Samuel L. Jackson stars as Stephen, a twisted house slave, in Django Unchained.
He appears alongside Jamie Foxx, who plays a freed slave who joins forces with a bounty hunter as they trek across America in search of his sold-off wife played by Kerry Washington.
Though the film has thus far received strong praise from critics, some moviegoers might be shocked at the film’s harsh look at slavery.
During an interview with theGrio, Jackson weighed in on Quentin Tarantino’s approach of using humor to alleviate the brutality of slavery shown in the film.
“Quentin just has this affinity for writing things that intersperse dramatic events with humorous occasions,” Jackson said. “He’s not making fun of the atrocity of slavery, he’s attacking it head-on. It’s not going to be offensive, it should be informative.”
When asked what he thought Martin Luther King Jr.’s impression of Django Unchained would be if he were alive to see the film, Jackson said, “He would probably appreciate the honest interpretation of how horrific slavery was, and the honest interpretation of having a black hero.”
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