Racism, sexism accusations are ‘nonsense,’ characters just ‘products of their time’ – Tarantino

Film legend Quentin Tarantino dismissed social-justice criticism of his new work ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ as “ridiculous,” on a trip to Moscow that also saw him become the subject of an avalanche of memes.

Speaking ahead of his movie’s Thursday premiere in Russia, Tarantino was pressed about criticism leveled at the flick in the US. There, the woke elite have dismissed the film as “sexist historical revisionism,” in which women are subjected to Tarantino’s signature ultraviolence, loaded with “problematic” moments of “casual racism” from its characters.

“[These accusations are] nonsense, basically.” Tarantino told the Russian press. “These characters, these guys, don’t necessarily represent me. They are who they are and they’re a product of their time.”

Criticism has persisted though, with the press haranguing Tarantino on everything from his female characters’ relatively sparse dialogue, to his movie’s unflattering portrayal of martial arts hero Bruce Lee. 

Set in the tinseltown of 1969, Tarantino’s latest effort certainly depicts an era before #MeToo. Nevertheless it tells the story of a changing industry, one in which the main characters Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth struggle to find their place. Along the way, the pair –played by Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio– become involved in the Manson family’s plot to murder actress Sharon Tate.

Tarantino’s Moscow sojourn wasn’t all business. Along the way, the filmmaker took in the sights of the Russian capital, a trip that became fodder for Russian meme-makers.

“Tarantino in Moscow is like a grandfather who was taken out of his native village and forced to take off his favorite athletic pants,” joked one Twitter user commenting on the film-maker touring iconic sights in the Kremlin.

“Me. A beefsteak in the microwave at 3am,” read one caption to a picture of Tarantino examining Russian Imperial Crown. 

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