A civil discussion about race and other social impacts of Tarantino's slave revenge fantasy.
Tags: podcast, spill, spill.com, django unchained, call in show, quentin tarantino
January 03, 2013 at 9:18 AM, frank zop said ...
the word is nigger if your going to write out "the -N word " you might as well just write it out ..
This is getting fucking stupid I feel like I'm living in the world of the "emperor's new clothes ".
The movie was great the use of the word was in context to what was going on and made perfect sense the movie was fantastic .
If you're black or white and can't enjoy the movie because of a couple of lines of dialogue .. that's your lose .
The overall message was not just black n white it was many things together giving a human like story to a comic book type universe .
It could have been made by somebody like Spike Lee but it wasn't and that seems to be the real elephant in the room here that everyone dancing around , And surprisingly it's coming mostly from people who lambast others for not acknowledging achievements made by somebody because of race or gender.
I'm saddened that I'm reminded of that kind of hypocrisy by people over reacting to a movie that was created to inspire the exact opposite effect .
January 03, 2013 at 6:16 AM, said ...
The irony is Korey said it himself some of his favorite movies are blaxploitation films so are Quentin Tarantino's. So why would you get mad at him for doing something in his films that you liked in other films? That doesn't make any sense.
January 03, 2013 at 6:13 AM, said ...
@ Zenther
I think you misunderstood what I was saying man. I never said word do not have any merit to them or do they hurt anyone. I was saying the one word such as nigger or any other derogatory insult should not be the main focus of racism. First of all let me ask you this when has the word nigger ever denied a black person the right vote, the right to by housing, the right to a better education, the to have the same jobs as any other person and be treated like an equal human being? To answer the question never. For too long people have let words out weigh the actions. Like for instance instead of complaining about the usage of the nigger in movies. Lets talk about why so many African American Actors and Actresses are not recognized in Hollywood for their performances? Or any other minority group for that matter. Look at the amount whit female actresses that are famous for absolutely nothing when don't even act i.e. Megan Fox and Miley Cyrus. Even Kim Kardashian as another. A fresh white new face shows up in Hollywood all the time. But you rarely see that many new minority actors getting career boost. Just look at IMDB they're so many different black actors and actresses out there it's not even funny. And I am sure you rarely see them in films or t.v shows. All I am saying why isn't Korey ranting on that instead of just a one word. Korey sounds like he took a page out of the Spike Lee playbook and just want to complain about a small issues that really isn't a big issues than complain about the real ones.
Also in regards to Korey the same way you felt about the portrayal of blacks in Tarentino's film like Samuel L. Jackson as the Uncle Tom was the same way I felt about Denzel Washington in "Training Day" But you don't mind him that one of your favorite movies. Look how corrupt he was in that film to the point he caused more harm to his own community than other racist white cops did. To me he was no different than Samuel L, Jackson character in DJANGO UNCHAINED. However what makes Korey sound like a hypocrite is when he tries to justify one wrong doing over another. That's what I have a problem with. Korey also states that some of his favorite films are blaxploitation films. Which to me are the epitome of why the black race has been subjected to think all we are nothing but Drug Dealers, Pimps, and Prostitutes that kill one another. Those kinds of characters are all throughout blaxploitation cinema. They are even worse.
January 02, 2013 at 1:52 PM, said ...
Great call in show Korey, really enjoyed hearin ur opinion on the subject - one thing Id like to hear ur thoughts on and that I'm really surpirsed never came up is the influence of popular music on how opinions of the n-word have changed in peoples minds. When huge stars like Kanye West and 50 Cent have number 1 smash hits with the n-word used dozens of times, that surely goes towards a lot of people gettin confused about the nature of the word and believing it's no longer deemed as offensive. So Korey, what I really wanna know is, what do u think about rappers and other black musicians who use the n-word, and do u think they are partly or largely responsible for a lot of confusion amongst white people where that word is concerned?
