Quentin Tarantino has built his career on a foundation of four letter words, defiant attitudes and unabashed references to his love affair with pop culture. Now, days after receiving one of Hollywood’s greatest honors, those very same qualities have landed the director in hot water.
When the “Hateful Eight” filmmaker participated in a hand and footprint ceremony at the legendary TCL Chinese Theatre on Tuesday (Jan. 5), he did more than just scribble his name and the date. It seems that Tarantino left another message via the heels of his shoes — which are adorned with the letters “F*** U.”
Now the Chinese Theater ownership is left with a decision: Should they display a priceless memento of a Hollywood icon? Or hide a profane chunk of cement unsuitable for public consumption?
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As adept film fans know, Tarantino’s actions weren’t simply to shock. The shoes are a reference to those worn by Uma Thurman in Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” movies, where her vengeful character wears “FU” shoes to convey her mindset as she hunts down all those who’ve wronged her.
That said, Tarantino undoubtedly knew what he was doing when he chose to wore the shoes for the ceremony. In the clip above (around 1:18), he can be seen speaking emphatically about all the thought he gave to his cement immortality — and the look of his footprints. “We’re gonna come up with some cool tread,” he teases.
A spokesman for the Chinese Theatre tells Zap2It that not only is there no known “rule” on the books regarding profanity, but that this controversy is so unprecedented it’s currently unknown who would make a ruling on the matter. On one hand, Tarantino’s cement tribute would be completely in-character and appropriate if the goal is to remember him for generations to come; on the other, such language would likely not be embraced by Midwestern tourists on sightseeing buses.
A call to Tarantino’s rep was not immediately returned.
According to the Chinese, the typical cement block requires about three weeks to dry before it can be displayed, and certain nuances don’t always come out legibly. But if Tarantino’s footprints do play out as intended, in a few weeks it seems like the theater will have a choice to make that might leave them muttering a few four letter words of their own.
