MovieChat Forums > Quentin Tarantino Discussion > Great filmmaker, but his narcissism and ...

Great filmmaker, but his narcissism and ego are really off putting


As stated is a great writer/director who has a vast knowledge of cinema. Use to love his interviews and listening to him talk about movies, but his recent interviews are just him talking about only himself and how great he is.

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He has come off as a bit of a weirdo in the past but I heard him interviewed recently on the radio and he seemed like a fairly pleasant guy. His movie knowledge certainly makes him interesting to me.

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He's a great director because he knows who to rip off and how to mask his influences. Kill Bill was really eye-opening, because it was obvious how little vision he has when his source material is poor.

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Yes, he does liberally take from other movies, but his is open about it. Although, it is quite obvious so I do not think denying it would do any good. I liked “Kill Bill.” Not his best but it is well made and entertaining. “Death Proof” is by far his worst and using the excuse that it was just meant to be a cheesy exploitation movie is lame. The movie is sub-par and not really ever engaging. Planet Terror is how you do a well made and fun cheesy exploitation film.

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Agreed. He always puts himself in his movies as some tough guy badass. It’s laughable.

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I disagree. He does not come across like a tough guy in Pulp Fiction. I can't even remember his appearances in his other movies.

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He tries to be a hardass in PF and comes off as a weasel. Has a black wife lol. No black woman would date that weasel.

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I think the implication in the film is that he's hen-pecked by his wife. Also, why would a Black woman be any less likely to date him than a white one?

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Because black women like strong men. Not weak ass weasels. Especially black women in the greater Los Angeles area.

QT comes off as a huge lightweight for even casting himself because he can’t act.

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You speak for all Black women?

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Really?

In Reservoir Dogs he was the first to get killed. In Pulp Fiction he was a pathetic hen-pecked husband. In Django Unchained he was a slaver who gets easily killed, and in Grindhouse, which he co-directed with Robert Rodriguez, he was a slimy rapist. If anything, I'd say his casting of himself indicated a very low self-opinion.

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i see a lot of his interviews and it always strikes me as a man who LOVES film

as opposed to an ego-maniac promoting himself
guess that's just my opinion though

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I agree. If I had a chance to interview him, I would not ask about his movies. I would much rather spend the time asking him about his opinion on other directors and their films.

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It's been a while since I saw Reservoir Dogs or Django Unchained.

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As much as I like many of his films, I think he can be a bit of a dickhead in many other ways, and I don't always like the POV he's expressing in his films, as much as I always admire the filmmaking, but as far as his 'acting' goes, I'll say this, he usually chooses to cast himself as complete losers or grotesques. In that sense, at least, he doesn't seem to have much of an ego (or maybe he just enjoys playing freaks).

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In Death Proof he was just a bar tender who was not tough in any way.

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Of course he’s egotistical but he is a fantastic screenwriter.

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Of course he’s egotistical but he is a fantastic screenwriter.

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Which puts him well ahead of the directors who could ONLY direct, and had no real writing talent.

That said, ALL directors(moreso than screenwriters) of ALL eras were pretty arrogant and egotistical. Take Hitchcock for instance. He had so many interviews where he held his own work above that of "the average filmmaker." He was always saying "I avoid the cliché" in his films and said of Psycho, "In the average production, Janet Leigh would have had the bigger part -- the sister who is investigating." In the AVERAGE production. Hitchcock was saying he didn't make AVERAGE films.

Take Woody Allen. He once said on the Dick Cavett show, "I would never want to make a movie that is as big a hit as Jaws -- because that movie appeals to the lowest common denominator." Arrogant!

Frank Capra -- back in the day -- had a big reputation for arrogance.

Stanley Kubrick didn't do a lot of interviews but -- running his actors through 100 takes per scene -- arrogant and NUTS.

QT is in fine company.


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He’s always been pretty full of himself and there were some somewhat violent moments in the 90s when he got carried away with paparazzis but I’m okay with it since I only have to like his movies.

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Yeah. I saw one of the videos of the paparazzi filming him when he was getting coffee and he hit one of camera men. Then he said something like “No. I’m not gonna hit you. You’re not worth it.” I know the paparazzi are very annoying and sneaky, but you were just filmed physically attacking someone. That is a clear lawsuit right there and it makes you out as the bad guy.

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Done some stunners for sure but never liked the guy. His best years are well behind him too. Hopefully he is telli the truth about retiring

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