Django Unchained & Tarantino’s Quest for the Nigger Pass
The following is a two part series that examines Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. Part 1 explores Tarantino’s approach to the film, while part 2 will explore the content. I’m writing these articles because media plays a pivotal role in cultural production. Django Unchained has real-world implications.
Both the racial representations in the film and the racialized audience receiving them are mutually constitutive. That is, audiences make active meaning of movies while movies are produced to engender what audiences desire and find relevant. Mathew Hughley “The White Savior Film and Reviewers’ Reception” 478
Legends are stories passed along and accepted as historical. Legends often serve as “myths” because in addition to being historical, these stories also function as a repository of cultural imaginings and practices.
A usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon- Webster
Nigger Wake Up Call: Kreayshawn & The “N-Word”
The “Nigger Wake Up Call” is Paul Mooney’s idea that no matter what a Black person achieves, they can be dehumanized and treated “like a nigger” at any moment. I will come back to this idea.
So, in about May the internet began buzzing with the latest internet sensation, Kreayshawn, releasing the song “Gucci Gucci”. The song, on its surface, appears to be an indictment of conspicuous consumption; yet, it should not be confused with an anti-capitalist critique. In my opinion, it is merely an appropriation of capitalist patriarchy, spoken through a White lesbian identity. For example, the recurring phrase “One big room, full of bad bitches” is wholly consistent with the commodification of women. The “bitches” are muted and passive, while Kreayshawn speaks for them, “I got rooms full of bad bitches; they don’t need Gucci, they don’t need Louis”. These lyrics sound very similar to the pimp fantasy objectification that characterizes the male gaze in a patriarchal society. For the record, I actually like the song…
