Do you know
about the Cannes Film Festival, or do you clearly remember the late ‘90s? If your answer is yes
for both questions, probably you would know one of the best directors on this
planet, named Quentin Tarantino, who received the Palma Dore in 1994 at Cannes.
Michael Rennett (2012) in his article “Quentin Tarantino and the Director
as DJ” identifies Tarantino as one of
the contemporary celebrity-directors who brand themselves in the film marketplace.
In this article, Rennet focuses on Tarantino’s brand: the “director as DJ.”
Rennet states that, increasingly,
films have begun to be created using popular-text references to the movies and
literature, as well as other features of popular culture. He mentions the most
important expressions of this are the films of the Quentin Tarantino. He notes
that within the film-making industry, the “director as DJ” that Tarantino
exemplifies is analogous to a hip-hop DJ. He states that this phrase has two
artistic elements, the director and the DJ, and they share certain artistic characteristics.
They both are seen as the most important people in their world. They both
express themselves using similar artistry. The DJ combines different music to synthesize
a new mixture, while the director combines different textual elements. He says
that both the director and DJ “layer” many references to develop this
synthesis. Examples of Tarantino’s reference “layering” in his films are his
use of text from pulp fiction writers of the 1920s, and 1930s, crime writers
from the 1950s to the 1970s, surfer and hot rod music, Elvis Presley, and 1980s
Hong Kong actions films. He also shows how both the DJ and the director have an
outlaw image. The extreme violence, sexuality, and drugs in Tarantino’s films
express his outlaw image. Finally, both the DJ and director are “superstars”.
The author says that Tarantino exemplifies
the superstar, rags-to-riches “American Dream” in the story of his rise to
stardom from a clerk at a video store to becoming the “hottest name in
Hollywood” (Rennett, 2012, p.404).
This article was written by a PhD
student at the University of Texas and published in an academic journal, namely
The Journal of Popular Culture.
Therefore, it would appear to be written for a somewhat specialized audience.
The vocabulary used is an academic vocabulary. He uses words “auteur”,
“inter-textuality” and “found objects” that he assumes the reader can
understand. The article is logically organized beginning with an overview of the
subject matter. He then defines the phrase “director as DJ” using numerous
details and examples. Next, he explains the three commonalities found in the director
and the DJ: artistry, outlaw, and superstardom. These commonalities were
clearly presented using section headings to separate the discussions. The text
was easy to read for a college-educated reader and was written objectively.
Numerous outside sources were used to support the author’s claims. Most of the
paragraphs have topic sentences at the beginning of the paragraph. The author compares
the director and DJ, clearly showing their similarities by providing extensive
examples.
I agree with author’s main points.
He makes a good comparison between the DJ of the hip-hop society, and Tarantino,
the “director as DJ.” I especially like his categories of comparison: artistry,
outlaw, and superstardom. Also, I like his example of how a DJ (Mark Vidler)
synthesized two references, a Michael Jackson song and a David Bowie song, to create a “mash-up” to develop
a dialogue regarding Jackson’s child molestation legal issues, while still enabling
the listener to enjoy and dance to his music mixture. Rennett then shows how
Tarantino created a reference in his film The
Girl Next Door by using a famous line, “I know it was you,” from the
Godfather, but did not create enough synthesis because it did not really
develop a coherent film text that made sense to the audience. These examples
helped me understand concepts of reference and synthesis. Also, I now have come
to understand why Tarantino’s movies have such extreme and graphic violence.
Rennett provided the reasoning for this in the following passage:
Tarantino has constructed this rebellious persona
through the media. He has expanded his defiant attitude through media texts and
interviews, promoting his “desperado” personality. In the Index on Censorship, he wrote the article “It’s Cool to be Banned,”
an overt promotion of his rebellious outlook toward filmmaking. Indeed, Tarantino’s
portrayal of violent behavior has become a trademark. (Rennet, 2010, p. 400)
I think this article is important
because, although I am not necessarily a Tarantino fan, I watch his films and
enjoy the style. Yet I did not know that he emphasizes a lot from other movies,
songs, and literature. Anyway, I think this truth does not detract from his
genius. Even though he uses other sources for his films, he always brings his
originality to the film and makes a unique experience for the moviegoer. This
makes him one of the best film directors in the world.
References
Rennett, M.
(2012). Quentin Tarantino and the director as DJ. Journal Of Popular Culture,
45(2), 391- 409. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2011.00918.x
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