The hilarious note Madonna gave Quentin Tarantino after ‘Reservoir Dogs’
Quentin Tarantino’s films are riddled with pop culture references, whether it be a nod to Bruce Lee, obscure passages from the bible or a specific brand of cigarettes; the filmmaker has become known for his tongue-in-cheek tone and layered dialogue. However, these references have occasionally been known to rub people up the wrong way, with one popular singer reaching out to the director after his characters debated the meaning of her lyrics in his 1992 film Reservoir Dogs.
Reservoir Dogs was Tarantino’s official feature debut as a writer and director. It follows a group of criminals attempting to pull off a complicated heist. However, after being ambushed by the police, it leads the group to believe that one of them was an undercover police officer. The film has become famous for its early display of Tarantino’s many trademarks, with its stylised violence, iconic needle drops and non-linear storyline, and marked his first collaboration with Harvey Keitel.
However, the film also sparked some controversy after a particularly gory ear-cutting scene, something that Tarantino took in his stride and only further leaned into, taking pride in being known for his use of extreme violence.
The opening scene of the film shows the six criminals having a heated debate about the meaning of Madonna’s hit song Like A Virgin, a classic move from Tarantino, who often sprinkles in light-hearted conversations in the midst of violent or serious scenes, creating a juxtaposition between the humour and aggressiveness of these hyper-macho characters. In this particular scene, the characters ponder the double entendre of the lyrics, with one of them saying it’s about “this cooze who’s a regular fuck machine. I’m talking morning, day, night, afternoon . . . dick, dick, dick, dick.”
After watching the movie, Tarantino was surprised to hear that Madonna wanted to meet him. When describing the encounter, the filmmaker said, “…I met her at Maverick, her film company. She told me that that wasn’t where she was coming from. But I think she really got a kick about the fact that I thought that, because she signed my Erotica album, ‘To Quentin – It’s about love, not dick. Madonna’.”
It seems like Madonna took the comments in good faith. However, Tarantino has famously been criticised for his references to other celebrities, with many taking offence to his portrayal of Bruce Lee in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The film famously contains a scene in which Brad Pitt’s character has a physical fight with the actor, with audiences describing it as being disrespectful towards Lee, becoming one of the most controversial scenes in the whole film. Lee was one of the most influential Asian-American actors, and the scene in question was criticised for showing him in a demeaning and racist way, something that the actor had to struggle with in real life due to Hollywood’s lack of diversity.
Tarantino is never a director to play it safe, and whether you love him or hate him, you can’t deny that he knows how to make a film that is talked about.
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