This week I had the opportunity (maybe an overstatement) to shell out fourteen dollars and seventy five cents for the new Quentin Tarantino flick Django Unchained.
The film—a spoof on blaxploitation films of the past—was dark, and brilliant (in my opinion), funny at times, a little heavy handed at other times, featured great acting, and was very difficult to watch.
The painful images of slavery in the United States in the 19th century evoked a great deal of anger and emotion within me as it did with many others. After seeing Django... I went online to see how other people felt about the what they watched and for every positive thing I read it seemed as if there was someone else who felt the need to say something negative.
Spike Lee, some of the film’s stars, and movie critics alike all had a different spin on the film’s content and themes.
Despite all of that; everyone did seem to agree (to a certain extent) the film was shot well, Tarantino directed it well, the cast was great, and it even came in second in the box office in its opening weekend with 30.7 million dollars.
One of my biggest takeaways, at least one that’s universally relatable, has to do with what one critic had to say about Tarantino. In Paste Magazine, Tyler Chase said that, “The best thing about Quentin Tarantino is also the worst thing about Quentin Tarantino—he believes, wholeheartedly, in whatever he’s doing.”
Whether or not you like Tarantino’s body of work, his belief in himself and his art have led him to a long and storied career doing exactly what he wants to do. He didn’t listen to the naysayers and give in when they told him his work on Django... was too bloody or was something that’s gratuitously reopened old wounds in our nation’s history. He stuck with what he believed him and the story he wanted to tell, and is now reaping the fruit of his rewards (personal gratification, box office success—which will in turn lead him to the ability to make more films, and the film being talked about in Oscar conversations).
My point in stating all this is to tell you to find something you love and go after it with all your heart and don’t listen to the naysayers. Do great and unforgettable work in your pursuit of this love. Listen to people who want to help you on your journey but get rid of the people who want to tell you that you can’t, won’t, shouldn’t, don’t have the talent, or some other BS reason why you should unnecessarily hold yourself back from your true purpose.
Where there’s a will there’s always a way.
Tap into the will and you will find your way.
(PS. you can read Tyler Chase’s review of Django Unchained here: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2012/12/django-unchained.html )
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