Appearing as a guest on Friday's Real Time with Bill Maher, liberal film maker Quentin Tarantino joined host Maher in griping about police violence, and absurdly cited the happenings of 1970s police TV shows and the tendency of police characters to fight with criminals who attacked them rather than shoot them as evidence police officers are in modern times more likely to shoot criminal suspects than in days past.
After playing video of a female police officer in Pennsylvania who shot a suspect after tasering him, Maher asserted that she overreacted and complained that police officers "want us to think they're so brave, and then they don't always act brave. That's not brave." Maher:
There was no reason to shoot this person. I mean, we're not saying all cops are murderers. Of course not. But this one is. This is murder. The guy is on the ground. It's very, she's like, show me, it's very hard to show someone your hands when you're being shot with 150 million watts of taser volts. So then she shoots him? What danger is this police officer in? And the hysteria in her voice. I don't understand about the cops -- they want us to think they're so brave, and then they don't always act brave. That's not brave.
Tarantino then suggested that police officers are more violent than in the past as he began:
Well, you know, it's funny, here's a crazy example, all right? Okay, in today's world, if you got into some sort of altercation with -- we're the same age, so think about back in the '70s or something. If you got into an altercation with a cop -- and I'm not encouraging any kind of altercation with cops. Obviously not, you could get killed doing that, you could get killed doing that, and it's not about that.
Then, not picking up on the fact that television shows often depict unlikely or unrealistic actions for dramatic or entertainment value, Tarantino cited 1970s television as evidence of real life as he continued:
But just use it as a crazy example. Say, if you got into a scuffle with a cop and you wanted to punch him, all right? In today's world, you'd just be shot for that. I mean, absolutely shot. I mean, if you grabbed their baton, you'd be shot. You'd actually be shot for that. Now, when we were kids in the '70s and we watched Adam-12, they got into fights all the time, and they didn't just take out the guns and shoot people. When you watched The Rookies, they got into fights all the time, but if they just actually took out a gun and shot the hippie, we would have said, "Whoa, what's going on?"
Maher agreed, "Of course, right, right."
Tarantino added: "All right, but now, it actually has become the new norm."
Not taking account of the fact that there are about a million police officers in the United States with recently aired videos of police officers involved in violence making up only tiny portion of all police interactions with criminal suspects, Maher added:
Right. Well, I don't know if it's the norm, but we see enough, there are enough videos where it's not just a few incidents. It can't just be the people who have cameras. It must happen all the time.
Maher went on to complain that the police should do more to prevent cops with bad personality traits from being hired and to be more willing to criticize the actions of other officers.
To Maher's agreement, Tarantino asserted that the problem was like a "hydra" and that it was "inside of the institution itself." Tarantino:
QUENTIN TARANTINO: I actually think you're hitting on exactly what the problem is. I mean, this is a -- it's a hydra. It's a snake with many heads. But I actually think the biggest head that needs to be chopped off first is this blue wall idea.
BILL MAHER: Right.
TARANTINO: The fact that they would protect their own as opposed to put themselves at the betterment of citizenry.
MAHER: Right.
TARANTINO: And, I mean, if it is just a, I actually don't think it's individuals -- good cops versus bad cops -- I think it's inside of the institution itself.
MAHER: It is, as all problems are.
TARANTINO: If they were really, really serious about this, they wouldn't close rank on what I'm obviously talking about, which is bad cops. And I'm obviously talking about specific cases where it is murder, as far as I am concerned. Walter Scott was murdered.
MAHER: You have to call murder "murder," even if it's from the cops.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Friday, November 6, Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO:
10:37 p.m.
BILL MAHER: There was no reason to shoot this person. I mean, we're not saying all cops are murderers.
QUENTIN TARANTINO: Of course not.
MAHER: Of course not. But this one is. This is murder. The guy is on the ground. It's very, she's like, show me, it's very hard to show someone your hands when you're being shot with 150 million watts of taser volts. So then she shoots him? What danger is this police officer in? And the hysteria in her voice. I don't understand about the cops -- they want us to think they're so brave, and then they don't always act brave. That's not brave.
TARANTINO: Well, you know, it's funny, here's a crazy example, all right? Okay, in today's world, if you got into some sort of altercation with -- we're the same age, so think about back in the '70s or something. If you got into an altercation with a cop -- and I'm not encouraging any kind of altercation with cops. Obviously not, you could get killed doing that, you could get killed doing that, and it's not about that.
But just use it as a crazy example. Say, if you got into a scuffle with a cop and you wanted to punch him, all right? In today's world, you'd just be shot for that. I mean, absolutely shot. I mean, if you grabbed their baton, you'd be shot. You'd actually be shot for that. Now, when we were kids in the '70s and we watched Adam-12, they got into fights all the time, and they didn't just take out the guns and shoot people. When you watched The Rookies, they got into fights-
MAHER: Right.
TARANTINO: -all the time, but if they just actually took out a gun and shot the hippie, we would have said, "Whoa, what's going on?"
MAHER: Of course, right, right.
TARANTINO: All right, but now, it actually has become the new norm.
MAHER: Right. Well, I don't know if it's the norm, but we see enough-
TARANTINO: I mean, as far as, like, that kind of response.
MAHER: There are enough videos where it's not just a few incidents. It can't just be the people who have cameras. It must happen all the time.
MAHER: So, again, we're not saying all cops do this or even most, but here are my -- let me see if you agree with it. Here are my issues with cops. One, do a better job of weeding out the personality profile who becomes the bad cop. Because we all know that kid in school-
TARANTINO: Yeah, yeah.
MAHER: -who had no friends, wasn't popular, and thought, "Hmm, if I was the hall monitor, I could lord it over people." It's not that hard to stop that guy from becoming a cop. Two, be more loyal to rights than to cops. When a cop does a bad thing, don't always be the thin blue line defending the cop no matter what he does. That's serpico, and that was a long time ago.
TARANTINO: I actually think you're hitting on exactly what the problem is. I mean, this is a -- it's a hydra. It's a snake with many heads. But I actually think the biggest head that needs to be chopped off first is this blue wall idea.
MAHER: Right.
TARANTINO: The fact that they would protect their own as opposed to put themselves at the betterment of citizenry.
MAHER: Right.
TARANTINO: And, I mean, if it is just a, I actually don't think it's individuals -- good cops versus bad cops -- I think it's inside of the institution itself.
MAHER: It is, as all problems are.
TARANTINO: If they were really, really serious about this, they wouldn't close rank on what I'm obviously talking about, which is bad cops. And I'm obviously talking about specific cases where it is murder, as far as I am concerned. Walter Scott was murdered.
MAHER: You have to call murder "murder," even if it's from the cops.
