Netflix's The Harder They Fall’s groundbreaking representation of Black cowboys in the Old West proves the biggest criticism of Django Unchained was right. Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained (2012) follows formerly enslaved bounty hunter Django (Jamie Foxx) as he and Dr. King Shultz (Christoph Waltz) capture wanted white slavers while attempting to buy the freedom of Django’s wife. Tarantino's film reinterprets the usual white character-led Western genre by placing a Black cowboy at the forefront, all the while depicting the horrors of slavery and a man exacting his revenge on white slavers.
What Netflix’s movie proves is that a Black cowboy protagonist doesn't need to be considered revisionist history at all. The Harder They Fall's predominantly-Black cast portrays characters based on real-life historical Black figures from the Old West. The movie follows a traditional Western movie formula in which the protagonist recruits his fellow cowboys to face a rival gang, seeking his revenge on the outlaw who murdered his parents when he was a child. The Harder They Fall is an extremely well-made Western with important representation, and its success proves that the critics pointing out Django Unchained’s most significant controversy were right.
Upon Django Unchained’s release in 2012, Tarantino was heavily criticized for the needlessly frequent use of the n-word by white characters. Tarantino is known for prolific cursing in his movies, but a white director writing the n-word into a screenplay 110 times was bound to incite backlash. Tarantino supported his use of the racial slur by claiming it represented the historical accuracy of the time, but many countered that Django Unchained was Tarantino exploiting Black trauma and using the word not to make a point, but merely to use it. Netflix's The Harder They Fall proves a Western set in the 19th century focusing on Black cowboys doesn’t have to use the n-word to be historically accurate, however. The film is based on true stories and real people, proving that Black characters don't have to be defined by the ugliest parts of their experience. It shouldn’t simply be forgotten or written off - The Harder They Fall mentions slavery and racism a few times throughout the film - but it doesn’t have to be the focus. Black people can be depicted in the 1800s in an exciting, historically accurate cowboy adventure without having to show white people cruelly screaming the N-word.
The characters in The Harder They Fall don't use the n-word once, nor does the movie gorily depict the tortures of slavery, and yet it remains an accurate depiction of the Old West. The Harder They Fall director Jeymes Samuel was adamant about not using the n-word, explaining a period piece isn’t a license for white people to use the slur, nor does it mean women have to be portrayed as subservient (via Essence). Samuel’s movie is telling the stories of overlooked heroes, which is long overdue considering historians estimate 1 in 4 Old West cowboys were Black (via Smithsonian Mag). The Harder They Fall finally brings to light the prominence of Black heroes in 19th-century America amidst a historically white Western movie genre, complete with an all-Black main cast, Black screenwriters, and Black director at the helm.
Just because The Harder They Fall doesn’t prioritize depicting the ugliness of the era doesn’t mean it erased it, either. Even when it did reveal white people’s racism and microaggressions of the era, it wasn’t portrayed in a traumatizing manner. Cuffee and Nat are assigned to rob a bank in an all-white town, but their unwelcomeness isn’t anywhere near as brutal as Django Unchained’s depictions. When white people laugh at them for wanting to open up a bank account, they’re not trying to kill, harm, or verbally berate them for their race, and it still works to underscore the abundant racism of the time without detracting from the focus of the film. Netflix's The Harder They Fall is a refreshing take on the historical realities of the Old West that can be easily enjoyed for its adventure instead of racist brutalities.