A little over a year ago, I wrote a column that received a lot of backlash. I talked about how not everyone likes Quentin Tarantino films.
*gasp* I know. How blasphemous of me to critique art and its artists. At that time, I had only seen one of his films, so I suppose it was warranted that the comments section was longer than the article itself. Now that I have seen six of the acclaimed filmmaker’s works, I can definitively say I do not like Tarantino films. I want to like them, but I just don’t.
I went on a huge Tarantino kick when I lived with a group of people at my summer internship. I have seen both Kill Bills, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.
I know what you’re thinking: “Oh, well you haven’t seen Inglourious Basterds or Jackie Brown. Those are definitely his best.” Well, that’s what people told me before I watched Pulp Fiction, The Hateful Eight and Reservoir Dogs, and those were huge letdowns. Reservoir Dogs is one of my least favorite films I’ve ever watched. So when people tell me to try out his other movies and I don’t like them, it’s hard for me to take fans of the movies seriously. The track record speaks for itself.
The only two I can say I liked to an extent were Django Unchained and Kill Bill Vol. 2. With those ones, everything in the movie felt necessary. The dialogue was top-notch, and the scenes didn’t feel like 15 minutes long.
My biggest gripe with Tarantino films is not the gore. Goriness is not bothersome when it is used effectively. My problem is the movies are three hours long and it feels that way. His films don’t reel me in and forget about the rest of the world. Instead, I sit there and wonder how long I’ve been watching and when it will be over. People end up telling me to go back and watch the movie again to see what I missed. That’s really hard to do when you don’t like the movie the first time.
Now, I do understand the appeal of his movies. They take viewers into complex worlds where morality is at the center. The bloody affairs showcase dialogue that ropes most viewers into the mind of Tarantino — no matter how self-indulgent that world is.
Still, I will go see Once Upon A Time in Hollywood when it premieres this summer, and I’ll try to sit through Inglourious Basterds because my friends insist on it. But if I don’t like yet another one of his films, I just ask for some respect while I tear the movie apart.
Georgia Davis is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Do you think people who don’t like Quentin Tarantino are horrible people? Tell Georgia by tweeting her at @georgiadee35.
