"That's a nigger on a horse!": Django Livre (2012) entre representatividade, racismo e estereótipos no cinema hollywoodiano

Abstract

“That’s a ***** on a horse!”. This is one of the first dialogue lines which a character from the city emits when he sees Django. And because of the excessive use of the n-word (used 303 times throughout the film), Quentin Tarantino debuted in theaters in 2012, causing frenzy in his second historical revenge film. This time Tennessee’s filmmaker decided to bring the “horrible past of America” (in his own words) to the screens through the optics of the Italian genre of bang-bang movies: the Italian-style western. Based on the bias which regards for a visual culture, we examine imagery traces about black people in their clothing which date back to the 19th century in order to track back clues in the images of a historical past which does not pass away. Therefore, we considered on how the black man was staged focusing on costumes starting from the film and returning to the Minstrels at the moment in which there was an attempt to insert him into society after such “horrible past” with the so-called Reconstruction era. Thus, it was possible to understand a contemporary society which insists on updating signs of a slavery past and perpetuating a structurally racist culture. Furthermore, it was sought to bring up critics from black voices to investigate the film’s impact on debates about racial issues.