Oscirus wrote:Stephen was a kiss ass hypeman who was nowhere near as evil as SLJ likes to think and Django pretty much relied on Schultz to get his bride. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the movie but let's not pretend this was anything other then tarantino using a gimmick for his spaghetti western
Nah, Stephen runs the show. He raised Candie, he played at being weak to make Candie feel in control but every bad deed Candie does once Stephen's in the picture is thanks to Stephen. He's the one who figures out the plan, he's the one tells Candie about it and gets him into the mode to get revenge...he plays dude the whole way. The dropping of the cane is symbolic as hell in that regard.
As for King, Django is the stronger character. King completely sleeps on Django's capabilities at the first barn where Django is the catalyst and then when they go to Candy Land, King is always near breaking character because he can't take it. Django who's been through it his entire life is the one who sells the act. He spends the entire movie playing slave owners and characters. King proves he's mentally weak when he pops Candie over a hand shake.They're the mentally inferior characters and their egos get them both killed.
The comedy aspects are never aimed at the slaves, unless you count the part where the slave owner tries to explain that Django's free but not to be treated like a free man but I think that's blatantly mocking the way slaves were granted freedom but not equal rights in reality.
There wasn't a huge thematic statement for sure, but to say he made a joke of the slaves or made light of slavery is just off base. When it came to showing how brutally the slaves were treated, I think Tarantino did a damned good job and he exposed the owners as evil men with no redeeming qualities.