Well…I actually went to see Django Unchained last night, and gave myself a hearty pat on the back for facing the fear and doing it anyway.
It is quite a masterpiece of acting and cinematography, despite the fact that it left me feeling emotionally drained and disturbed…even after the "happy ending".
It doesn’t entertain me in any way shape or form to see people being savaged by dogs, tortured, branded, whipped, shot to pieces etc…
During those scenes I had to look away and cover my ears as it’s too upsetting, even if I know it isn’t really happening and the blood is fake….( is it?!)
But the fact is that the story is based on the days of slavery in the United States, (also an institution with all colonial countries ) and what you see on screen is actually a re enactment of the terrible things that actually took place, for real, not just "sometimes," but continuously for generations of people. That’s what’s more painful and abhorrent than anything else. And that’s the power of the medium of film, that can take us on journeys, to pull back the curtains and reveal things that we have no knowledge or experience of. So despite the fact that I loathe violence …I have to say that I was very grateful to have witnessed Mr Quentin Tarantino’s latest offering.