Introduction
This essay seeks to provide an analysis of everyday life power dynamics, production of gender, race and class. To this end the 2012 film Django Unchained, starring Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz shall be used to offer a platform for the discussion and understanding of various social behaviors. The essay shall first offer a summary of the film in discussion before its linkage with the topic of discussion is presented. A conclusion that sums up the entire discussion shall then be provided.
Film Summary
The film Django Unchained is set in 1858 and it basically tells the story of an African male slave Django who is looking to be reunited with his wife Broomhilda (Tarantino, 2012). In the opening scene, a group of male slaves is being ferried to an unspecified location by the Ace and Dicky Speck, the two Caucasian brothers that have bought them.
Django is one of the slaves and on the sale, he has been separated from Broomhilda. As the convoy trudges along, they meet with Dr. King Schultz, who presents himself as a German Dentist but is in essence a bounty hunter. In the ensuing confrontation, Schultz kills Ace and then shoots the horse that Dicky is riding. Dicky’s foot is crushed under the weight of the dead horse. Schultz then inquires from Django if he has heard of the Brittle Brothers and if he could identify them.
Django confirms their knowledge and an excited Schultz offers to make him a free man. He also offer him $75 to help hunt them down. As they leave, Schultz asks the other slaves, who are now freed to do what they please with Dicky. They end up killing him. After taking down the Brittle Brothers, Schultz asks Django to travel with him bounty-hunting. In return, Schultz promises to help Django track down and rescue Broomhilda.
During the winter break, Django trains in bounty hunting and over the period, together with Schultz, they collect several bounties. In their endeavors, the duo learns that Broomhilda is at the Candyland Plantation in Mississippi. It is expected that Calvin Candie, the owner of the land, will demand a hefty amount for the lady if Schultz and Django present their intentions directly.
In order to avoid being exorbitantly charged and still meet their objective, Schultz and Django approach Candie with the proposal that they would like to buy one of his prize Mandingo fighters. (Mandingo fighting is a form of crude fighting where slaves fight each other to death).
The duo meets Candie at a club in Greenville and place an offer of $12,000 for the fighter. Excited by the amount, Candie invites them to his farm where Schultz secretly lets Broomhilda of their plan. During dinner, Schultz informs Candie that he would like to purchase Broomhilda for $300 because she speaks German. Candie accepts the offer.
However, as the discussions go on, Candie’s most loyal house slave Stephen comes to the realization that Broomhilda and Django know each other and unearths the plot before informing Candie. Angered, Candie demands that Schultz and Djago pay $12,000 for Broohmilda, threatening to kill her if they don’t. Schultz accepts and makes the payments after which the paperwork is signed.
To complete the deal, Candie demands that Schultz shakes his hand. Schultz ends up shooting Candie using a concealed weapon before one of Candie’s aides shoots and kills Schultz. A gun-fight ensues, in which Django shoots and kills many of his attackers. He gives up after one of the men threatens to execute the lady. It is declared that Django should be taken to work in a mine until he dies.
Enroute to the mines, Django lets the drivers know that he is a bounty-hunter and he offers them a cut of the bounty he will receive for killing an outlaw hiding in Candie’s plantation. Unbeknown to the slave-drivers, there are now such outlaws at Candyland. The drivers let him lose and he immediately executes them before riding back to the farm. Back at the Candyland, Django kills everyone and rescues Broomhilda, before riding away with her leaving the farmhouse burning behind them (Tarantino, 2012).
Physical attributes as presented in the film
One of the social elements that were visibly present in the film were the physical attributes of the different characters. The statuses of the different characters in the film were set apart by their different decorations and postures. For example, the free black men were easily distinguished from the slaves by their different dressings.
The free men were allowed to dress in neat and expensive clothes while the slaves had to contend with tattered clothes. The free men could also ride horses, while it was taboo for the slaves to do so. Schultz was easily identified as a dentist by the decoration of his carriage. A big dummy tooth was pinned on top of the roof and wherever he went individuals could tell of his profession by the symbol.
