Quentin Tarantino was called out by Pulp Fiction actress Rosanna Arquette over the weekend, as she revealed what she found “racist and creepy” about the film and its director.
In an interview with The Times, Arquette said the 1994 classic is an “iconic, great film on a lot of levels,” but “Personally, I am over the use of the N-word—I hate it. I cannot stand that he has been given a hall pass.”
The actress added, “It’s not art, it’s just racist and creepy.”
Arquette plays the minor role of drug dealer Lance’s (Eric Stoltz) wife in the film, which stars John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, and Uma Thurman, and won Tarantino the Cannes Palme d’Or and the Oscar for best original screenplay. In that screenplay, Tarantino makes liberal use of the word. He would continue to do so in subsequent films, which has drawn him critcism from peers over the years.
Tarantino’s comfort level with the term’s use peeved fellow director Spike Lee, who told Variety in 1997 that Tarantino was “infatuated with that word” and wondered aloud whether Tarantino wanted to “be made an honorary Black man.”
Tarantino pushed back in 2015, telling the New York Times, “My motives were really brought to bear in the most negative way. It’s like I’m some supervillain coming up with this stuff.”
He added, referencing his 2012 film, Django: Unchained, starring Jamie Foxx, “When the Black critics came out with savage think pieces about Django, I couldn’t have cared less. If people don’t like my movies, they don’t like my movies, and if they don’t get it, it doesn’t matter.”
Arquette was not persuaded by the director’s reasoning.
She also told the Times of her experience with the film, “I’m the only person who didn’t get a back end” from the film’s box office earnings. “Everybody made money except me,” she said, and alleged it was retaliation for shirking Harvey Weinstein’s sexual advances. Arquette was one of several actresses to speak out against the producer before he was convicted and jailed for sexual abuse.
Arquette told the publication, “I was fortunate because I was not raped. But, boy, was it going there, and I paid a price for saying no.” She added, “Later, I paid a price for telling the truth.”
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