January 02, 2013 at 1:35 PM, said ...
I wouldn't say "honky" and "white boy" are impossible to be used in a position of power - I was called such things by black kids in school before being beat the shit out of by them - no hard feelings :)
January 02, 2013 at 12:52 PM, said ...
As for the 'cartoony' treatment of the era of slavery being so offensive and innapropriate Korey, I can't help but think of all the cartoonishly over the top and comical representations of Nazis and the Third Reich - what with the holocaust and all the other hideous atrocities they were responsible for, and not to mention it was more recent historically than slavery, should people (especially Jewish people) be as offended by, for example, Iron Sky, or even the Indiana Jones films, as you are offended by what that caller had to say about Django Unchained? I kinda think not...
January 02, 2013 at 12:33 PM, said ...
Well it's a really "american" debate... Here in France, n*** is not considered that offensive (but still we did participate in the slave trade, and we have huge communities of north africans and africans living with us)... What I find a little hard to understand, is that Tarantino can't really be misunderstood as racist! I mean he did Jackie Brown which is maybe the best celebration of Afro American pop culture in mainstream cinema in decades! If there were any clue that he could be in fact racist I wld understand. But its for the worst a lack of judgment from it part... And what to say about the black comedians that are allways working with him and using this word ? Are they racist too ? Arent they to blame ?
January 02, 2013 at 12:18 PM, said ...
The whole mimicry/homage/rip-off thing is a lot older than Tarentino - Scorsese and Spielberg lifted many shots and scenes from European cinema, DePalma spent his whole career rippin off Hitchcock and was praised for his homage to the Odessa Steps sequence from Battleship Potempkin in The Untouchables, and Orson Welles based Citizen Kane (very unofficially) on William Randolph Hearst - Tarentino is certainly more blatent about it than most, but he didn't start it.
January 02, 2013 at 8:44 AM, said ...
@ Gregory Alford
"When did words ever hurt anyone?"
Well that's not entirely true. Yes, words obviously can't "physically" hurt anyone, but you can't deny that words do hold a certain kind of punch. First, let me make on thing perfectly clear; I'm not advocating that the word be completely stripped from the English language or anything extreme like that. Despite how the horrible history that the N-word has, you should have the right to say it...however.
What we need to keep in mind is that, like so many other derogatory terms, there should be some amount of respect towards the word. And by respect, I mean that we have to understand that by using that word, we carry with it it's history and everything else that goes along with it. It's kind of like that episode in South Park were Stan's dad accidently uses the N-word on a game show. There's a great line towards the end that I think really hit the nail on the head quite nicely, "I get it, Token. I don't get it. I'll never understand what it's like for someone to use the N-word"
And this isn’t the first time they’ve touched on speech either. South Park actually did an episode years before this about curse words; were in their world, curse words were actually cursed and if used too much, they would free some horrible beast.
January 02, 2013 at 6:59 AM, said ...
Everybody wikipedia this name "William 'April' Ellison". A former slave turned entrepreneur who owned more than 60 slaves, supported the Confederacy, donated more than $9000 to the war effort and used the prestige of his family to admit his grandson into the 1st South Carolina Artillery Army of the South. In 1820 after his master freed him he changed his name from April (slaves were commonly named after the month they were born in) to William Ellison Jr. the name of his former owner.
January 02, 2013 at 6:50 AM, said ...
According to the U.S. census of June 1st 1860 more than 3000 Negroes owned slaves in the city of New Orleans alone.
January 02, 2013 at 3:21 AM, said ...
@ jesus avalos
When did words ever hurt anyone? Actions are what the true problems and the lack of thereof which most blacks take no stand to prevent. But they lean on something as a one word description that don't exist. The question have you done anything i.e, file discrimination E.O.C COMPLAINTS? I think not and most blacks don' get involved with the actions taken against us. But they are satisfied with taking the cheap way out. By leaning on a WORD that describes how they feel about themselves in a song, in their association and in their gatherings that obviously does not harm them. Stay focused on the true enemy which is what we do to ourselves killing one another and allowing them to get away with their discrimination and out apathy.
