What a crazy couple of weeks it’s been for Quentin Tarantino. After disparaging remarks regarding police and the growing incidents (or recordings) of police brutality – remarks causing a major union uproar and calls for boycotts of QT’s films – the director intends on delivering a formal apology.
On October 24, Quentin Tarantino appeared in Manhattan at a rally protesting police violence, and ended up calling police murderers. “When I see murders,” he said, “I do not stand by… I have to call a murder a murder and I have to call the murderers the murderers.” The comments created a firestorm of angry police union workers who immediately called for a boycott of Tarantino’s films, especially his upcoming Western The Hateful Eight. The outcry was quiet at first, but in the last ten days has continued to grow and swell to hundreds of unions and over 200,000 law-enforcement officers.
It seems the noise has gotten too loud for Tarantino, who has been silent in the media since appearing at the rally, to ignore anymore. According to the report in The Wrap, previously cited, the director has told colleagues he intends to apologize.
MFR ON YOUTUBE (latest video)
Help us reach 5K Subs!
The apology is clearly reactionary at this point. With the word of Quentin Tarantino’s “murderers” claim spreading far and wide, and the idea that the boycott could actually somehow affect the bottom line of The Hateful Eight, this spin control can be seen a mile away. Some people still want QT to stay true to his words at the rally, including Jaime Foxx, who told his Django shot caller to “Keep telling the truth and don’t worry about none of the haters.”
I still don’t think this outrage and subsequent boycott will affect the box-office numbers of The Hateful Eight at all. Quentin Tarantino has his fans, and they are his fans; they don’t care what he says or the hot opinions he may have about police or police brutality. QT is full of polarizing opinions, though this time he may have stepped on the wrong toes. That being said, many of his supporters feel the same way about the police, especially with the growing catalogue of brutality videos going viral. Regardless of his stance on police brutality, his film will make its expected box-office numbers, and don’t expect any sort of dip in Awards season nominations… if such noms are warranted.
Where do you stand on this? Should Tarantino apologize for his statements, or was he speaking the truth?
