Quentin Tarantino Attacks What He Sees As Hollywood’s Devotion To Ideology
Quentin Tarantino had some pointed words directed at the movie industry regarding ideology now trumping art in filmmaking
This article is more than 2 years old
Quentin Tarantino will go down as one of the greatest directors to ever do the job. His movies are among the most memorable and iconic from the past three decades and there’s no doubt he has a complete pulse on the nature of the industry in Hollywood. So when he decries some of the practices he currently sees in the industry, it might make sense to tune in and take notice. Recently, while appearing on Real Time With Bill Maher, Tarantino had a few things to say about the trend in Hollywood becoming not about art, but about ideology.
In the interview, it was clear that Quentin Tarantino had thought quite a bit about the subject. And was more than a little concerned, as a filmmaker, that the thought process in Hollywood production circles had less to with writing a great thing, and more to do with writing a right thing. Promoting the novelization (a paperback) of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Maher was asked a number of different questions about the future of his career and where he stood on not wanting to make many more movies. Among many other enlightening things, he had this to say about the current climate in Hollywood:
“There has become a thing that’s gone on, especially in this last year, where ideology is more important than art. Ideology trumps art. Ideology trumps individual effort. Ideology trumps good. Ideology trumps entertaining,”
It’s somewhat easy to see what Quentin Tarantino is getting at here. For a director who’s had controversial films, but not run afoul of cancel culture (yet), he could see the clock is ticking when it comes to his ability to make films with relative freedom most others in the industry likely don’t enjoy. And though he spoke with Bill Maher about the desire to make only one more movie because he wanted to go out on top, and thought other directors started to lose their fastball around this time, it’s also clear that other woke-ness in Hollywood is part of his decision as well.
It also makes sense that Bill Maher was upset with the decision by Quentin Tarantino to pack it in after the next movie. Maher pleaded with the director to reconsider, but Tarantino seemed to be having none of it. This is something Tarantino has talked about in the past, about when he’d like to possibly end his career after his 10th feature film. And in terms of a writing/ directing standpoint, that’s where he’d be after the next one.
And if he’s concerned with the idea of ideology over art that he mentioned on Bill Maher, he’s probably correct. Look no further than what Lin Manuel Miranda has dealt with in terms of backlash over his latest flick In the Heights. The director ended up issuing an apology over the casting decisions, something Maher himself derided Miranda for, saying the director never should have to apologize for the art. Quentin Tarantino could be looking at the landscape and starting to think it’s not worth it.
As for what that 10th movie might be, some ideas have been kicked around for Quentin Tarantino on that front. He mentioned the idea of bringing it back to where it all started and possibly remaking Reservoir Dogs in some fashion. That feels like a long shot but the director mentioned it as a possibility. He’s also been rumored around a possible Star Trek movie as well with that universe getting more films. Or maybe we get Kill Bill Vol. 3.
