Civil rights groups have expressed outrage over the action figures based on characters from the Quentin Tarantino revenge opus Django Unchained.
The National Action Network, founded by the Rev. Al Shapton, is calling for a national boycott of the collectibles. Rev. K.W. Tulloss, the president of the NAC Los Angeles chapter, told the New York Daily News the following:
“Selling this doll is highly offensive to our ancestors and the African American community. The movie is for adults, but these are action figures that appeal to children. We don’t want other individuals to utilize them for their entertainment, to make a mockery of slavery.”
Najee Ali from Project Islamic Hope, according to AP , said that the action figures are “a slap in the face of our ancestors. We were outraged. We feel that it trivializes the horrors of slavery and what African Americans experienced.” Ali also said according to the Daily News that he enjoyed the movie but added that “we cannot support this type of commercialization.”
As The Inquisitr previously reported , the line of 8-inch action figures which sell for about $35 each on Amazon includes Django (Jamie Foxx), Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), Butch (James Remar), Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson), and Broomhilda (Kerry Washington).
According to ABC News , it’s not clear whether there is even licensing in place for the Django Unchained dolls:
“It’s not known whether the Weinstein Company, the movie studio behind Django , granted a license for the dolls to the manufacturer. Neither responded immediately to ABCNews.com’s request for comment.”
Various news outlets have reported that there is a petition drive at change.org asking Quentin Tarantino to immediately stop the sale and distribution of the action figures, but a recent check of the website appears to indicate no such petition.
Watch an ABC News report on the controversy over the Django Unchained action figures:
