On a recent episode of his podcast, Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh asked mockingly of the media’s complaints that Pixar family film “Luca” wasn’t a gay love story, “Why should anything exist if its not ideologically useful to progressives?”
That was the same issue on Quentin Tarantino’s mind during the June 25 episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
Maher was among the first to broach the subject of political correctness dominating Hollywood. He asked the famed director of “Reservoir Dogs,” “Pulp Fiction,” “Kill Bill,” and a number of other modern classics about an encounter he had with a reporter at the 2019 Cannes film festival when she complained that actress Margot Robbie’s part in “Once Upon a Time Hollywood” wasn’t big enough. Tarantino replied that he rejected that hypothesis.
“I’ve always really appreciated the way you’ve pushed back when everyone’s tried to stifle you, shut you up, shame you, bully you, corral your artistic license — they tried it with the last one, with ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,’ some bullsh** about Margot Robbie doesn’t have enough lines,” said Maher. “You do what I wish other people would do: instead of apologizing like a little pu*** you say, ‘I don’t agree with your assessment.’ What’s so hard about that?”
The eight-time Oscar winner responded by lamenting how important pushing political agendas has become in the entertainment business these days.
“There has become a thing that’s gone on, especially in this last year, where ideology is more important than art,” Tarantino said.
“Way more. Certainly to the awards,” Maher agreed.
Tarantino went on, “Ideology trumps art. Ideology trumps individual effort. Ideology trumps good. Ideology trumps entertaining,” Tarantino said as the audience applauded.
“There’s two kinds of movies—virtue signalers and super hero movies,” Maher summed matters up. Tarantino agreed and said that he believes Hollywood’s current woke obsession won’t last forever. “Just looking at the ’40s, even though it was wartime, that was also when you had film noir. Even with the Hays Code! You had these dark, dark stories being told.”
Unsurprisingly, some left-leaning media outlets weren’t pleased with this conversation. The Daily Beast said of the interview, “Given the extraordinary egos in play, there was a high likelihood of this HBO tête-à-tête being insufferable, and about how the current state of cinema is too politically correct. And — surprise — it was just that.”
Inside Hook took issue with Maher’s characterization of the state of cinema.
“As befits a discussion between a guy who’s taken to decrying ‘cancel culture’ and a filmmaker who’s rarely shied away from controversy, the conversation also veered into the ways politics and cinema can collide,” its story said, adding, “While Maher has made the same argument about the year’s Oscar nominees already this year, it’s also worth stating that it’s no more correct now than it was then. It is somewhat surprising to see Tarantino — who’s always been fairly attuned to the state of cinema past and present — signing on to this take.”
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.