Lesson Six. (Django)

POMO

Jameson sees postmodernism as vacuous and trapped in circular references.

Nothing more than a series of self referential 'jokes' which have no deeper meaning or purpose. (Ironically postmodernists don't disagree but use his criticism as their purpose).

For Jameson, literary and cultural output is more purposeful than this and he therefore remains a modernist in a world increasingly dominated by postmodern culture.

Django Unchained

This film is postmodern because...

- Costume

The blue suit that Django wears (The blue boy by Gainsborough) 

Django's green jacket and cowboy hat (Little Joe from Bonanza)

- Setting

Western film, not actually set in the west.

Scenes set in snow, western's are associated with desert.

No Cowboys.

- Spaghetti Western

Italian made (International cast)

-Hero's

African-American man (Unusual)

German man (Unusual)

Together they make a very strange collaboration of friends who become hero's.

-References to the other films

The big silence

The Searchers

Birth of a nation

Django

-Soundtrack/Music

The music doesn't fit, no music of the era (1859).

Mash up of different music makes the whole soundtrack.

-Parodies

Race element.

Acting (Stephen and other black characters)

Acting is purposely OTT and exaggerated. 

Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz act 'normally.'

Jamie Foxx is at the bar with Franco Nero, he says "Django, the D's silent" and Nero says "I know" because he is the original Django.

The whole film is a mash up 

- Western

- Southern melodrama

- Revenge movie

- References other Quentin Tarantino films.

The N word is used a lot as well as 'Motherfucker'. 

Spike Lee tweeted about the film being racially insensitive, slavery isn't taken seriously. 

Who's the hero?

Criticism 

Vacuous

Circular references (Keeps referring to itself)

Self referential jokes.