Anghus Houvouras on Quentin Tarantino vs. Gawker….
I’m a Quentin Tarantino fan. First and foremost I feel like declaring that because any time you lob criticism towards somebody, people immediately assume you have an ax to grind or a grudge to build upon. Nothing could be further from the truth. The highest compliment I was ever paid in my career was a critic calling one of my films “halfway to Tarantino”. Even getting halfway to a man I consider a cinematic genius felt like high praise. Inglorious Basterds and Pulp Fiction are comfortably nestled in my top ten list of favorite films. I like the guy and greatly respect what he does.
So like most of you I was excited when I heard about the prospect of his next film The Hateful Eight going into production. I was equally disappointed when I heard he was shelving the whole thing due to an unfortunate script leak that has apparently set him into a state of furious anger. For me, that was pretty much where it ended. Tarantino had a new film in the works. Said film gets put on hold due to shenanigans, and the future remains unclear as to what Mr. Tarantino was going to do next.
Then another story dropped this past week. Apparently Tarantino is suing the popular muckraking site Gawker for leaking his screenplay. For some, this is the kind of no holds barred fistfight that internet news sites exist for. A popular filmmaker takes on a tabloid. The righteous artist trying to take out his anger on the faceless corporate entity that abandoned the concept of journalistic integrity from the moment of inception.
So why don’t I care?
Why is my first thought “just make a movie already”?
Maybe its because this kind of behind the scenes nonsense holds no entertainment value for me. I want to see Tarantino movies. I want violent retribution on the big screen, not in a civil courtroom. Maybe it would be different if it involved the Vega Brothers storming into the Gawker offices or The Bride going medieval on their asses. But this kind of intellectual battle is kind of a snoozer. It’s time wasted that he could spend making another excellent film. This kind of thing is antithetical to the creative process. While I won’t begrudge Tarantino his right to exact legal vengeance, I will say that the longer this goes on the more his righteous indignation feels less righteous and more indignant.
No one is going to take Gawker’s side on this. And the only thing to be won here is money and/or enacting a principle. We live in an age where scripts get leaked and to be honest, very few people even read them. The hardcore fans and the websites looking to generate page views do, but the average movie fan could care less. This is a fight that will end without anyone on either side winning. Scripts will still be leaked. Tabloids will still play dirty. The losers are those of us waiting for the next Tarantino movie and will apparently be punished because a talented filmmaker doesn’t like the way the media plays this particular game, so he’s taking his toys and going home.
That my friends, is disappointing.
Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker. His latest work, the novel My Career Suicide Note, is available from Amazon.
Originally published January 29, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
