Quentin Tarantino can’t seem to fend off the controversy being aimed at him and his new film Django Unchained. The warped western, which deal with issues of racism and slavery, has come under fire from Spike Lee and other sections of the black community in America over its treatment of the subject, and now a line of Django Unchained merchandise figures have come under fire for making a ‘mockery of slavery’.

Those are the words of Rev KW Tulloss, who told the New York Daily News "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 utilise them for their entertainment, to make a mockery of slavery."

The figurines were produced by the National Entertainment Collectibles Association and feature Samuel L Jackson’s ‘house slave’ Stephen and Jamie Foxx’s leading character Django, according to The Guardian. Najee Ali, director of the Los Angeles civil rights organisation Project Islamic Hope, was another who was against the models, and called for them to be taken off sale. "We were outraged. We feel it trivializes the horrors of slavery and what African Americans experienced." Despite the controversy surrounding it, there is a fair bit of expectation that Django Unchained will be featured when the Oscar nominations are revealed tomorrow (January 10, 2013).

Quentin Tarantino, Jamie Foxx and Samuel L Jackson at the Rome Django Unchained curtain call