"It's Always Racial": Jamie Foxx Discusses Django Unchained

"It's Always Racial": Jamie Foxx Discusses Django Unchained

In a recent interview about forthcoming film Django Unchained, actor Jamie Foxx has admitted that “it’s always racial” as a black person. The quote comes in reference to the fact that some of the black community have criticized Quentin Tarantino’s spaghetti western for not taking issues of slavery seriously enough in the film.

Foxx plays leading character Django, a man set free from slavery in order to work as a bounty hunter, as part of a deal that sees his buyer agree to help him find his lost wife; he told Vibe Magazine “as black folks we're always sensitive. As a black person it's always racial.” He added “I come into this place to do a photo shoot and they got Ritz crackers and cheese. I'll be like, ain't this a b*tch. Y'all didn't know black people was coming. What's with all this white sh*t? By the same token, if there is fried chicken and watermelon I'll say ain't this a b*tch? So, no matter what we do as black people it's always gonna be that. Every single thing in my life is built around race.”

Foxx was joined by Kerry Washington for the interview, and she said that, whilst it was clear to point out that it was a film, a work of fiction, there was no denying that they’d tried to treat slavery with as much truth as possible. “I remember there was this one moment in the script where Jamie's character was put in an awful crazy medieval metal mask” she commented. “I said, ‘That's some sick thing Quentin thought up.' And when I went to the production office to meet about my wardrobe, I saw into the research office. Twenty photos of real masks like that. It made me sad.”