From 'Lincoln' To 'Django': Slavery Takes Center Stage At Holiday Box Office

A scene from 'Django'

Javier David, a conservative writer in New York, opines that this trend is stripping away old taboos: "Although a work about slavery, the popularity of Lincoln is perhaps easily explained, if not understandable. There is always a groundswell of interest in movies with historical icons at their epicenter, especially when made by the closest thing Hollywood has to a living legend. [Steven] Spielberg’s name is practically a byword for cinematic excellence, and Abraham Lincoln is a seminal figure in the country’s movement toward civil rights. He enjoys an historical cachet and mystique that puts audiences at ease, even if the subject matter is tough to swallow."

He continues his commentary: "Yet it’s Django that is emerging as the award season’s most head-scratching oddity. How does any filmmaker, much less a white one, get away with turning the Civil War into a comedic Spaghetti western — and one the entertainment industrial complex has wholeheartedly embraced? Where Spielberg emotes, [Quentin] Tarantino eviscerates (literally and figuratively). His bombastic and often comical treatment of race should arguably prompt most moviegoers to take to the streets in protest. The answer lies in Tarantino’s grind-house aesthetic, along with an iconoclastic and irreverent style that gives him credibility with black audiences, for better or worse. In addition, most of the black actors who have worked with him in the past have spoken very highly of his directorial talent, which gives Tarantino a creative license that would be denied most other directors who would endeavor to make a race-themed movie."