I miss writing about "the boy." Used to do it much more, but you get so busy raising, you really don't have time to jot down moments large and or small. You just hope you remember them.
An ever so gentle nudge from my wife inspired to write.
I saw Django, pure and simple, I loved it. I thought it was a really entertaining film. I'm aware of the whole socio political moral historical controversy going on, I get it, no judgement here, this is my view.
There was a spirit of the film that I enjoyed, a spirit of triumph, of winning, of overcoming. Django had a singular purpose, he didn't know exactly how to go about it, he made things up as he went along, but he was determined to reach his goal. I knew what he wanted and I desperately wanted him to get it. And he did.
I know there are things wrong with the film, it's not historically correct, relationships are not accurate, events are out of place, QT is not a genius (that might be news to him), he just told an interesting story.
I liken it to being on the Megabus traveling from NY to DC and sitting next to a figgety old guy who turns to me and says "Did ya ever hear the story about Django?" Now with no where to go and knowing I'll be stuck on this bus for the next 4 hours, I turn to him and say "no, no I don't." And then the kindly stranger proceeds to weave the tail of "Django." Some parts amuse me, some parts confuse me, some parts make me cringe, some parts me me howl out loud. But at the end when the n****er on the horse, rides off into the night with his n****er gal on her horse, I'm left with a good feeling.
It's been a few days and already there's a lot of specifics I don't recall about the film, but I do remember how it made me feel - hopeful!!
Strange? Yes hopeful. Because I'm living a life made possible by those Django's known and unknown. Django is fictional, but Nat Turner, Harriett Tubman, John Brown, Margaret Garner, Frederick Douglas, Susie King Taylor and Robert Smalls are not. I know their stories and I can tell them to my smart, funny, obnoxious, spoiled (our fault), very sensitive, very dramatic, loves to play, but does not always play fairly, HATES to lose, 8 year old son.
It's my job, to give my boy access to a life unchained.
Photo courtesy of Vanessa Thor
