Quentin Tarantino really thought ‘Selma’ was a TV movie & he hasn’t seen it

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People are still dissecting Quentin Tarantino’s T Magazine interview – I covered it yesterday, which you can see here. Some people are upset about his comments about Kathryn Bigelow, as in… he made it sound like she was the first woman to win the Best Director Oscar because she was just a girl who made a good war movie. I honestly don’t think he meant to throw shade on Bigelow (although he definitely threw shade at screenwriter Mark Boal). Some people are still pissed about QT’s discussion about race and the critical “think pieces” written about Tarantino’s whiteness and whether he should be writing stories like Django Unchained. And still more people are pissed at QT for what he said about Ava DuVernay and her film, Selma. Here is that passage in context from T Magazine, written by Brett Easton Ellis:

We touch on this year’s Oscars and the supposed Oscar snubbing of Ava DuVernay’s Martin Luther King movie ‘‘Selma,’’ which caused a kind of national sentimental-narrative outrage, compounded by the events in Ferguson, and which branded the Academy voters as old and out-of-it racists — despite the fact that ‘‘12 Years a Slave’’ had won Best Picture the year before. Tarantino shrugs diplomatically: ‘‘She did a really good job on ‘Selma’ but ‘Selma’ deserved an Emmy.’’ ‘‘Django Unchained,’’ with its depictions of antebellum-era institutionalized racism and Mandingo fights and black self-hatred, is a much more shocking and forward-thinking movie than ‘‘Selma,’’ and audiences turned it into the biggest hit of Tarantino’s career. But it was also attacked for, among other things, being written and directed by a white man.

[From T Magazine]

Ellis then transitions to Tarantino’s discussion about black critics, etc. Some thought Tarantino was insulting DuVernay by, like, dismissing Selma as a TV movie, like it was “only” worthy of Emmys, not Oscars. Well, Tarantino heard that criticism and he would like to clarify. He sent a letter/email to IndieWire about what he was trying to say about Selma:

I’m writing you to pass on that the quote from the NY Times piece about “Selma” is wrong. I never saw “Selma.” If you look at the article, it was Bret who was talking about “Selma,” not me. I did say the line “it deserved a Emmy,” but when I said it, it was more like a question.

Which basically meant, “it’s like a TV movie?” Which Bret and myself being from the same TV generation, was not only understood, but there was no slam intended. Both Bret and myself come from the seventies and eighties when there were a lot of historically based TV movies: the King mini-series written by Abby Mann staring Paul Winfield; “Crisis at Central High” with Joanne Woodward. And “Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys.” These were great TV movies. I’d be honored to be placed next to those films. However, I haven’t seen it. Does it look like a seventies TV movie? Yes. Does it play like one, I don’t know, I haven’t seen it.

Q

[From IndieWire]

Do you believe him? He’s saying that he didn’t mean to be dismissive or come across as patronizing toward DuVernay and her film. Did he honestly think Selma was a TV movie? Hm. The thing is – and this is what I said yesterday too – if they had released Selma as a TV movie on HBO, it would have gotten so many Emmys. But I still think he was being dismissive, and his email kind of shows that too – in Tarantino’s mind, the movies about civil rights and serious racial issues belong on TV. As in, if you want to talk about slavery or civil rights in a historical context rather than, say, making slavery into a spaghetti western, you belong on TV and in Tarantino’s mind, TV will also be profoundly “less than” film.

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Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

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31 Responses to “Quentin Tarantino really thought ‘Selma’ was a TV movie & he hasn’t seen it”

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  1. Jayna says:

    I don’t see where he’s saying he thought it was a TV movie. He’s saying it was shot and played like one of those great historical ’70s TV movies he’s talking about. And question mark, like asking if the interviewer feels the same way. That’s my take. Of course, he makes no sense still, so I could be completely wrong.

    If he didn’t see it, how can he even comment? What, as a director, no support for black directors, like watching Ava DuVernay’s movie? I guess he’s too busy watching classics like American Hustle. LOL

  2. kay says:

    Dear Lord, the mental gymnastics people are doing to absolve him of racism and sexism when it’s obivous even to the most dimwit are hysterical.

    He can go f*ck himself.

    • Lama Bean says:

      this….
      I also just don’t get the hype about his movies. As a matter of fact, if QT is any part of it, I am sure to steer clear of it.

    • Josefa says:

      Quentin has said and done some highly questionable things regarding race. This isn’t one of them. He’s not shady. If he thought Selma looked like crap he would’ve said so just like that, like he has with millions of other movies.

      And labeling people as dimwits just because they view things differently? Are you 12?

  3. nic says:

    I’m betting that Tarantino’s prejudice is more of a fiction snobbery, like movies should be imaginative and historical dramas should be TV movies.

    But I love his movies so I’m probably being an apologyist. On the other hand… He does have a weird track record being, um, awkward talking about Blackness. Also, he seems kinda… Cokey to me.

