From the moment ‘Django Unchained’ was announced, I kept coming back to the same thought in my head of an ingredient in the filmmaking recipe that would cause controversy: the use of the highly touted “n-word.” Knowing the style of Quentin Tarantino, the racially charged term was sure to arise. Just how would the U.S. media react?

The answer: as usual, completely idiotic. No sooner than word got out from the first screening of the “n-word’s” heavy and frequent use in the film did we start to see dozens of stories pop up online, on television and in print questioning the prominent inclusion of the phrase once commonly used in our slavery-ridden nation. The freak out was in full force. My greatest fears for the film had been realized, and I worried the controversy would affect the commercial reception of Tarantino’s western. Read more