Functionalism as illustrated in the film
Robert Merton asserts that functionalism in an individual is “the status that tells most about her or him as a whole in occupation, which, in turn, probably provides a very good idea of level of education, income, and lifestyle” (Karp et al., 2004). According to Merton, any society is made up of different groups of people, characterized by their similar interests and aspirations.
According to the theories of functionalism, individuals attain a particular status by either being born into it (ascribed status) or achieving it (achieved status). The film Django unchained utilizes this concept of functionalism to set different individuals apart. In the film, Django and Broomhilda are classified as slaves by virtue of their skin-color at the time of birth. Later, as the film progresses, Django attains the status of a free man, by merit, as Schultz writes papers to ascribe accord him this status.
In the transition from one status to the other, Django experienced role strain, role conflict and role competition. As a slave, Django was subjected to difficult work, with little or no pay.
The lack of necessary freedoms was also a challenge by itself. After being made a free man, Django now had to deal with the discrimination he was receiving from fellow African Americans. He also had to behave like a slave-driver even when his instinct wanted him to respond in favor of the slaves. For instance, when they found Candie asking his dongs to attack a slave, Django had to act heartless and let them do as they please.
This was important for him because it would have affected his ultimate mission. This element of role conflict was closely linked to the aspect of role competition because in his freedom, Django had to manage the time needed for each role. A good example was while at Candyland Django had to find time to interact with Broomhilda away from the act of a total stranger.
In his different capacities, Django had to assume different social roles. This is because each status had its own requirements, which determined how and why he was expected to behave in a particular way. For instance as free man, Django was not expected to interact with slaves on a personal basis.
This role required him to act like a slave driver. Harshness to slaves was seen as a mark of a free man, as presented by Stephen, one of Candies black henchmen. This code of conduct, though not expressly stipulated by any form of writing, was known by all and Django picked it up by mutual understanding. A violation of expectation would have led him to suffer painful consequences and it is in the knowledge of this that Django held himself from trying to save the slave that Candie’s henchmen fed to the dogs.
However, some instances presented with failed communication because of the prevailing circumstances. For example, when Django saw Broomhilda being punished, he had to struggle to control himself and in some cases it was Schultz who held him back. The new social situations required Django to act like he never knew Broomhilda but his emotions pushed him to act in a different way.
Bureaucracy as presented in the film
By virtue of the different social interactions in the film, an element of bureaucracy is created. This is in tandem with Max Weber’s hierarchy of authority (Cole,2004). The slaves are considered the lowest in the chain of command and were assigned all the physically-demanding tasks. After the slaves were the free black men. As much as these individuals had the same rights as the white men, they were considered lower in the command rank.
Immediately above them were the white henchmen, whose main responsibility was to oversee the work done by the slaves. These individuals assigned duties in farms and households and also punished slaves who did not fulfill their duties as per expectation. Finally, at the top of the pyramid were the masters. These were primarily farm owners and they also bought and sold slaves as well as fighters. Because of this chain, when Schultz and Django wanted to see Candie, they had to go through intermediaries.
Conclusion
This essay had set out to show how the film Django Unchained can provide a vivid explanation of the different social behaviors and elements. In this regard, a summary of the film was provided before a number of social elements were isolated and discussed, with exemplification drawn from the different characters and situations in the film.
Among the major theories that have been well explored are Max Weber’s theory of Bureaucracy and Robert Merson’s Functionalism. Other social functions not linked to the two theories have also been illustrated. It is, however, worth noting that this discussion did not exhaust all the social elements. This is because the scope was by and large limited by extent. However, the coverage was adequate enough to meet the demands of the task.
Reference List
Cole, G.A. (2004). Management: Theory and practice. United Kingdom: Cengage Learning EMEA
Karp, D.A., Yoels, C.W. & Vahn, B.H. (2004). Sociology in Everyday Life. Illinois: Waveland Press
Tarantino, Q. (Executive Producer). (2012). Django Unchained [DVD]. California: Columbia Pictures