  4. Merritt says:

    I don’t believe him because he frequently talks out of his ass. He needs to just shut up already. Especially with the whining about how repressed he is by black critics.

  5. lisa says:

    i thought he meant it had the pacing and style of a tv movie which i agree with 100%

    • Esmom says:

      I haven’t seen Selma but I felt the same way about Brokeback Mountain.

      I think you are correct in interpreting his comment. His explanation is not so clear.

    • Loulou says:

      Agreed. Selma was not the Best Picture, by far.

    • Alex says:

      Yea he meant that the way it was filmed was more TV style and that if it WAS a TV movie it would’ve won the Emmy for everything. I agree with that

    • lewissrl says:

      @Lisa, how would he know the pacing of the film if he hasn’t seen it?

      Why it’s so hard for a lot of celebrities to admit that they don’t know everything?

    • Merritt says:

      Except if he hasn’t seen it, as he claims, then how does he know that?

    • stinky says:

      MEE TOO. Oscar worthy topic? of course …
      Oscar-worthy execution? Sorry.. no.

  6. Talie says:

    Bret Easton Ellis is on a rampage against millennial culture, which he feels is too PC…so he’s obsessive about drawing people of his gen into these convos. Of course, Tarantino didn’t have to take the bait.

    • Cindy says:

      Bret Easton Ellis…..blech. I read one of his books many years ago and have since blocked it out.

      QT….I have a soft spot for him. I very well may be wrong, but I just think he talks a lot and sticks his foot in it at times. I really love his movies and I do think he changed so much about how movies are made. Pulp Fiction was genius. (in my peasant non movie critic opinion). He was interviewed on Howard stern a few years ago and I’ve liked him ever since. (Him as a person that is, I think I’ve always liked his movies).

  7. Nanea says:

    Racist, chauvinistic patronizing dumbass.

    I really don’t get why so many people fawn over him, other than he’s a white male.

    • kay says:

      This. I don’t understand how women can be his fans.

      • Mia says:

        I am a woman who just likes to watch his movies because they are entertaining. Thats all. I think he writes excellent roles for females and minorities. He is one of the few directors who do so and yet so many ppl here complain about directors whitewashing too much, not writing for women,etc.
        The man is a talented filmmaker whether you want to admit it or not.

      • meme says:

        I’m with Mia. QT is a very talented filmmaker and his movies are always entertaining and some are brilliant.

      • Josefa says:

        What Mia said.

        I don’t watch QT’s films expecting essays on feminism.

      • Algernon says:

        @ Josefa

        And yet Kill Bill is basically an essay on feminism.

      • Loulou says:

        @Kay, what are you talking about? However you want to interpret his interviews, he’s one of the few directors that gives actresses complex and interesting storylines. To me, that speaks volumes more than needing him to proclaim himself a feminist or something.

  8. Bridget says:

    QT’S always talked out of his ass. If you like his movies you’ve learned to tune out about 80% of what he says. There are just things that QT does NOT get.

    Bret Easton Ellis on the other hand I can’t stand.

  9. Emmygrant says:

    How would he know the pacing without having seen it? I think he just meant it was nothing inventive and just looked like a formulaic civil rights made-for-TV movie. In other words, it was a dis.

  10. Sure Jan says:

    He’s very dismissive of Selma I get it you don’t want to watch or hear about the past that place your people bad light. He comes off as a racist entitled prick

    • FingerBinger says:

      Your argument doesn’t make sense. Django unchained placed white people in a bad light. Leonardo DiCaprio’s character was despicable. You have to come up with a better reason.

  11. kri says:

    My main problem with this is that a famous director didn’t know about one of the most talked about films last year? He really thought it was a TV movie when Ava was all over the place on carpets? How is that possible?! Come on, man! Watch the damn movie. And also…so condescending talking about Bigelow. Like “oh the pretty lady won a statue cause she made a movie that wasn’t a romcom”. Please. No feet for you, Quentin. Feet are for good boys. You get nothing.

  12. Pinky says:

    Tell that to Spielberg’s Lincoln.

    Selma was not Roots. It was trying to do, and did do, something else.

  13. Josefa says:

    Eh, what I like about Quentin is he always says stuff just like it is. No hidden intentions, no shades. His lack of filter can be a problem, but he says stuff just like he thinks it. If he thought Selma looked bad, I’m pretty sure he would’ve just said it. He has said that about millions of TV movies before.

    On the film itself, it was, imo, a very generic biopic. Super formulaic and unoriginal. It should’ve been in the Oscars only because it was no different than The Imitation Game. But if it were up to me, neither wouldve been nominated for more than a couple awards.

  14. Chinoiserie says:

    Isn’t he an Academy voter? Maybe he does not have the time time to see all the films (even if I think Academy voters should watch bunch of films personally) but I found it baffling that he did not know it was in conversation for Oscars if he had been invited to screenings and seen those “for your consideration” ads.