Ingenious, glourious, quirky – three words that perfectly sum up Quentin Tarantino and his work in the film industry. Known for his out-of-the-box thinking and unique lens work, Tarantino’s films have not only been milestones for his career but also for Hollywood.
However, all that fame drags some criticism with it, with many associating the acclaimed filmmaker with feet-kink and racism. His frequent collaborator, Samuel L. Jackson, believes Tarantino is definitely not a racist.
Samuel L. Jackson explains why Quentin Tarantino is not a racist
Having worked with Quentin Tarantino in several successful projects such as Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained, both of which have secured Oscar wins, Samuel L. Jackson perhaps knows the director better than most people.
In an interview with Charlie Rose, the Avengers star recalled reading the script for Django Unchained:
When he was sending me Django, he actually didn’t want to tell me that I wasn’t going to be Django. I don’t want to tell you, but alright. Well the character Steven, so I was like, “Well, who is Steven?” He said, “Just read the script.” He has enough problems being vilified himself as a racist, because he uses n*gg* in his scripts that much or puts those kinds of words in a character’s mouth.
But I always tell people I don’t understand why they can’t look at his work and realize that every character he’s ever given me, he is pretty much the smartest character in the film, that has the most dignity and respect and kind of runs things, and is not a fool of any sorts and understands a whole lot about what’s going on in life and in the world. And for him to write characters like that for me, would be impossible for a racist to do.
While it is true that Tarantino has a great way of depicting racist characters, he has been bashed for the same issue before.
Samuel L. Jackson called his Django Unchained character “the most despicable n*gr*” in cinema
Django Unchained remains one of the most successful as well as a highly controversial film in Quentin Tarantino’s career. The film has racist overtones, which was necessary to portray the plight of plantation slaves. But a lot of fans took that as a sign of the filmmaker’s racist beliefs.
During the Django Unchained press conference, Samuel L. Jackson joked about his reaction on reading the script:
When I read the script, I called him back, and said, “So you want me to be the most despicable n*gr* in cinematic history? And we were both kind of, like, laughed together. and said, “Yeah! Let’s get on that.”
Django Unchained would go on to win 2 out of the 5 Oscars it was nominated for, including one for Best Screenplay. Maybe that itself is proof that Tarantino’s work is not shot through a racist lens, but highlighted the issues caused by it, which is why he is considered among the legends of Hollywood.
Django Unchained is available to stream on Starz.
