Quentin Tarantino’s new movie, The Hateful Eight, sounds like a Red Hat Society meetup compared to the number of people currently peeved at the pulpy auteur. Following the director’s comments on cops murdering people at a protest last month in New York City, police unions across the country are calling for a boycott of his upcoming film, which is set for release Christmas Day. San Jose’s Police Officers Association (POA) joined the fray Tuesday, with president Paul Kelly calling the director’s comments “hateful and repugnant” while also noting the sacrifice of officers like San Jose’s Michael Johnson, who was killed in the line of duty in March. James Gonzales, the union’s vice president, said it was ironic that Tarantino would blast the same men and women who protect his First Amendment rights to free speech, even if they disagree. Prior to the POA’s media blast, several unions for California law enforcement agencies discussed the boycotts, amongst other priorities. Tarantino sought to clarify his remarks on Tuesday, but he didn’t necessarily back down. He noted that he didn’t think all cops were murderers, that his comments were being taken out of context and that police unions were trying to intimidate him by distracting from the issue of police killing people of color. Those comments only inflamed tempers further, as cops openly wondered what would be an appropriate number of murderers in Tarantino’s mind. “I thought he was going to come out with an apology,” Gonzales said, noting that local law enforcement in San Jose has taken an open approach to dealing with community concerns while also implementing new de-escalation of force training. Gonzales also noted the recent firing of SJPD officer Phillip White, who was canned as a result of threatening tweets he sent in response to the death of Eric Garner and the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
The Fly
Sans Quentin: Police Union Calls for Boycott of Tarantino Film
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Quentin Tarantino's comments at a protest against police brutality have made him Public Enemy No. 1 of police unions. (Photo by Georges Biard, via Wikimedia Commons)
What will likely be accomplished by this boycott is the Academy Awards will make sure to include Tarantino come nomination time. By nature devoid of laudable values, the film industry seldom misses a chance to fake having principles by striking an anti-establishment pose (provided no money is at stake).
In truth, Quentin might deserve a little slack, considering the crowd he chose to address might’ve lynched him had he said anything thoughtful or well-reasoned. He, like many others before him, probably read the crowd correctly and realized that they, like any collection of savage imbeciles, would be satiated by nothing less than an unbridled demonization of the police* — the one group in America still considered suitable for a slow stewing in the tribal cauldron.
Were one inclined toward conspiracies, one might wonder if the firearms industry has something to do with these demonstrations, as they have done wonders for gun sales. Giving peace-loving folks a good hard look at both the frightening potential of these uncivilized hordes and the declining ability of the police to hold them at bay makes for a firearms sales campaign Don Draper would envy.
*For a local example, check out Sam Liccardo exploiting the Michael Brown killing during his campaign (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_HuSnqtFzo).
If Tarantino, Sharpton, and Jackson want to stop black shooting deaths in America, they would do better to concentrate on ways to lower the 7,000 ANNUAL death toll of black men shot and killed by other black men in America. But they are all MIA on that issue. Instead, they do the demagogue/headline grabbing trip on the couple of dozen black men shot and killed by cops every year, most of which are clearly and unequivocally justified. An example of Tarantino’s hypocrisy:
Pulp Fiction (1994)
[Jules, Vincent and Jimmie are drinking coffee in Jimmie’s kitchen]
Jimmie [played by Quentin Tarantino]: But you know what’s on my mind right now? It AIN’T the coffee in my kitchen, it’s the dead nigger in my garage.
Jules: Oh, Jimmie, don’t even worry about that…
Jimmie: [interupting] No, No, No, No, let me ask you a question. When you came pulling in here, did you notice a sign out in front of my house that said “Dead Nigger Storage”?
Jules: Jimmie, you know I ain’t seen no…
Jimmie: [cutting him off again; getting angry] Did you notice a sign out in front of my house that said “Dead Nigger Storage”?
Jules: [pause] No. I didn’t.
Jimmie: You know WHY you didn’t see that sign?
Jules: Why?
Jimmie: ‘Cause it ain’t there, ’cause storing dead niggers ain’t my fu**ing business, that’s why!
That scene could have been effective without the use of the phrase “Dead Nigger Storage.”