The newest Tarantino masterpiece raises eyebrows due to the different way it is set. The iconic director has taken storytelling to another level while focusing on violence and brutality in The Hateful Eight. Unlike Django Unchained that remains to be one of the iconic movies by Tarantino, the 2015 films have is quite polarizing. The movie contains seven men and a woman. It seems like a movie just made to depict the low levels of women in the company of men, however, the setting time being shortly after the Civil War, racism also dominates the movie (Tarantino, Tarantino, Jackson, Russell, & Leigh, 2015). This essay will demonstrate the issues of gender and racial bias by reviewing the roles played by Daisy Dommergue, the only female main character, and Major Marcus West, (Samuel L. Jackson) who is the African American treatment by the society and the people in the haberdashery. The paper will demonstrate the different issues of gender and race that make the movies too polarizing which means that some love it while others cannot withstand the three-hour of the film.
Gender Bias illustrated by Daisy Dommergue
The eight strangers forced in the Minnie’s Haberdashery as they wait out for the storm. As earlier indicated, Dommergue was the only female main character and who is a prisoner of John Ruth, who is a bounty hunter. She has a bounty of $10,000 hence she is dragged by Ruth to be delivered to the hangman for being involved in gang activities. She faces brutality from the seven men, abuse, and she is never allowed to speak out her mind. The constant slapping and brutality towards her similar to a fighter’s punching bag have led to the second wave feminism criticism from most viewers. These problems demonstrate a gender bias nature of the film. The gender discrimination is illustrated by the following factors; brutality towards women, silencing women that result in identity loss, insults and gender violence.
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Silencing Women and Identity Loss
Dommergue has a bounty on her head of $10,000, but all the activities about the reasons for the bounty being placed are told by Ruth, the bounty hunter who continues to brutalize her. Ruth claims that Dommergue was wanted for her involvement with gang murders and the essence she is the sister of the gang leader. The introduction of her crimes by a bounty hunter raises more concerns and results in wondering whether the allegations are true or false (Peers, 2016). She is never given a chance to tell her side of the story and everything we know about her is through the men. She is silenced every time she starts to try to converse with the men by either a slap or insults. She does not seem to fit in a masculine setting of the film with the only uniting factor of the men being to violate her or their hatred towards her. The setting is after the Civil War maybe the reason the women have no place in the company of the seven men. Dommergue is silencing is similar to the other women revealed through flashbacks but their identity is also not given. She seemed lonely and lost in the masculine and egocentric company of men who never give her a chance to speak out to defend her situation.
The silencing factors result in changing her nature to be a violent, strong, and treacherous women. The roles she plays is different from the roles that women play in normal circumstances. Murder at the time was more of a men role as they tried to defend themselves, ideologies, and loved ones. She has nobody to seek help from apart from the men who seem to be united by their hate towards her and women (Tarantino, Tarantino, Jackson, Russell, & Leigh, 2015). Her ability to continue insulting the man and trash talk is evidence of her strength to take punishment. The more she is beaten, the more she insults and never begs for mercy from her violators apart from the final part whereby she begs not to be killed as her bloody head depict the violence she has endured. She is able through cunningness and tricks to shoot Ruth and some men who are evidence of her true identity. Although she has a bounty on her head, she does not have the strength to fight her way out, and it is challenging to understand her identity.
Brutality and Insults towards Dommergue
The critics of Dommergue treatment in the movie cite the second wave feminism whereby women are treated without any honor by their male counterparts. The vulgar language dominant in most Tarantino movies is evident in The Hateful Eight with Dommergue being referred to as a ‘lying bitch, f** bitch, and any other word that can go along with the b-word.’ (Peers, 2016). Ruth and the other men never miss the chance to use any excuse to hurt her she is slapped for even looking at someone or moving her eyes. It seems that the men hatred towards women or any frustrations of the men towards other women is all relieved by punishing Dommergue. The strength and endurance is the only positive thing about the movie on women nature. The essence that two men have to pull together their efforts to put down the ferocious woman demonstrate that women are not weaklings or minor to men.
Race Issue illustrated by Major Marcus West (Samuel L. Jackson)
West is an American hero who engaged in the Civil War and claims to be a close relationship with Abraham Lincoln. He depicts that he is strong and vigilant to succeed in a world dominated by the whites by defying all odds. The movie tends to twist the racial roles giving West a final laugh in most exploits where words and violence tend to dominate the scenes. However, the use of the n-word mostly by the white men is an illustration of minority scope and lack of respect towards the blacks (“ Quentin Tarantino: 'It's about damn time' US discussed racist past .” 2016). Samuel claims that the only way for a black individual to stay alive in a world with white men is by disarming them.
He spends the entire movie disarming the white men both literally and figuratively. The use of the letter from Abraham Lincoln is the strategy he uses to disarm the white men and gain their respect figuratively. He earned respect from Ruth through the use of the letter which he later claims that the letter is fake (Tarantino, Tarantino, Jackson, Russell, & Leigh, 2015). Although the movie intends to demonstrate that blacks are equal to the whites by making the Samuel take center stage in the movie, some claims demonstrate blacks as minor to the whites. For instance, Ruth’s statement to West asking whether any black person can be trusted.
Conclusion
The movie seems to take more emphasis on mistreating Dommergue than anything else. The gender bias dominates the movie since it is the only factor that is supported by the egocentric men from different races unite.
References
Peers, J. (2016, January 24). ‘Elaborately justified misogyny’. The Hateful Eight and Daisy. The Conversation . Retrieved November 15, 2017, from http://theconversation.com/elaborately-justified-misogyny-the-hateful-eight-and-daisy-domergue-53046
Quentin Tarantino: 'It's about damn time' US discussed racist past . (2016). the Guardian . Retrieved November 15, 2017, from, https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jan/02/quentin-tarantino-says-its-about-damn-time-us-discussed-its-racist-past
Tarantino, Q., Tarantino, Q., Jackson, S., Russell, K., & Leigh, J. (2015). The Hateful Eight (2015). IMDb . Retrieved November 15, 2017, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3460252/
