What you see above is an image of three figures in a line of toys, dolls really, that tie in to Quentin Tarantino's latest film Django Unchained. These figures are made by a company named NECA, who has made figures similar to these for many films released over the last several years. NECA's figures, including the above, are meant for adult collectors 17 and up. While they can certainly be played with, these figures are not really ever meant to be given to or played with by a child. They are collectors items, not playthings.
However, The Weinstein Company has asked that this line of collectors figures be pulled from shelves after they received many complaints about how offensive they are. NECA will of course comply and these figures will disappear, drastically raising the value of the ones that have already been bought. It will be a Godsend to collectors who already own one or several of these figures and a misfortune to those of us who may have wanted to buy a figure or two down the line. But to be honest, the real loser here is all action figure collectors in general.
I understand the unease from some about Django Unchained, a film about a former slave in the Pre-Civil War south exacting revenge on those who enslaved and mistreated him and his wife. Slavery is a tough subject still in this country. It is a sore wound and anytime you might poke it some it gets red and irritated, even when your intentions are good. I respect that fact and understand the feelings of those in the African American community toward the act of slavery and its long lasting effects. It was a horrible period of American history. But is it really out of bounds? Thousands of novels, TV shows, miniseries, and yes films have been set during this time period in American history and explored the era fully. Why is Tarantino's film and the items associated with it treated differently?
Now with that said, I would never tell someone how they should feel about something. It is perfectly ok to feel uneasy about a film that has slavery as its backdrop, feel free to avoid that movie if it makes you that uncomfortable. But seriously, you are offended by figures of the characters from the film? They are only dolls. Dolls that are meant to be bought by adults, people 17 and over. They are meant to be bought and displayed by adults, fans of Tarantino, the film itself, or both. They are not very likely to be ever played with by children. If you don't like them, don't buy them.
How are they offensive?
Yet, these dolls have just offended people to the point where they badgered the producers and studio behind the film into pulling them from shelves. It is just ridiculous, plain ridiculous.
Why stop there though? Why not ban and pull Barbie off toy shelves for promoting a ideal body type for young girls that is impossible to obtain? Let's write into Mattel about how Barbie is promoting traditional gender roles to our daughters, preparing them for the domestic duties they will be expected to do later in life? How about we go after GI Joe for promoting violence and guns or conditioning our sons that it is a man's job to go to war?
The point here is that these are just toys. They are based on fictional characters in a movie that is a highly stylized exploration of one character's journey from slavery to revenge. Neither the film or these toys are promoting slavery or glorifying it. These toys are not depicting acts of violence against slaves. They are just physical representations of the characters in the film.
I mean seriously what happened to the days when if something offended you that you would just not buy that thing or see that film? Now if something is even remotely offensive, the PC police come in and attempt to bury that perceived offensive thing. Last I checked free speech was still allowed in this country. These toys clearly fall within the range of that idea.
Why is there not more outrage over things that really matter? I mean you really want to devote your energy to ridding the world of these action figures tied to a Quentin Tarantino film?
Just another example of how we need to lighten the heck up in America. They are just dolls. There is far more important things out there right now that we should devote our energies to fight against. Why don't we all devote our outrage and energies to those instead. There are days I seriously wonder about people in this country. They are dolls! Just dolls people. Move along.
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