How do I tell Python not to interpret backslashes in strings?
This has nothing to do with the Django template, but how you define the variable in the first place.
Basckslashes are only "interpreted" when you specify them as literals in your Python code. So given your Python code above, you can either use the double backslash, or use a raw string.
If you were loading the string "fred\xbf" from your database and outputting it in a template, it would not be "escaped".
I'm using Python 2.7 and Django 1.4
If I have a string variable result = "fred\xbf", how do I tell the Django template to display "fred\xbf" rather than process the backslash and display some strange character? 
I know I can escape the backslash: "fred\\xbf" , but can I get the Django template to understand I want the backslash not to be processed?