{"id":498,"date":"2015-01-19T16:20:33","date_gmt":"2015-01-19T22:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bsudlr.wordpress.com\/?p=498"},"modified":"2015-01-19T16:20:33","modified_gmt":"2015-01-19T22:20:33","slug":"slavery-and-the-white-savior-then-and-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/dlr\/2015\/01\/19\/slavery-and-the-white-savior-then-and-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Slavery and the White Savior: Then and Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Sadie Brown<\/p>\n

In reviews of Django Unchained<\/em>, the film is often criticized for its portrayal of the white savior figure. In his review of the film, Matthew Hughey tells readers why Django <\/em>is not a revenge fantasy:<\/p>\n

Django is no antebellum-era Shaft<\/em>.\u00a0 King Schultz not only buys Django\u2019s freedom, trains him in the art of bounty hunting, finds Django\u2019s stolen wife Broomhilda, kills his wife\u2019s master Calvin Candie, but ends up sacrificing his life for Django and Broomhilda\u2019s freedom.\u00a0 His rampage arises not from a love for his people, but out of affection for a single person.\u00a0 Django is not a cause of black liberation, but an effect of a white paternal redeemer. (Hughey np)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tarantino focuses so much attention on the white characters that the black characters become static and forgotten. While Django Unchained <\/em>is neither the first nor last narrative to capitalize on the white savior trope, it has made it easier for viewers to identify what the ideology of the white savior entails.<\/p>\n

When watching a film like Django Unchained<\/em>, it is important to know that the trope of the white savior has a long history. By examining the film alongside a 17th<\/sup> century text written by author Samuel Sewall, I will show how the portrayal of the white savior can be recognized and compared across both narratives. Comparing Tarantino\u2019s white savior figure to that of Sewall\u2019s helps demonstrate how the trope stems from feelings of superiority. In The Selling of Joseph, A Memorial<\/em> (1700), Sewall argues against those who support slavery. He states: \u201cAnd all things considered, it would conduce more to the Welfare of the Province, to have White Servants for a Term of Years, than to have Slaves for Life. Few can endure to hear of a Negro\u2019s being made free; and indeed they can seldom use their freedom well; yet their continual aspiring after their forbidden Liberty, renders them Unwilling Servants\u201d (547). Like Django Unchained<\/em>, Sewall\u2019s narrative complicates the ties between slavery and superiority. Sewall exerts his power by taking on the role of a white savior. Rather than arguing for the equal treatment of slaves and whites alike, Sewall uses his social position as a powerful white male to discuss why African Americans do not belong in his community. His remarks show how little he thinks of African Americans \u2013 saying that they are incapable of using their freedom \u201cwell.\u201d This quote demonstrates how abolitionist writings, or films such as Django Unchained<\/em>, can become tied up with issues of white superiority.<\/p>\n

\"Cotton<\/a>

Cotton Field<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Tarantino\u2019s film did not create the white savior character, but it did make the trope better known. By further investigating earlier texts that also boasted a white savior, we are able to more easily understand why this trope is so tied up in portrayals of slavery. It could be that, by changing the emphasis, the audience feels compelled to focus more on the white savior in his attempt to \u201csave\u201d the slaves from their lives of servitude, rather than causing the audience to focus primarily on the plight of the African Americans slaves themselves. The white savior trope allows a white audience a distraction from feeling guilty about historical acts of slavery. For this reason, both Django Unchained<\/em> and The Selling of Joseph, A Memorial<\/em> capitalize on the audience\u2019s desire to invest energy in the figure of the white savior. While Tarantino\u2019s film deals with white guilt as well as the white savior, Sewall\u2019s text concerns the detrimental efforts of slavery in his community and how it would be better off without African American slaves. Whatever the intentions may be, we can see from these examples that the trope of the white savior is another form of superiority.<\/p>\n

__________________<\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/p>\n

Sewall, Samuel. The Selling of Joseph, A Memorial<\/em>. Ed. Sidney Kaplan. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1969.<\/p>\n

Hughey, Matthew. “Slavery, Emancipation, and the Great White Benefactor in Django Unchained<\/em> and Lincoln<\/em>.” Race. Research. Rambling.<\/em> 6 Apr. 2013. Web. 13 Dec. 2014 \u00a0(link)\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Sadie Brown In reviews of Django Unchained, the film is often criticized for its portrayal of the white savior figure. In his review of the film, Matthew Hughey tells readers why Django is not a revenge fantasy: Django is no antebellum-era Shaft.\u00a0 King Schultz not only buys Django\u2019s freedom, trains him in the art […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,184,185,128,186,124,187,188],"class_list":["post-498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-introductions","tag-american-horror-story-murder-house","tag-depictions-of-slavery-in-film","tag-django-unchained","tag-modern-slavery","tag-sewall","tag-slavery","tag-superiority","tag-white-savior"],"yoast_head":"\nSlavery and the White Savior: Then and Now - The Digital Literature Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/dlr\/2015\/01\/19\/slavery-and-the-white-savior-then-and-now\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Slavery and the White Savior: Then and Now - The Digital Literature Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By: Sadie Brown In reviews of Django Unchained, the film is often criticized for its portrayal of the white savior figure. 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