----------------------------Original message---------------------------- >To pass on what Tarantino himself said about the scene, I paraphrase an >article on him from either Los Angeles Magazine or Entertainment Weekly. He >said that he believed that any word that held such power as what you >referred to as the 'N' word (I cringe at violating your hypersensitivities) >should be shouted from the rooftops until it has lost that power. > Ah ha! I knew he meant it. He's a smart cookie. For a film that is labelled as violent, how much violence is really in it? As far as I can remember, 3 killings, an anal rape and a mutilation. Not a record breaker. It's "violent" and "racist", because QT uses these ideas and stretches them, drawing them out, dwelling on them, not just "blowing a kids head off" and moving on to the next act. That one act of violence drove a 30 minute story. I tell you, he knows exactly what he's doing. Thanks for the quote. >I find reactionist tactics such as condemning a filmmaker as racist for >overusing a naughty word disgusting. Look at what you have said. Have you >examined the man before condemning him? Or have you just reacted to >something that was obviously there to provoke a reaction in the first place? > Viewing Tarantino's great relationship with Jackson off-screen and the >comments he has made regarding his agendas, it seems quite inaccurate to >label him a racist. Rather, he is trying to stir up his audience and force >them to deal with these issues _in themselves_. He has pushed your >buttons, and you reacted just like he probably expected. If you have a >problem with that scene, maybe you should look at your own values before you >judge his. I think this is his goal. Agreed and thank you for saying so much better than I would have be able to. Fhew. Thought I was a racist there for a moment. > >Another point: Jackson's character is the only one in the film to have any >redeemable moral value, and racism was never an issue in inter-character >relationships. They seem to have no trouble getting along (Jackson and >Travolta, the eventual reconciliation of Marcellus and Willis, Marcellus and >Travolta, Marcellus and Thurman, Marcellus and Keitel, Jackson and >Tarantino) All good examples. I might be convinced that the only stereotyped (racist) characters were the white rednecks. But QT is white, so how can that be? Must be ok then... James