• Latest

The Greatest Character of All Time: Stephen in “Django Unchained”

June 1, 2015
Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice, Good Samaritan Haven, & People’s Health & Wellness Clinic Collaborate to Offer Free COVID Surveillance Tests to Homeless Central Vermonters

Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice, Good Samaritan Haven, & People’s Health & Wellness Clinic Collaborate to Offer Free COVID Surveillance Tests to Homeless Central Vermonters

April 13, 2021

GOP Petition Opposes Service Tax

April 13, 2021
Ahhh…The Aroma! 802 Coffee Comes to Barre

Ahhh…The Aroma! 802 Coffee Comes to Barre

April 13, 2021

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

April 13, 2021
Just Some Thoughts

Hoeing Out, and other Signs of Spring

April 13, 2021

VT Organizations Partner to Present “The People’s Law School”

April 6, 2021

NRRA “Recycling with Results” Virtual Conference

April 6, 2021

PoemCity 2021

April 6, 2021

Sound of Metal

April 6, 2021
Mayor’s Report – September 2019

Mayor’s Report – March 2021

April 6, 2021

Coronavirus Legislation Benefits both Restaurants and Business Owners with 2-Year 100% Tax Deductible Dining Expenses

March 30, 2021

IRS and Vermont Extend April 15 Income Tax Deadline to May 17

March 30, 2021
  • Home
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Sitemap
Friday, April 16, 2021
The World Online
  • Home
  • News & Features
    • Local News
    • Letters & opinions
    • George Shuman
    • Max’s View
    • Local Sports & Outdoors
    • Births
    • Weddings & Engagements
  • Calendar
    • Art Exhibits
    • Calendar of Events
    • Ongoing Events
  • Obituaries
  • Submit
    • Submit Calendar Listing
    • Submit An Article To The World
    • Submit Letter To The Editor
    • Submit Sports News/Photo
    • Submit Birth Announcement
    • Submit Engagement Announcement
    • Submit Wedding Announcement
  • Advertising
    • World Rates and Ad Sizes
    • World Distribution Map
    • World Deadlines
    • Audit and Reader Surveys
    • Advertising Inquiry
  • Classifieds
    • Place Classified Ads
    • View Current Classifieds
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News & Features
    • Local News
    • Letters & opinions
    • George Shuman
    • Max’s View
    • Local Sports & Outdoors
    • Births
    • Weddings & Engagements
  • Calendar
    • Art Exhibits
    • Calendar of Events
    • Ongoing Events
  • Obituaries
  • Submit
    • Submit Calendar Listing
    • Submit An Article To The World
    • Submit Letter To The Editor
    • Submit Sports News/Photo
    • Submit Birth Announcement
    • Submit Engagement Announcement
    • Submit Wedding Announcement
  • Advertising
    • World Rates and Ad Sizes
    • World Distribution Map
    • World Deadlines
    • Audit and Reader Surveys
    • Advertising Inquiry
  • Classifieds
    • Place Classified Ads
    • View Current Classifieds
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
The World Online
No Result
View All Result

The Greatest Character of All Time: Stephen in “Django Unchained”

vt-world by vt-world
June 1, 2015
in Max's View
0

Uncle Tom (n): A black man who will do anything to stay in good standing with the white man including betray his own people.

Hollywood claims to be progressive about race. However, the topic of Uncle Toms in America was apparently too controversial and uncomfortable to discuss for the first century of cinema.

Finally in 2012, Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson teamed up to create an interesting, contemptible, hilarious Uncle Tom character for the movie “Django Unchained.” His name is Stephen. And he’s the greatest character of all time.

Stephen (Jackson) is a slave at Candieland: the largest plantation in Chicksaw County, Mississippi. But Stephen is no field worker; he absolutely runs the place.

The actual plantation owner – Calvin Candie (Leondardo DiCaprio) – is not especially smart and usually preoccupied with Mandango Fighting. So he leaves the day to day plantation operations in Stephen’s capable hands. Stephen pays the bills, calls the shots, and orders the punishments for runaway slaves.

