Alert! The following essay assumes that you’ve seen “Django,” the 1966 spaghetti western from director Sergio Corbucci. As such, for someone who hasn’t seen the film, it’s pretty much one long spoiler. Proceed at your own risk.
The classic, original Django has been analyzed from many angles, by many different reviewers. However, I don’t feel that enough attention has been paid to a particularly noteworthy and important aspect of the protagonist’s character. I am referring, of course, to the fact that Django is a complete asshole.
Clearly, Django has experienced some traumatic events in his life before the film opens. His wife was murdered by thugs under the control of Sgt. Jackson, the film’s main villain. Django’s got a bone to pick with Jackson, so it goes without saying that he’s not going to behave in an overly friendly manner with Jackson or his henchmen. No surprise there. It is Django’s dealings with the everyday citizens and allies that he encounters during his quest for vengeance that reveal him to be an asshole.
His brusque manner of speaking to people is the first evidence we see of his assholic nature. Django never answers a question directly, instead brushing off questioners with tough-guy statements such as, “Who I know or don’t know is no concern of yours.” Django refuses to allow anyone else to tell him anything, ever, no matter how trivial. When the saloon owner asks that Maria leave his hotel after one night, Django simply responds, “We’ll see about that.” He’s not about to let the owner of the establishment set any ground rules for their interaction, even though the businessman is putting his livelihood at risk even by allowing Maria to stay there for one night.
Is there anyone out there who would like to be spoken to in the manner that Django speaks to everyone in this film? The fact that his surly demeanor is backed up by the implicit threat of deadly violence does little to improve the situation. If someone is acting like a complete ass, then seems ready and willing to shoot you if you call him on it, I think it is safe to call that person an asshole.
Django’s dickish behavior starts from the very first scene after the opening credits. He watches impassively as Maria is tied up and whipped by the Mexicans, doing nothing more than lighting a cigarette to smoke as he observes the scene. There’s no indication that Django was going to do anything to intercede on this brutal beating. In fact, he doesn’t even leave his perch above the scene until after Jackson’s clan has arrived and killed the Mexicans.
Was Django planning to let the Mexicans beat Maria to death? After all, it is later revealed that he is friends with the Mexican leader. Most likely, Django only stopped Jackson’s men from burning Maria on the cross because he had a score to settle with Jackson. As long as it was the Mexicans who were brutalizing Maria, Django seems to have been content to let it happen.
Django’s deep-seated dick-ishness is revealed best in a pair of scene involving the Mexican rebels. After mowing down Jackson’s red-hooded men in the street, Django meets the Mexicans inside the saloon. He wants to show off his Gatling Gun for the Mexican leader. Rather than take the gun outside into the deserted streets, Django turns it on the bar itself. 
To this point, the saloon owner has been nothing but helpful to Django, from letting Maria stay in his hotel to digging the graves for all the men Django killed. Still, Django thinks nothing of blasting his business to smithereens. He lets loose with a lengthy fusillade, destroying the entire liquor stock and wall-length mirrors in the process. Django doesn’t just let fly with a short burst of ammo, either. He continues to blast away until he’s completely destroyed the bar!
Why would he do this? What has the saloon owner done to deserve this treatment? Even if for purely selfish reasons, you would think that Django would want the saloon to be well-stocked with alcohol, so that he could drink if he wanted to. Getting your liquor stock replenished in this frontier no-mans-land can’t be easy. The only possible explanation for Django’s behavior is that he is simply an asshole.
Later, after the successful raid on the army fort, Django reveals himself to be an even bigger prick. He returns to town with the Mexican rebels and everyone proceeds to party into the night. Django demands his share of the gold immediately, while the Mexican leader demures and says that the gold will be locked up tight and that Django need not worry about it. While this may be motivated by the Mexican’s desire to steal Django’s share, there’s not really too much evidence of this.
It seems to me that the Mexicans simply want to spend the evening partying and whoring, without trying to weigh out shares of gold to everyone involved. Let’s be honest, if they start weighing out Django’s share of the gold right away, aren’t all the rest of the rebels likely to demand their shares, as well? It’s a recipe for chaos, and the Mexican leader is probably correct in telling Django to stop worrying and enjoy the night.
Instead of accepting the Mexican’s offer of a night with Maria, Django decides to break into the storehouse and steal the gold. He deftly sneaks across town and fills his coffin with gold nuggets. Of note is the fact that he doesn’t just take his share. Django steals all the gold, even though the rebels clearly were a huge help in the raid. It is extremely unlikely that Django could have pulled off the robbery by himself, but he has no qualms about stealing all of the proceeds for himself. Moreover, it’s been clearly established that he and the Mexican leader are close, long-time friends. To betray his friend like this doesn’t exactly make Django look like the coolest cat.
Alright, so Django steals the gold. At this point, he could easily take his coffin over to the stables and sneak away in a wagon while the Mexicans party into the night. But no. Instead, Django rigs up the Gatling Gun so that it automatically fires out the door of the store house. Then he sets off an explosion to draw the attention of the rebels. When they run to see what’s happened to the gold, the auto-firing machine gun mows them down. What possible motivation does Django have to kill these peasant rebels? They’ve just helped him steal the gold from a heavily-guarded fort. Django is friends with their leader. So why kill these people?
In fact, Django’s insistence on being an ass to everyone he meets probably ends up backfiring. Had Django simply stolen away with the gold in the dark of night, he would have had a huge head-start on the Mexicans, to the point that it’s doubtful they would have caught up with him. Most likely, no one would have thought to check on the gold until the morning. By then, Django would have been too far away to pursue.
Instead, Django causes massive chaos and destruction in the town, alerting everyone to the fact that he’s trying to steal the gold. As such, he gets out of town just ahead of the rebels pursuing him, so it’s no surprise that they catch him and Maria as they pause at the bridge. Had Django simply kept quiet, taken his share of the gold and left his Gatling Gun behind, it is doubtful that the rebels would have bothered chasing after him. They would still have their shares of the gold, plus they’d have the gun that Django ends up leaving behind anyway. Combine that with Django’s head start, and it’s extremely likely that the rebels never give chase. But Django’s just got to be an asshole about it. When diplomacy and stealth would have served him much better, Django resorts to extreme violence and bluster.
Thus, the brutal injuries inflicted on Django’s hands would seem to be his karmic retribution for the dickish behavior he’s exhibited throughout the film. At every turn, when confronted with a choice between being a normal person or acting like an asshole, Django chooses to be an asshole. He is one of the surliest, most hard-to-deal-with lead characters in any western. He spends the entire film making enemies or alienating friends, and it is only in comparison with the ridiculously evil villains that Django runs up against that he seems admirable at all. Of course, having said all that, it’s still a great movie.
Could it be said that he is the better asshole among assholes!? hehehe!
This analysis made me laugh, very cool, good point! 🙂