Quentin Tarantino has been doing press for "Django Unchained" since early December, and it appears the director has reached his limit.
During a sit-down interview with Krishnan Guru-Murthy for Britain's Channel 4, Tarantino bristled when asked to explain his thoughts about whether movie violence can lead to real-life violence. "Don't ask me a question like that," Tarantino said. "I'm not biting. I refuse your question."
After Guru-Murthy asked Tarantino why he refused to answer the question, the director explained in no uncertain terms what he thinks of his relationship with the media. "I'm not your slave and you're not my master," Tarantino sniped. "You can't make me dance to your tune. I'm not a monkey."
Undeterred, Guru-Murthy pressed forward, trying to connect Tarantino with comments Jaime Foxx made about movie violence. "You should talk to Jamie Foxx about that. And I think he's actually here, so you can," Tarantino smirked, before brutally deconstructing the junket interview process.
"I don't want [to answer that]. I'm here to sell my movie," Tarantino said. "This is a commercial for the movie. Make no mistake. [...] I don't want to talk about what you want to talk about. I don't want to talk about the implications of violence. The reason I don't want to talk about it? Because I've said everything I have to say about it. If anyone cares what I have to say about it, they can Google me. They can look for 20 years what I have to say. I haven't changed my opinion one iota."
This isn't the first time Tarantino has snapped at an interviewer during the "Django Unchained" press tour. While speaking with NPR host Terry Gross, Tarantino said he was getting "really annoyed" with Gross' attempts to connect the murders at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. with violent movies.
"I think it's disrespectful to their memory, actually ... to talk about movies,” he said. “I think it's totally disrespectful to their memory. Obviously, the issue is gun control and mental health.”
In the Channel 4 interview, Guru-Murthy said he was just trying to get Tarantino to flesh out his stance on movie violence. "It's not my job to flesh it out," Tarantino said. "I'm shutting your butt down. This is a commercial for my movie!"
Watch the interview above. Head over to the Telegraph to see what Guru-Murthy had to say in the chat's aftermath.
[via Channel 4 News]
