>>the fact tarantino took that part seems more like a
>redeeming
>>quaility to me
>
>Why though? I could understand if he didn't want his actors
>playing this guy, but his actors are dropping that word all up
>and down his movies.

yes but by casting himself for the part he was answering critics of Reservoir Dogs and his other screenplays which accuse him of casually and cowardly writing 'nigger' into his scripts. If someone doesn't have the guts to say something in person, then their integrity is questionable. It's a way of standing by his decision and showing he sees no fault in it. If you're willing to portray racists in your films... it shows something if you have the balls to act the parts yourself

Thing is if Eric Stoltz's character did
>this scene It probably wouldn't have seemed as out of place.
>

maybe... it's not like Tarantino made a complete hash of it though. in fact i don't think i knew it was him the first time i saw it... it certainly didn't stand out to me

the motives for the character saying that are a bit unclear
maybe Tarantino wanted that character to appear pretty gangsta in contrast to his suburban home
maybe he wanted to show how mixed up all the American values become in dealing with this section of society
maybe Tarantino just wanted to parody white boys who want to be down
maybe Tarantino wanted to make a black audience laugh at a racist joke (like how he tricked audiences into enjoying torture scenes by playing Stuck in the Middle With You, or laughing at people getting accidently shot in the face)
or just break down a taboo (by having Jules not react)
maybe he figures a character like Jimmy, a self-reformed criminal, would adopt theories like 'niggers are only the bad ones' even though he's dealing with a hitman, so saying that line would be symptomatic of that whole type of person

i don't know i'd need to watch it again. maybe a stronger actor would have made it clearer

but basically by casting himself he was either
1. attempting to be more earnest about the moral dimensions of using words like that (willing to put his own neck on the line) and hence you can then ignore who acts the part and look at the character only
2. relishing the words, abusing his power


>>if he wrote it so he would have the satisfaction of saying
>>that to a black person... that's extremely fucked up. how
>>could you think that and still respect his work
>
>Obviously I don't know what's in the guys head. But I can't
>help but believe there's a part of him that gets off on saying
>it. And I don't really think it has anything to do with hating
>black people. I just think it makes him feel like a bad ass.
>Plus I agree with jigga in that I believe he thinks he's so
>down he can do what he wants. Didn't he once tell Spike Lee he
>was blacker than he was?
>

i think he said 'i understand black people better than you do'
if he really thought he was so down though, he would have said 'i understand black people better than you do, nigga'