WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT QUENTIN TARANTINO

Yes, unfortunately the time has come to discuss one of my favorite filmmakers: Quentin Tarantino. This is going to be tough. I've noticed a disturbing trend in Tarantino's latest films....most of them contain brutal violence against women.

In Inglourious Basterds, our two main female leads are graphically murdered by men. In The Hateful Eight, the wonderful Jennifer Jason Leigh turns in a foul performance as a truly despicable villain who spends the majority of the run time getting the shit beat out of her by Kurt Russell. Lastly, Tarantino's latest film, Once Upon A Time....In Hollywood climaxes in one of his most brutal scenes ever where several female characters are beaten to death by our two male leads. This is especially troubling since they are depicted as characters that aren't truly evil, but are instead brainwashed into doing the crime. The violence against women depicted in Tarantino's recent films rubs me the wrong way (and has ever since I first saw Inglouious Basterds).

I'm aware that some of Tarantino's earlier works contained violence against women as well (like Kill Bill and True Romance), but it seems like this aspect has become more recurrent as of late. Now, Tarantino has written strong female characters in the past (The Bride in Kill Bill and Shosanna in Inglourious Basterds just to name two), so I'm not saying he's by any means a misogynist.....but he's beginning to look more and more like one with each brutal beating his female characters endure.

I had issues with Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood. To me, it showed a filmmaker who has lost touch with his audience and even his craft to an extent....but that's not the issue here. The times are changing, as well as what is and isn't culturally acceptable anymore. Tarantino has always been one to buck the system, and he continually tries to shock and surprise. Maybe that's what this new trend really is, just his latest attempt to shock and surprise. It's a little late to say that it's time for Tarantino to evolve his tools, style and method for the modern age considering he is getting ready to hang up the director reins (and after Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood I'd say that might be for the best).

I will always enjoy True Romance, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, and Inglourious Basterds (though the two brutal murders in Basterds  will always rub me the wrong way) but his latest batch of films are really take-it-or-leave-it for me. Tarantino undoubtedly inspired millions of upcoming filmmakers and scriptwriters, and he had a lasting impact on the art of film. For that, we will always owe him a debt of gratitude...let's just hope the future filmmakers of today don't take inspiration from him in all the wrong places.