THIS MAY BE THE HARDEST BLOG EVER FOR ME TO WRITE.

The first time I watched the movie trailer, I thought “Hmmm, that should be interesting. A black man getting paid to kill the white man.” I immediately said I couldn’t wait to see the movie. But each time I watched the trailer, the less excited I became. A white man, writing a screenplay about a slave that was offered freedom, for assisting a white bounty hunter. Doesn’t sound too bad. But it’s bad for me.

I was called a nigger for the first time (I’m sure I’ve been called that many times, but that was the first time I actually heard it said to me) about 3-4 years ago in my own home. I joined a game of Uno on Xbox Live. I wasn’t in the game 1 minute when a man with a white avatar called me that. More than once.

I was attacked on my job 2 1/2 years ago. I’m 5’1 and was sitting at my desk behind the counter when a white man about 6’3, 300 pounds jumped over the counter, without warning, and tried to choke me. He managed to knock me upside my head with his fist before he was taken down. He yelled “I hate you, you fucking nigger” and “nigger bitch” and other derogatory names and threats to me so many times.

This is why I didn’t want to see the movie. Because of the above paragraph. I knew I would hear those words and watch scenes that would trigger flashbacks of a racist committing a hate crime. Truthfully I still have those flashbacks. And nightmares. Often. Watching the movie would only add fuel to the fire.

Not only am I appalled that Quentin Tarantino won an Oscar Award for Best Original Screenplay, I am also appalled the film was adapted into a comic book. It took some time for me to decide to read the comic. Django Unchained comic book is published by Vertigo Comics.

In the Foreward section of Django Unchained #1, Tarantino stated the comic book is the entire script. The first draft of the script. This means there are parts in the comic book that was cut from the film. I decided to read the comic because I want to know EVERYTHING that’s in the script.

Of all the names in the world, Tarantino named the bounty hunter King Schultz. Dr. King Schultz. Of course when I read the comic all I saw was Dr. King. As in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (I won’t mention this screenplay just had to win an award during the month of February. Black History Month.)

There is no bars hold in the dialogue. I know the setting is in the deep south during slavery, but Tarantino didn’t hold back at all on the language. He had the audacity to call black females horse faces and gummy mouth bitches (see picture below). I also can’t believe the scene where two overseers pulled a female slave’s dress down to her waist, tied her to a tree and pulled out a whip to beat her. I seriously don’t believe it. THIS IS WHY I WANTED TO READ THE COMIC. I want to know every word and action that was meant for the screen but didn’t make the cut due to time constraints. I want to know what made this story stand out so well that it was awarded an Oscar.

I chuckled while reading the KKK scenes. Actually I read those panels twice. They talked and acted ignorant. But that just shows you didn’t have to be an educated, wealthy white man to be a slave owner. As long as you was white and had the money to buy your slaves, you was good to go.

I don’t like the art at all. The artwork is by R.M. Guera, Jason Latour (flashback scenes), and Giulia Brusco. All the slaves have big noses and big lips. Even after a haircut and a new set of clothes, Django was still depicted as an ugly being in a lot of the panels.

I feel the Django Unchained comic is a disgrace. My fingers tremble as I type this blog. How in the world can something like this receive so much praise and honor? Oh yeah, never mind. I just answered my own question. RACISM AND DISCRIMINATION STILL EXISTS. And now it’s being pushed into our comic books.

VERDICT (drum roll please)

As always, I have given my honest review. I am going to finish the series because as an aspiring screenwriter, I want to read the script in its’ entirety. Comics tell stories of heroes and villains, fantasy, kid friendly, and other categories Django Unchained don’t fit into. I cannot recommend this comic.