry is a bit naive. No offense. Bin laden was addicted to pornography and other countries may not have as many acts of violence because there is an oppressive system. Sin in the heart is sin in the heart. We have freedoms here that afford us the responsibility to be responsible. OTHER countries may simply not have the access like we do. Thanks

4. @john in addition except those living through wwii or the holocaust our generation has not seen the violence other nations have unless you live in the hood. If you live detached from suffering and violence it is hard to understand what it is to take human life. ask too short or 50 cents. that mess you see matters. why do you think we have no conscience for abortions or the many many deaths in the urban communities? it doesn’t effect some, therefore it isn’t real. but you see your momma get killed, your attitude will be different about viewing violence. what we see effects us. the SAD part is when you see violence and it’s FAKE, you dont feel the same remorse or guilt. adam lanza is not that strange. there are millions of little ones walking around who just dont have the guts to act on it.

5. Itz a tragdey actually some things you just shouldnt see,especially kids you steal their innocence away from them… and when you do it has a terrible effect on you. Why help the enemy? I say this from personal knowledge so theres not much you can say to me on this i know people who should b in jail right now and it has everything to do with what they fill their minds or were exposed to. violence begats violence. But home training iz more important.

6. it’s called crazy…….and it’s called arithmetic. Should hundreds millions of people not enjoy certain movies or video games because 3 people mentally ill people can’t separate fantasy from reality? I did grow up in the hood, I have saw people shot and killed as a kid, and I play violent video games and it still bothers me. Maybe we should make women wear burkas so men will not see there beauty and be propelled to rape them or have unholy thought. This is an old argument.

7. Interesting and thought provoking!

8. Good topic. Many people are affected in different ways. Movies provide something to look at so they will encourage people in different ways. People in movies nowadays don’t do much more than what was already seen in the bible. If they weren’t using guns they’d use rocks, slingshots, arrows, and water torture to harm people. It doesn’t matter how they are killed or sinned against, the outcome is the same.

   This has come about in many ways over the years. Al Pacino doesn’t catch as much flack for Scarface or Godfather as Denzel did for Training Day. Spielberg won’t get as much as Tarantino. Movies on the holocaust are hard to watch for violence but directors know that if they are in contention against a holocaust movie they may have to wait until another year to get a statue.

   (This doesn’t include self defense) Alot of the problems still starts at home. Parents often know when they have a child that is infatuated with violence. When Rambo was popular, I saw kids with huge knives that had compasses on the bottom for navigation. I had access to BB guns as well. My friends shot squirrels on the regular. That didn’t cause me to do it. Taking it a step further, I am a meat eater and I wouldn’t directly kill an animal to eat off of. I’m not able to stomach it. But there are people that are manhunters out there. Movies don’t decide it. They only show different ways of doing it. Man is intelligent. We can’t fly so we found ways to fly. If we are broke, we’ll find ways to get money. Same goes for violence.

   Naima mentioned violence, or characters with sinful motives, in movies prior to this post (the film Flight). It looks at actors playing sinful parts (protagonists and almost 100% of antagonists). If it is a sin to play an antagonist then all movies are to blame for negative portrayals to a certain extent. Most good movies have antagonists. Aren’t movies like Django displaying events that actually happened in some way, shape, or form back when slavery was legal? Does this mean that documentaries are also to blame for the negative effects that they can offer? Isn’t that a stretch?

   1. @Tieuel Legacy, Thanks. To clarify, I do not believe and/or have never stated that films should not have actors playing roles that reveal sin. If our screenplays are about life, they will have characters who are true to life- flawed and all.

      But as filmmakers, we get to choose how we portray those flaws on screen. Every single artist chooses what to display in their art. I take issue with gratuitous nudity and gratuitous violence. I believe that the human body in its nude state is inherently beautiful. But that’s not how FLIGHT opens. The nudity is gratuitous and exploitative of women – by men.

      I challenge our screenwriters and filmmakers to come up with more creative ways to show our fallen state than the oh-so-common naked lady opening sequence for ‘shock value’. Rarely are our men exploited in the same way (not that they should be). I am committed to storytelling that does not exploit our women or men and/or does not take the easy way out with gratuitous fanfare.

      In my previous blog on FLIGHT, I actually say that many Christians have asked me how Denzel can play such a rogue character and still maintain his faith? My answer was: “Denzel is an actor. He chooses films, many times, with redemptive story lines, but he also plays incredibly flawed individuals… because we are all incredibly flawed individuals. He is reflecting back to society what we are: fallen.”

      That’s what actors do. We bring to life stories about people who are like us: fallen, redeemed, everything in between. I have never said that it is a sin to play an antagonist in a film. I’ve played antagonists. I did not sin.

      In my blog above, the point that I am making about sin is that sin, not necessarily our media, is the cause of violence in our society. Murderers kill from a root of sin. We’re born sinful and desperately need a savior.

      I also say above that Django is not based on actual events. It is a fantasy. It does not display events that actually happened in real life when slavery was legal. It’s is completely fictional and no one should look at it and believe that a slave could’ve been freed by a German and become a bounty hunter and start shooting slave owners. This movie is a figment of Quentin Tarantino’s imagination – a very violent imagination, at that.

      I’m not into violence. I make that very clear in my blog above. Others are not so bothered by it. To each his own. That being said, this will probably be my last Tarantino flick. I think I reached my violence intake capacity for the year by the end of Act I.

      Filmmakers can make any film that they choose, and their audience can then choose whether to watch what they’ve made. :=)

9. I should’ve clarified my reply. Although I pointed out one or two things that you mentioned, my overall response was for the general population that believes that people are weak enough to be influenced by gunplay, drugs, and sex in films.

   I feel that it’s honorable for Hollywood to postpone screenings and so forth but people will find ways to wreak havoc without directors showing it. People invent ways in the prison system after being stripped of materials.

   For some people, evil is like food; they have to have it. If directors have that type of influence then the world would be even worse. I haven’t found a person yet that doesn’t like movies. And it’s quite often that I find people that like movies with some type of violence or evil. Even Tyler Perry has violence and drug use. He makes a point with it as you well know.

   The filmmaker probably got the point across that he intended. It was definitely shock value. We haven’t seen that in many Denzel movies. It’s shock rather than glorification. However, the people that are too far gone to tell the difference will never be your ordinary citizen that can leave a movie or a game on the screen.

   There are movie themes that could still be played without sinful ways but people already complain that they are seeing the same films over and over again. That was my point about people giving up acting or filmmaking.

   Happy Holidays everyone!

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