Organization wants to use film hero to attract minority support.
Quentin Tarantino wouldn’t easily get roped into a media discussion about the influence of film violence, but Django Unchained might get dragged into the national gun debate. A pro-gun group is planning to invoke the slave-themed movie in an effort to appeal to African-Americans and woo them to their side in the debate over gun control.
The group, Political Media, was behind this past Saturday’s controversial Gun Appreciation Day, which was meant to encourage Americans to show up at various places with a copy of the U.S. Constitution and signs reading, “Hands off my guns.” While there is no record of how many people participated in the Gun Appreciation Day, Larry Ward, president of Political Media, said that hundreds of thousands of people participated.
In an effort to attract African-Americans to the group’s cause, Ward is hoping to win support with a follow-up campaign titled “What Would Django Do?” Reportedly, Ward is planning to accompany the campaign with the formation of a nonprofit organization bearing the same name. The gun enthusiast admittedly hasn’t sought permission from Tarantino or from The Weinstein Co., the studio behind Django Unchained. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Ward said. “We’ll make sure we aren’t violating copyrights, and if we are, we’ll have to change the name. But Django is perfect for what we’re trying to do, which is to promote gun rights to minorities.”
When asked for a reply The Weinstein Co. did not respond. Tarantino, in the past, has gone on record as someone who supports gun control.
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(Photo: Columbia Pictures)
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