Discussing her role in Pulp Fiction with The Sunday Times, Rosanna Arquette said director Quentin Tarantino gave her “permission” to use the N-word in his film, which she considered “racist and creepy”.
Arquette said of Pulp Fiction, “It’s an iconic and great movie on so many levels.” “But personally, I’m against the use of the N-word. I hate it. I can’t stand the fact that he (Tarantino) was given a hall pass. It’s not art. It’s just racist and creepy.”
During an appearance on Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace in 2022, the defiant Tarantino said that if viewers were offended by the use of the N-word or graphic violence in the film, they should “go see something else”.
Asked by Wallace to respond to his critics, Tarantino said, “Well, look at something else. If you have a problem with my movies, those aren’t the movies you should go see. Apparently I’m not making movies for you.”
Frequent co-star Samuel L. Jackson has long defended Tarantino’s use of slurs in films such as “Django Unchained.” The 2012 action western drew significant backlash upon its release due to its frequent use of the N-word, which is said nearly 110 times in the film.
In the 2019 documentary QT8: The First Eight, which chronicled the first 21 years of Tarantino’s filmmaking career, Jackson said in an interview, “You’re probably going to watch ‘The Night Is Born’ because it’s a writer’s work.” “Steve McQueen is totally different from Quentin. No one says shit when there’s[the N-word]in a song 300 times. So it’s OK for Steve McQueen to use[the N-word]. He’s a system engineer. But Quentin is just doing it to put his fingernails on a blackboard. There’s nothing wrong with what[Quentin]writes or writes.” How people speak, feel, and talk (in his films). ”
