"I am far more concerned with what Quintin Tarrantino and his Hollywood
friends have done with the word nigger than what Twain has done with it."

     As someone who enjoys the work of both Mark Twain and Quentin
Tarantino, I feel obliged to comment on the above statement made by Mr.
Dempsey on the issue of Tarantino's use of the n-word.

     While I can agree that Mr. Tarantino's work is not everyone's cup of
tea, the reason I enjoy his particular brand of tea is the dialogue.
Perhaps the plot and situations of his films may not be authentic, but his
dialogue certainly is (sound familiar).  His characters talk about mundane,
meaningless everyday things that most people their particular age talk
about...pop culture, music, movies, etc.  And yes, they use foul language.
But then again, his films normally don't take place in the hallowed halls
of academia.  If they did, the dialogue MIGHT not be as "filthy." :)

     It is my firm opinion that Tarantino does not use "that word" as
recklessly as some people accuse him of doing.  The scripts of both Pulp
Fiction and Jackie Brown, his two latest works, contain that word fewer
times than they were uttered in the final film.  One reason is that he let
Samuel L. Jackson, the actor who uttered the word most frequently, a
certain amount of latitude with his lines and I would imagine that Mr.
Jackson added the word a few more times...for authenticity and rhythm (as
odd as that may sound).

     It's also interesting to note that in both films the word is not
spoken by whites.  The reason...most whites feel uncomfortable saying the
word, and even when they do they perform what I like to call the "white
man's double-take"...checking to see if someone heard them say it before
they have a chance to explain why they said it.  In the film Reservoir Dogs
it is spoken by whites, but only with other whites present.  In both cases
Tarantino shows when it is normally used, and what is meant by it, but in
neither case does he ignore the how loaded the word is and the history
behind it.  And anyone who knows anything about Tarantino's life could call
him a racist.

     I didn't take issue so much with Tarantino being accused of recklessly
using the word nigger as I did seeing him lumped in with the vast majority
of hacks earning a living in Hollywood.  Hollywood is accused of a lot of
things...glorifying violence, undermining family values, excessive
nudity...but what I think they are not held accountable for enough is their
penchant for making REALLY LOUSY MOVIES.  I believe Tarantino should not be
lumped in with people from studios that make the same movies over and over
again, merely changing the title and the names of the characters.  Anyone
see The Emperor's Club?  I didn't, I liked it the first time when it was
called Dead Poet's Society.

     Sorry for my tirade.  And thanks to Terrell and everyone else who
offered advice on my upcoming trip to Hannibal this year.  Hope I'll still
be welcome. :)

Jim
Former film-school geek

P.S.  In the final draft of the script for Pulp Fiction, the n-word is used
15 times.  The f-word is used 185.  I have more trouble defending the
latter, but still consider Pulp Fiction a truly great film.