January 02, 2013 at 1:04 AM, said ...
Most of Quentin Tarantino's films contain a liberal sprinkling of n***er as if he has serious issues with Blacks. QT's "Pulp Fiction" contains 14 n-bombs, "Jackie Brown" contains about 38 and the others contain a lot as well. Blacks give a pass to an n-bomb obsessed white man who conditions millions of viewers to regard Blacks as n***ers in almost every movie he makes. QT has many Black followers who pay to see his movies. Blacks help finance their own denigration? Black viewers are subjected to the n-word in a staggering number of films. Please check out my blog post "The N Word and Black and White Viewers" on Spill's website.
January 01, 2013 at 10:21 PM, Victor Hooper said ...
Just saw the movie. I think they do use the n word excessively but I understand that's Tarantino's style.
January 01, 2013 at 9:49 PM, said ...
Korey ranting at Alice is the funniest thing I've heard in fuckin ages hahaha
January 01, 2013 at 7:45 PM, legend26 said ...
Do they say nigger a lot in the movie? Yes
Do I care? Honestly, no.
January 01, 2013 at 2:49 PM, said ...
I'm gonna listen to this after I go see Django for myself.
January 01, 2013 at 11:03 AM, said ...
Among Anglophones, the word nigger was not always considered derogatory, because it then denoted "black-skinned", a common Anglophone usage. Nineteenth-century English (language) literature features usages of nigger without racist connotation, e.g. the Joseph Conrad novella The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' (1897). Moreover, Charles Dickens and Mark Twain created characters who used the word as contemporary usage.
January 01, 2013 at 9:10 AM, said ...
@ Gregory Alford, "The word Nigger never had in involvement with racism" Well it does pal.
January 01, 2013 at 7:24 AM, said ...
The word Nigger never had in involvement with racism and if so it was at the bottom of the totem pole. When comes to racism there were plenty of other things that came into play. I'm not defending the word but I would rather be called nigger by a racist white supremacist then have my rights as man taken away. Like my right to support my family,housing, rights of a better education, Hell!!! my right to be as a equal man. That's are what racism was about
And coming from Korey a guy who loves Blaxploitation Cinema (Pimps and Pushers in film) such as the Super Fly, The Mack, and one of his favorite films The Human Tornado. I feel like those films are more detrimental to the black race the an exploitation film like DJANGO UNCHAINED. At least to me this film was about strong black man rising up against racism and slavery. Instead of a movie like SUPERFLY about him being a pimp or a drug dealer trying to get out of the ghetto by killing his own people, selling them drugs, and then were supposed to have pity for on him for being dealt this hand in life. No I'm sorry Korey that's where I find your hypocrisy at. Blaxploitation Cinema from the 70's were worse look how those movie affected the black community in making generations of black youth thinking it was okay to be drug dealers and pimps. I'd rather a movie like Django even though it was a quasi parody of slavery as a role model. Because at least he stood for something I could get by.
January 01, 2013 at 12:23 AM, ZimMan2 said ...
I'm 11 minutes in and already things are nuts.
This should be a fun listen.
December 31, 2012 at 5:27 PM, said ...
@Tom Urro : No I havent seen it but I can tell the Spill.crew will give it a rental.
December 31, 2012 at 5:11 PM, said ...
You guys ever seen this movie? Pretty famous in the UK but not sure about the US.
A Dog Called N****r (Dambusters)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgePEO7GUtE
December 31, 2012 at 1:45 PM, Jaime Ivan Silva said ...
I agree with Chico.
December 31, 2012 at 8:30 AM, said ...
I vote the spill.crew is being too sensitive. ive heard Korey talk all kind of racist shit about mexicans. cry me a f**n river.
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