a moment of clarity.

words. 

"The message he and those participating in the “Rise Up October” actions and rallies wanted to send, he explained, was simple: “’Stop shooting unarmed people. We want justice, but stop shooting unarmed people.’ But they don’t wanna deal with that; they would rather start arguments with celebrities than examine the concerns put before them, by a citizenry that has lost trust in them.”

This sentiment, which the filmmaker put in similar terms in a Tuesday interview with the Los Angeles Times (“Instead of dealing with the incidents of police brutality that those people were bringing up, instead of examining the problem of police brutality in this country, better they single me out”), is right on the money, particularly as there’s a long history of such responses to questions of police brutality, of taking aim at the messenger as a method to avoid the message. It goes back at least as far as the FBI targeting N.W.A. for “Fuck tha Police” — or the 1992 controversy over the song “Cop Killer,” a “protest record” by Ice-T’s speed metal group Body Count, which drew the ire of police organizations, activists (including NRA mouthpiece Charlton Heston), and politicians (including then-President Bush, Vice President Quayle, and Tipper Gore) and ignited a nationwide furor. Its critics pulled a Don Draper, years before that character articulated the strategy: they didn’t like the conversation, so they changed the conversation. The country was still reeling from the eye-opening Rodney King tape, but they were talking about “Cop Killer,” rather than talking about killer cops.

And so it goes. “Anybody who acknowledges there’s a problem with law enforcement in this country right now is considered by law enforcement as part of the problem,” Tarantino told Hayes, and he’s right;..."

FLAVORWIRE: How Fox News’ Response to Quentin Tarantino’s MSNBC Appearance Proves His Point About Criticizing Police