Quentin Tarantino has responded to criticism regarding his supposed “foot fetish” in his movies.
Tarantino, a veteran film director, has been involved in the industry for several years, having directed, produced, written and even appeared in some of Hollywood’s most significant films.
While some directors specialize in certain genres, such as action, crime or romance, Tarantino has dabbled in a wide range of film styles, starting with unusual and sinister crime films in the 1990s, with Pulp Fiction being the most prominent.
In the 2000s, Tarantino ventured into martial arts with Kill Bill, then to a more Western theme with Django Unchained in 2012.
While his work spans several genres, fans have noticed a common theme in most of Tarantino’s films. Films such as Pulp Fiction and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood have included close-up shots of women’s feet, leading to criticism over the years.
Tarantino, however, is unbothered by the criticism, stating in a 2021 interview with G2 that he doesn’t “take it seriously,” adding that he believes it’s “just good direction.” Defending his decision to include numerous close-up shots of women’s feet, Tarantino said, “There’s a lot of feet in a lot of good directors’ movies. Like, before me, the person foot fetishism was defined by was Luis Buñuel, another film director. And Hitchcock was accused of it and Sofia Coppola has been accused of it.”
Tarantino’s affection for feet is well-known in the film industry and has even been referenced at award shows.
During the 2020 Screen Actors Guild Awards, Brad Pitt won the award for best-supporting actor for his role in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. In his acceptance speech, he made several jokes about the film’s director and his obsession with feet, saying, “I want to thank my costars, Leo [DiCaprio], Margot Robbie, Margot Robbie’s feet, Margaret Qualley’s feet, Dakota Fanning’s feet…Seriously, Quentin has separated more women from their shoes than the TSA.”
In Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Margaret Qualley, who played one of the film’s characters, was initially not keen on displaying her feet on camera.
Speaking to Indiewire in 2019, she stated, “I genuinely was like, ‘Quentin, this is a bad idea. I don’t have good feet.’ I was in pointe shoes for far too long to have toes that can be shown to the world.”
In conclusion, Quentin Tarantino is not fazed by the criticism of his alleged “foot fetish” in his films, and has defended his decision to include close-up shots of women’s feet in his movies.
While some people have criticized Tarantino’s apparent obsession with feet, it is not an unusual theme in Hollywood films, with other well-known directors having also incorporated it into their work.