The Whinerati Needs To Stop Whining About Art, IMHO
The latest Quentin Tarantino effort, Django Unchained, has inspired perhaps more controversy than usual due to its liberal use of the n-word and its exploitation-films-inspired irreverence while dealing with the serious topic of slavery in America. This is not surprising given the tendency toward political correctness and handwringing I have observed in parts of the media and amongst many young college-educated people. There is a PC camp on the internet, and within that camp, sub-camps devoted to racism, sexism, gay rights, et al, and they love nothing more than to find things that are offensive in popular culture.
Meanwhile, there is an anti-PC camp, perhaps typified by Vice magazine, that seems to revel in being irreverent and debaucherous. I don’t feel an allegiance with either camp, but I find the PC camp more annoying, in part because they frequently bring illogical perspectives and a trusty pair of hypocrite glasses to the art and people they criticize.
I set this context in order to say: political correctness is antithetical to art. Me saying it doesn’t make it so, though. I’m just saying something. That’s what art is like, too: someone says something because they want to and they think it’s good, or, at least, they tried to make it good. Unless if they tried to make it “bad” on purpose, which can also be interesting. This links back to Quentin Tarantino.
Tarantino loves exploitation films, b-movies that are loved precisely because the dialogue is ridiculous or unrealistic, because they aren’t “respectable,” measured, or even professionally-made films. Thus, it is not surprising that the language, violence, and many other elements in Django do not resemble those of films made to be “serious,” “quality” movie dramas made to be respected and taken very seriously. It doesn’t make sense to analyze Django Unchained by the same criteria as Lincoln or something.
But PC-camp bloggers don’t care if Django Unchained is inspired by exploitation films. I secretly believe some people just want to complain about things until they go completely hoarse or die, whichever’s first. This is the whinerati. No one is offended enough. There is something wrong nearly every day and it is imperative that we talk about it. I can imagine going to see Django Unchained and liking it or not liking it based on how I felt while watching it, intuitively, whether I laughed or got excited or felt emotional and then told my friend as I took the train home to sleep.