The American Western Django Unchained Free Essay Example

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Unchaining the Modern Western

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Django Unchained, overall, is a successful western film because the hero, Django embodies the themes and motifs of traditional western film heroes. The reason the film is a western is because Django Unchained focuses on an outsider hero, the hero is determined in conquering an adverse frontier regardless of what he has to do, and there is a clash of cultures much like that of cowboys and Indians. First, Tarantino's Django Unchained is a western because it focuses on an outsider hero.

The primary focus of the film is Django; a now freed black man who was once a slave. Django is an outsider because he is a free black man in the antebellum south, and he interacts with slave-owners and enslaved blacks alike; neither of which he is truly equal to. His race forces him to be an outsider when interacting with everyone aside from his wife and mentor. In the beginning of the film, Django was bought by a bounty hunter, Dr.

King Schultz, because Django knew the whereabouts of three wanted men. Django agreed to this because he wanted to find and save his wife, Broomhilda, from Candyland, a plantation. This sets up the gunfighter-rookie relationship that is seen in many different western films. According to Belton, the rookie is known as a 'tenderfoot and their bonding with the mentor comes in a key scene where the Unchaining the Modern Western.

The American Western is a genre of film that has been popular since nearly the beginning of the American film industry. From 1926 to 1967, Hollywood produced more westerns than any other genre of film, mainly because the themes of westerns paralleled the growing nation (Belton). The idea of an outsider becoming a hero and conquering the wild frontier is a theme that is constant throughout western films, and is a concept that is very akin to American ideals, and one that is seen in Quentin Tarantino's 2012 film Django Unchained. Django Unchained, overall, is a successful western film because the hero, Django embodies the themes and motifs of traditional western film heroes. The reason the film is a western is because Django Unchained focuses on an outsider hero, the hero is determined in conquering an adverse frontier regardless of what he has to do, and there is a clash of cultures much like that of cowboys and Indians.

First, Tarantino's Django Unchained is a western because it focuses on an outsider hero. The primary focus of the film is Django; a now freed black man who was once a slave. Django is an outsider because he is a free black man in the antebellum south, and he interacts with slave-owners and enslaved blacks alike; neither of which he is truly equal to. His race forces him to be an outsider when interacting with everyone aside from his wife and mentor. In the beginning of the film, Django was bought by a bounty hunter, Dr. King Schultz, because Django knew the whereabouts of three wanted men. Django agreed to this because he wanted to find and save his wife, Broomhilda, from Candyland, a plantation. This sets up the gunfighter-rookie relationship that is seen in many different western films. According to Belton, the rookie is known as a 'tenderfoot and their bonding with the mentor comes in a key scene where the as mentioned before, struggled to maintain the respect and attention of the whites and the slaves that surrounded him, which posed a serious issue in conquering his figurative frontier.

According to Belton, the Indians depicted in the clash of cultures sub-genre of film are often portrayed as lesser than that of their white counterparts, and treated as savages. This holds true in Django Unchained, where many of the blacks in the film are forced into brutally violent competition and also beatings. Though the motivation of the lesser portrayal is not the same as that of the classic American western films, as Tarantino does not try to belittle black culture in the film. The struggle in Django Unchained has no racist tendencies, but rather is a depiction of the social setting of the time, much like that of westerns which depicted a time before technology (Belton).

Throughout the film, Django Unchained directed by Quentin Tarantino, the themes and motifs of classic American western films are presented, fitting the film into the western genre. Django Unchained is a western because of the depiction of the hero, and film's namesake, Django. Django makes the film a western because he is an outsider hero, he is attempting to conquer a foreign and adverse frontier, and he is caught in a cultural clash. The film is successful in its attempt to be a western because of this, though at times it can be a bit over the top, which is common for films directed by Tarantino. Django's character brings about a unique interpretation of the American cowboy because of his race, but because of his embodiment of the role, it still makes the film a viable modern interpretation of the western.