Pulp Fiction and The Hateful Eight Film director Quentin Tarantino made a guest appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, where Maher allowed Tarantino to defend himself against the recent allegations that he is a "cop hater." Tarantino is accused of calling all cops murderers after speaking at a police brutality rally called Rise Up October. Several police unions have even gone so far as to boycott the famous director's movies.
After a brief description of the recent events leading up to the boycott, Maher asks Tarantino to defend himself. Tarantino does so by explaining, "[The unions] are saying that I am a cop hater, which is slander because I didn't say that... They're implying that I meant that all cops are murderers, and I wasn't." Tarantino goes on to say that this is a real issue that needs to be addressed, even commenting at one point that the problem is a "hydra with many heads," and the biggest head is the "Blue Wall" that police hide behind to "protect their own as opposed to put themselves at the betterment of citizenry."
The comments in question? "I'm a human being with a conscience... And when I see murder I cannot stand by. And I have to call the murdered the murdered and I have to call the murderers the murderers." Throughout the entire event, Rise Up October activists made it a point to remind everyone they understand there are good cops. The event was specifically targeting police brutality—not cops in general. Even still, Tarantino's words were taken out of context and skewed in the most negative manner possible.
In a show of support and understanding of the the director's circumstances, Maher compared the Police Union's boycott against Tarantino, to the negative response Maher himself recieved for the controversial comments he made after 9/11. Maher says, "People got upset about what I said, which is okay, but then they lied about it,"
New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles police unions have all come together to boycott Tarantino's movies since the Rise Up October event. Executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, Jim Pasco, has gone so far as to say, "Something is in the works, but the element of surprise is the most important element... Something could happen anytime between now and [the premiere]. And a lot of it is going to be driven by Tarantino, who is nothing if not predictable."
After being pressed by The Hollywood Reporter, Pasco was quick to say the statement was not a physical threat and pointed out the police are there to "protect" people, not "hurt" them.
Feel free to use the comments below to let us know how you feel about Tarantino's stance on police brutality and whether or not the boycott is just.
© 2024 Classicalite All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
