Django Unchained Sociological Analysis free essay sample

â€Å"Django Unchained† while written to be a fictional and entertaining movie, since its release has become a topic of controversy and debate from all who have seen it. Some have found the movie to be insensitive and even taking a humorous approach in dealing with America’s past on slavery. I however feel differently and by taking a social-conflict approach in analyzing the movie you can clearly see how the movie points out patterns of inequality in everyday life. The conflict theory emphasizes the role of coercion and power in producing social order. Social order is maintained by domination, with power in the hands of those with the greatest political, economic, and social resources. The movie also demonstrates race-conflict theory, the values and norms of people living in this pre-civil war era, a caste system of the people during this time, a look in to the racist history of the United States , and the abuse of power taken by some individuals. Calvin Candie and Stephen, Django and The Mandingos, and Dr. Schultz’s role all show great examples of these concepts and theories. When you look at Calvin Candie, a revolting racist and sadist who owns a Mississippi plantation played by Leonardo DiCaprio, you cannot help but be appalled. The social conflict approach is best demonstrated by this character. He uses his power and status as a wealthy plantation owner to not only abuse his slaves but basically do whatever he wants with them. He shows how men of power can coerce people to do almost anything. Candie has created an arena of inequality in his plantation called Candieland which throughout the movie generates conflict and eventually change. Candie has a slave named Stephen, played by Samuel L Jackson, whom is worse to his own people than anyone else in the entire film. He is shown countless times in the movie shouting the â€Å"N† word, beating other slaves, and being the one to carry out the orders of his master without any remorse or delay, even if the order is to have a slave killed or forced to fight to the death. This shows just how far a person is willing to go to please those in power and to take some power for themselves. I could not help but wonder what I would do if put in his situation. Could I really be the one to beat down and degrade my own people just to save myself? Could it be that he truly started to believe that his people deserved this kind of treatment and that they were not equal? After years of hearing the same thing from those in power, maybe it is possible to begin to believe and accept it to make life easier. The values and norms of the characters in â€Å"Django Unchained† representing those of the pre-civil war era are very unique to those of the values and norms that we are used to today. The most unique set of values and norms to me come from the Mandingo fighters. The complacency of submission and slavery, how it forced people to accept inhuman things as a matter and means to survive and provide for themselves and their loved ones. The rules in which they inhered to and lived by, being forced to kill each other upon demand and then share living quarters and training grounds with the same people you were going to fight are unlike anything we could imagine today. By watching the movie it is clear just how far people are willing to go to survive. No matter how terrible the situation may be, it is human nature to adapt and overcome their feelings in order to get by. The anger I felt watching the events take place throughout the movie seemed only matched by the anger of Django. As I stated before I guess when you are subjected to something for so long, you have to become willing to make the best out of it to survive, you start to forget to see the evil in what is actually taking place and you do what is necessary. One cannot cast blame on people whom are forced to act this way, because you would not know how you would react unless put in the same situation. A persons values change when things become a matter of life and death and to judge someone for doing what is needed to live in my eyes is wrong. Throughout the movie the caste system is also demonstrated very well. It shows how Django and the other people of color are born in to the world with fewer rights than those born in to the world as a white man. Their social standing and classification are completely decided and based on this fact alone throughout the movie. In the movie it is known that Django and Dr. Schultz are friends and share a mutual respect for each other, however when they are around other people who are white, they are forced to act as master and servant as to not upset the social structure that the United States has become accustomed to. For a black man to be seen treated as an equal by a white man, was not something to be accepted during this era. Throughout the movie they frequently had to hide their friendship to be able to fit in, and not stand out in social settings as to give up their true purpose for being there, which in most cases were to cause havoc in racist communities and kill outlaws on Dr. Schultz bounty list. Tarantino tries to put the viewer in Djangos shoes, to make them view and see all these humans acting inhumanly in order to survive, and it builds an anger in the viewer as it did in Django (and other people in the time), until when the violence breaks out it cannot be contained, and the viewer is not appalled by the violence but believes it necessary, long overdue, and right to atone for all of the inhumanity that came before. I am talking about when Django snaps at the end of the movie. You can certainly relate and be proud of all the blood and gore he sheds throughout the plantation. Your values of what are ultimately right and wrong have been altered, after being challenged from watching the movie for so long. You are looking through almost a different set of eyes. Eyes that have seen just how inhumanly people were treated, and that if it were you, you would want to react the exact same way.