Truth, Tarantino, and “Django” Explained

Essays

Truth, Tarantino, and “Django” Explained

By Shawn Hamilton January 22, 2013

“Django Unchained” leaves me in the odd position of contributing to a problem while I propose a solution to it. Django’s not a serious film about slavery or race or anything really and does not warrant the attention or the controversy that it has created. It’s both a blood-soaked, action-packed romp and a rescue revenge story. It’s also a kind of thought experiment akin to gun rep Larry Ward’s claim that if slaves had had guns they could have shot their way to freedom. Nothing about Django as an idea is offensive or inspired or controversial, but that seems to be a problem for Tarantino. Django’s lack of the kind of depth and complexity that spawns real debate seems to have spurred the filmmakers to manufacture dissent by manipulating the press and pundits, which explains Tarantino’s criticism of Roots, his use of “niggers” and his pretend outrage at critics who question his…

Essays

When Keepin’ it Real Goes Wrong – Authenticity and the GOP

By Shawn Hamilton November 24, 2012

In the weeks and months following President Obama’s reelection, Republicans will struggle to rebrand and redefine themselves for the electorate. A few have already come forward with prescriptions for the future. Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana argues that the GOP must stop being the ‘stupid party’ and craft a message for all Americans. John Boehner expressed a willingness to consider revenue increases, though not yet tax increases, and spoke of Obamacare as the ‘law of the land’. Sean Hannity made a passionate plea on behalf of illegal immigrants the day after the election, suggesting that those who have been here for years and broken no laws – aside from being here illegally – should be put on the path to citizenship. As much as these efforts to moderate or modernize the GOP make sense, they will be unsuccessful because they risk revealing the big lie that keeps many poor, working…

Essays

The Wilderness – President Obama and the Conservative Movement

By Shawn Hamilton November 12, 2012

As the post-election euphoria wears off, many of President Obama’s supporters – myself among them – ponder his future and that of the conservative movement. Conservatives seem to be moving through the various stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance – though not necessarily in that order, leading many of my more optimistic and level-headed friends to suggest that it is now time for President Obama to work with moderate conservatives to get things done. This point of view reminds me of the story of St. James Davis and his pet chimp Moe. St. James and his wife LaDonna raised their chimpanzee Moe from a baby like a son. He learned to eat with a fork. Speak some sign language. Make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He could nod ‘yes’ or shake his head ‘no’. He played with toys and occasionally wore a dinner jacket and trousers…

Essays

Blacks and Conservatives – Intro

By Shawn Hamilton November 11, 2012

Several months back a statistic emerged that was revealing yet misunderstood. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney would receive 0% of the black vote in spite of the fact that many blacks agree with conservatives on some social issues. The point of this series is to examine the roots of this supposed contradiction and shed some light on the relationship between people and policies. I do not believe that the facts above are contradictions at all. One’s personal views, no matter how ‘conservative’, do not neatly align with conservative philosophy or policies until a bridge is built between the personal and the political. The planks in this metaphorical bridge are things like identity, mytho-history, information, experience, enemies and scapegoats. We can imagine others of course, but the point of these planks is to create a complete construct leading the individual from his or her ideas to a philosophy and set of policies.…

Essays

Voters and Lepers

By Shawn Hamilton September 27, 2012

The Voter ID debate demands that one acknowledge the obvious, but then advance the absurd. Of course voter fraud occurs. Lyndon Johnson stole his first election back in 1948. Kennedy pulled some funny business in 1960 in Chicago. Dead people vote. Felons vote. People vote more than once on occasion. Sure. It happens, but to justify spending hundreds of millions of dollars on Voter ID implementation one would need to prove that Voter ID fraud is so pervasive that the integrity of the democratic process is in danger, which appears to not be the case. Investigations in Colorado and Florida revealed that about .001% of voters committed fraud. In North Carolina the number was even lower .0002%. To nab Colorado’s 35 fraudulent voters would cost the state (or feds depending on whose footing the bill) six million dollars or $171K per violator. To give some perspective, leprosy occurs in about…

Essays

Eastwooding: Some thoughts on defying the lunatic fringe…

By Shawn Hamilton September 8, 2012

Working in NYC means riding public transportation and occasionally having a crazy person strike up a conversation about mind control serum in the water, Jewish cabals, or gay conspiracies involving probes of one kind or another. I can never be sure if the individual is serious or joking or more importantly armed or unarmed, so I usually nod, say something like ‘That’s wild’, then get off at the next stop or switch train cars, because there is no way to talk to a crazy person without yourself seeming crazy. Our nation’s history is not without nefarious conspiracies like Iran-Contra, Watergate, the Tuskegee Experiment; gross violations of citizens’ rights like Presidents Lincoln and Wilson’s suspension of habeas corpus and free press; and sociopaths masquerading as elected officials like… well fill in the blank. However, whether we have been in the throes of a national crisis or in an era of relative…

Essays

Timbuktu, Texas

By Shawn Hamilton August 19, 2012

Friedrich Nietzsche, when discussing the character of his countrymen, observed that to be German was to endlessly question ‘what is German’. Many attribute this sense of civic alienation to a combination of rapid industrialization, urban migration, and population explosion. The Germans were a people ‘becoming’ and ‘developing’, in the words of Nietzsche, like many or perhaps all nations today. Societies in the midst of change – real or imagined – find formerly bold, confident citizens questioning their national identity and its meaning. Extremist groups charge into this cultural void, first connecting the disaffected with one another – usually based on tribe, religion, or ethnicity- then connecting the group itself to some often mythic past. This use – and abuse – of history is not unique to extremists, but what distinguishes them from moderates is the way in which they deal with the nuances and contradictions of history. That which does…