There’s no denying the fact that Quentin Tarantino has used how words and images to elicit a reaction out of people during his films. Whether it’s the harsh language or the graphic violence, his films have enough material in them to perhaps ruffle a few feathers, if the viewer isn’t prepared. But even still, the filmmaker doesn’t believe that anyone should ever be offended by films. In fact, he thinks that if you are offended, that’s a you problem and not the fault of the film.
Speaking to the French outlet, Liberation, Quentin Tarantino talked about the way that people tend to be “offended” by films in today’s society. Sometimes, you have folks upset over exaggerated violence. Other times, it’s the fact that there are *gasp* gay people in the film. If someone wants to find something objectionable in a film, odds are they’ll be able to. And according to Tarantino, if someone is offended by a film, that’s not the fault of the artist or the art. In fact, it’s up to the audience to deal with their own issues.
“I reject the word ‘offended,’” said Tarantino. “Because anybody can say he’s offended by anything. Frankly, I think that for the most part, and there might be examples of the contrary, to say that you’re offended about something is the first response of a tiny mind. ‘I don’t like this, and here’s why, tadadada…’: that’s OK. But fuck being offended. Art is not offensive.”
He continued, “There can be examples of the contrary, yes. But even then, it’s just ridiculous to be offended by something [in films]. There was a movie – I won’t say which – that I saw in the last ten years that did offend me. But the more I thought about it, [the more] I realized that was my problem, my fucking problem.”
While he still didn’t name the movie, when asked what about it was offensive to him, Tarantino explained the issue with the unnamed feature.
“I felt it was racist. And it just absolutely offended me,” he said. “I had a knee-jerk reaction to it. I wanted to punch the director in the nose, but that was a bad reaction. I still think it’s a racist film. But it’s just a fucking movie, man.”
There’s no point in speculating about which film Tarantino objected to. But his point seems to be that he was upset over a film, but he understand that it was his own problem and not something he should take out on the art or the artist. Obviously, this is a statement that is likely going to garner quite a bite of discussion. As with anything in the sphere of “free speech,” there are polarizing views all over social media.
Regardless of where the audience stands, it’s clear Tarantino isn’t ready to cater to the desires of anyone else other than himself when deciding what material to include in his films. It’s up to the audience to decide if they want to support the art or not.