Jackson shows us that a successful Uncle Tom has to be three different men in one body. When he is giving orders to his underlings, Stephen is confident and forceful. When he is entertaining guests with Calvin Candie, Stephen shifts personas and becomes an obsequious buffoon – laughing heartily at every stupid joke his master makes. When it is just Calvin and Stephen behind closed doors, Stephen becomes a different man altogether: an erudite old fox who calmly explains to befuddled Calvin what is really going on around them.

In conclusion, Stephen is a slave-driving race traitor – an unforgivable villain.

Not so fast. That’s not how Stephen views himself. And, to his eternal credit as an open-minded actor, that’s not how Jackson views him.

Stephen is a slave on a plantation. He can’t leave. And the plantation is his entire universe. Yeah, he could do the noble thing and work the fields, take the whippings, and die young with no say in his destiny. Or he could make the best of a terrible situation.

I can’t judge Stephen. Every man with a steady job has sold out to some extent or another. Only you and I have some choice in where we work. Stephen doesn’t.

And if you’re going to sell out, Stephen figures, you may as well do it really well. Stephen doesn’t have to answer to anyone. He is a rare slave who gets to fully utilize his intelligence and his talent. And he lives comfortably in the lavish Candieland mansion as opposed to a shabby slave shack.

Stephen is Dick Cheney to Calvin Candie’s George W Bush. Candie has the name and the blue blood. Cheney could never be President, but it didn’t stop him from running the country. We aren’t supposed to like Stephen any more than we like Dick Cheney. But we should darn well admire them for their hubris and political savvy.

Stephen is a fascinating character. And he is also hilarious.

In his first scene, he sees our hero Django ride up to the door of the Candieland mansion. Stephen seethes with righteous anger. “Who is this n****** on that nag?!”

The sight of an empowered freeman on his plantation is hideously offensive to both his sense of order and his place as the #1 black man in his world. Never has racism been so perversely funny.

Most movies about slavery present slave owners as monsters and slaves as pitiful victims. That’s easy to swallow but neither interesting nor accurate.

I’m sure there were slaves like Stephen in the American south: Uncle Toms who worked within the evil system to find meaning, satisfaction, and empowerment. “Django Unchained” is my favorite film about slavery. And Jackson’s Stephen is the greatest character of all time.

Previous Post

Reiss’s Pieces

Next Post

Becoming a Summer Time Traveler

Next Post

Becoming a Summer Time Traveler

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This Week’s Ads

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Sitemap
The World
403 US Route 302
Barre, VT 05641
Phone: (802) 479-2582

Copyright © 2019 The World Online. All Rights Reserved. Powered by CoolerAds.

No Result
View All Result
  • Art Exhibits
  • Audit and Reader Surveys
  • Births
  • Calendar
  • Contact Us
  • Daily Horoscope
  • Fall Dining Guide
  • Food & Recipe
  • Home
  • Obituaries
  • Ongoing Events
  • Pay Your Bill Here
  • Senior Living Edition
  • Showtimes
  • Submit Birth Announcement
  • Submit Calendar Listing
  • Submit Engagement Announcement
  • Submit Listing to our Local Directory
  • Submit Sports News/Photo
  • Submit Wedding Announcement
  • Testimonials
  • The World Coupons
  • Weather Forecast
  • World Deadlines
  • World Distribution Map
  • World Rate Card
  • World Rates and Ad Sizes
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Sitemap
  • About Us
  • Vermont Lottery
  • Advertising Information
  • The World Staff
  • Advertising Inquiry
  • Submit Letter To The Editor
  • Local Directory
  • Poll Results
  • Local Deals
  • Classifieds
  • Submit An Article To The World
  • Events
  • The World – This Week’s Online Digital Edition
  • The World Auto & Sports

Copyright © 2019 The World Online. All Rights Reserved. Powered by CoolerAds.

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In