Uma Thurman's account of Tarantino choking her and spitting on her is how Hollywood gives women hell
“Personally, it has taken me 47 years to stop calling people who are mean to you ‘in love’ with you. It took a long time because I think that as little girls we are conditioned to believe that cruelty and love somehow have a connection and that is like the sort of era that we need to evolve out of,” said Hollywood actress Uma Thurman in a revealing New York Times interview about film mogul Harvey Weinstein and director Quentin Tarantino.
If memory serves the cinema-goer of the '90s and early-2000s right, Thurman’s name was synonymous with Tarantino films, and why not? Thurman rose to fame with her critically-acclaimed performances in Tarantino’s cult classic Pulp Fiction and the epic two-part saga Kill Bill. But behind the great acting in the two films — directed by Tarantino and produced by Weinstein — lay a lot of trauma.
Trauma that was inflicted upon the actor not only by the notorious producer — who was ousted from Hollywood's top circles in 2017 following multiple allegations of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment — but also by her friend, the sadistic director Tarantino.
Here’s a timeline of the events that transpired, as recounted by Thurman.
1. 1994 was the year Pulp Fiction, starring Thurman in her iconic role as Mia Wallace, was released. It was also around the same time that the actor got to know Harvey Weinstein “through his first wife Eve”. They had a decent, fruitful professional relationship. In fact, according to Thurman, “He used to spend hours talking to me about material and complimenting my mind and validating me. It possibly made me overlook warning signs. This was my champion. I was never any kind of studio darling. He had a chokehold on the type of films and directors that were right for me.”
2. Soon, however, the monstrosity that is Weinstein presented itself to the actor in its worst form. At a Paris hotel, where she was in a heated debate with the producer about a film script, he made his first move.
As per Thurman, he put a bathrobe on and told her to follow him into a steam room. The actress, who was dressed in a “full black leather outfit — boots, pants, jacket”, felt uncomfortable in the steam room. When the actress — baffled by what the Hollywood mogul was doing — told the director “this is ridiculous, what are you doing?”, Weinstein ran out.
3. Sadly, this was not the end of it. At the Savoy Hotel in London, Weinstein pushed Thurman down and tried to expose himself to her. The actor tried to fight him off. Shortly after, Thurman decided to confront the predatory producer and went back to his hotel, this time accompanied by a friend who waited outside the room, on a couch.
The actor claimed that she had warned Weinstein “if you do what you did to me to other people, you will lose your career, your reputation and your family, I promise you”; when she exited the room some time later, she looked upset and visibly shaken.
Her friend said that Weinstein had threatened to ruin her career. When NYT reached out to Weinstein, a spokesperson said that no threat was ever made, although there was an acknowledgement and an apology for what had transpired in London.
4. Weinstein's behaviour, in light of all that has been publicised by actors like Rose McGowan and Lupita Nyong'o, Angeline Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Eva Green, Ashley Judd, Salma Hayek and many more, is not surprising at all.
What was shocking, however, is the role director Quentin Tarantino played in the whole story. Anyone familiar with Tarantino's work is likely to deduce that the director's sadistic films are a product of his sadistic mind. Of course, the reality is far more disturbing.
In her account, Thurman has accused Tarantino of numerous atrocities during the shooting of Kill Bill, including spitting on her face during a scene — which Michael Madsen is seen doing on screen — and choking her with a chain for another scene (which a teenager named Gogo does on screen).
Not just that, Thurman also said that Tarantino pressured her to drive a car for a shot, which she thought ought to have been given to a stunt performer.
Thurman crashed the car into a palm tree. “Harvey assaulted me but that didn’t kill me,” she said. “What really got me about the crash was that it was a cheap shot. I had been through so many rings of fire by that point.”
5. Tarantino letting Thurman get into the accident was not his worst. A pattern that is visible is that a lot of the women who have charged Weinstein with sexual harassment are actors who have worked with both Tarantino and the producer.
Rose McGowan and Salma Hayek are two of the most prominent names besides Thurman. In an October interview with NYT, Tarantino admitted: “I knew enough to do more than I did. There was more to it than just the normal rumours, the normal gossip. It wasn’t second-hand. I knew he did a couple of these things. I wish I had taken responsibility for what I heard. If I had done the work I should have done then, I would have had to not work with him.”
6. In fact, despite being aware of how Weinstein attempted to assault Thurman, Tarantino was decidedly nonchalant about it. “He probably dismissed it like ‘Oh, poor Harvey, trying to get girls he can’t have,’ whatever he told himself, who knows?” But she reminded him again and “the penny dropped for him. He confronted Harvey,” noted the actor in her interview.
7. And there lies the crux. It is never just the predator who makes the environment unsafe, but also the ones who demonstrate their tacit complicity in such actions by shrugging them off. Even if Uma Thurman finds it in her heart to forgive Tarantino for the car crash — she said in an Instagram post that she does not hold a grudge against Tarantino, adding that he “was deeply regretful and remains remorseful about this sorry event” — is it that easy to let the violent director off the hook?
Tarantino’s filmmaking is one that has been largely focussed on gore and violence. The characters in his films are complicated, multi-dimensional and often charming, no matter how bad they are.
And ultimately, many, if not all, are subjected to an enormous amount of violence and even death. But it has often been noted by many that his films are an insight into his twisted fascination with women being tortured.
As has been displayed on multiple occasions in films like Death Proof, Inglourious Basterds, Kill Bill, Django Unchained and even The Hateful Eight, Tarantino’s cinema is a playhouse for female exploitation, and more often than not quite literally at the hands of the director himself.
A Daily Beast report makes note of the number of actresses who have spoken about and shrugged off the physical violence Tarantino participates in.
Of course, it can be shrugged off as art, realism and critically acclaimed cinema. But in light of all that Thurman has said — and Tarantino has admitted to all of it — is it unfair to look at the director and the ecosystem he has created over the years in a harsher gaze?