Actor Rosanna Arquette has criticised Quentin Tarantino for the repeated use of the N-word across his films.
Arquette, who played Jody in the 1994 hit Pulp Fiction, said that while she still views the movie as a standout piece of cinema, she’s become uncomfortable with how often the slur appears in the dialogue.
The topic has long followed Tarantino’s work, with renewed attention frequently landing on Django Unchained due to the volume of times the word is spoken.
In Django Unchained, the slur is used on 110 occasions, and it’s delivered by both Black and white characters throughout the film.
While Django Unchained is often singled out for its high number, the word appears across several of Tarantino’s movies—something that has repeatedly drawn criticism over the years.
Arquette has now added her voice to those objections, making clear she doesn’t believe the language is justified by the context of the films.
Reflecting on Pulp Fiction, she told UK newspaper The Times: “It’s iconic, a great film on a lot of levels. But personally I am over the use of the N-word – I hate it.”
She went further by questioning why Tarantino continues to be permitted to use the slur so freely in his scripts, saying: “I cannot stand that he [Tarantino] has been given a hall pass. It’s not art, it’s just racist and creepy.”
Arquette is not the first to challenge Tarantino on the issue, as other filmmakers have objected to the frequency of the word in his work.
In 2012, Spike Lee criticised Django Unchained, telling Vibe magazine: “It’s disrespectful to my ancestors. That’s just me. … I’m not speaking on behalf of anybody else.”
Lee had also voiced similar concerns years earlier, when Tarantino’s Jackie Brown arrived in 1997.
Speaking at the time, Lee said: “I have a definite problem with Quentin Tarantino’s excessive use of the N-word.
“And let the record state that I never said that he cannot use that word – I’ve used that word in many of my films – but I think something is wrong with him.”
Tarantino, meanwhile, has defended his approach, arguing that removing or reducing such language would dilute the reality he wants his characters and stories to reflect.
At the 2013 Golden Globes—where he won best screenplay for Django Unchained—Tarantino said: “They think I should soften it, that I should lie, that I should massage.
“I would never do that when it comes to my characters.”