Business  •  Media

Quentin Tarantino Talked About Race, and the Internet Wasn’t Pleased

New York Times interview with Bret Easton Ellis raises Twitter's eyebrows

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Quentin Tarantino shouldn't talk about race, at least according to the Internet. (Photo: Twitter)
Quentin Tarantino shouldn’t talk about race, at least according to the Internet. (Photo: Twitter)

Quentin Tarantino may not care what his critics think, but they have an awful lot to say about him.

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The controversial filmmaker, whose new movie The Hateful Eight will open in limited release on Christmas Day, is in hot water for comments he made while being interviewed by author Bret Easton Ellis. The interview, which was posted online last night, will appear in print in the October 25 New York Times Style magazine.

Even though Mr. Tarantino’s films have won multiple Oscars, he is still disappointed in the Academy. He claims that it “bugged” him that Inglorious Basterds lost Best Picture to The Hurt Locker, even though he admits “it was exciting that a woman (Kathryn Bigelow) had made such a good war film…it wasn’t like I lost to something dreadful.”

Mr. Tarantino’s most incendiary comments, however, were about race. The man behind Django Unchained thinks Selma, a more reserved film about race, “deserved an Emmy.” He also said that those who criticize the way race is treated in his films make him out to be a “supervillain.”

“It’s been a long time since the subject of a writer’s skin was mentioned as often as mine,” Mr. Tarantino said. “You wouldn’t think the color of a writer’s skin should have any effect on the words themselves.”

Not surprisingly, the fact that these comments came from a while filmmaker led to a lot of Twitter vitriol:

https://twitter.com/MatthewACherry/status/653950044379353088

https://twitter.com/saladinahmed/status/653939764366835716

https://twitter.com/thhoffm/status/653959598521630720

Looks like Mr. Tarantino doesn’t let his characters have all the controversial lines.

Quentin Tarantino Talked About Race, and the Internet Wasn’t Pleased
Filed Under: Business, Media, Digital Media, Entertainment, The Hateful Eight, The Hurt Locker, Django Unchained, Inglourious Basterds, Selma, Kathryn Bigelow, Bret Easton Ellis, race, Quentin Tarantino, New York Times, Twitter