6/9/12

Is Quentin Tarantino Jewish?

Quentin Tarantino's film, Inglorious Basterds, is a fantasy story - a comic book brought to the screen - about a a group of Jewish guerrilla U.S. soldiers in occupied France during World War II who seek revenge on the Nazis.

Reviews were generally positive -- one thoughtful discussion worth peeking at by Andrew O’Hehir at Salon, "Is Tarantino good for the Jews?"

Pundits were asking whether the subtitle of the movie should be, G. I. Jews, or Dirty Minyan?

And so, with such a theme, it is natural for us to ask, Is Quentin Tarantino Jewish?

No, he is not a Jew. Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, the son of Connie Zastoupil (née McHugh) of Irish and Cherokee Native American ancestry, and Tony Tarantino, part Italian from Queens, New York.

His new movie this year (2012) will be Django Unchained.

Note well also, Tarantino is also not a Bible scholar. In one of my favorite scenes, his character in Pulp Fiction played by Samuel L. Jackson recites this biblical sounding verse that actually is a fake,
The path of the righteous man and defender is beset on all sides by the iniquity of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper, and the finder of lost children. And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious anger, those who poison and destroy my brothers; and they shall know that I am the Lord when I shall lay my vengeance upon thee.
Research has shown that Tarantino actually borrowed the pseudo-verse from a 1970s Japanese action film called Karate Kiba.
//repost//

4 comments:

The Ambassador said...

thanks for posting this. you are right. that IS one of the first questions that comes to mind after seeing this film.

Anonymous said...

He should be a Jew. Left to me, I'd bequeath him to you.

Anonymous said...

If I were Jewish, Inglorious Basterds would be my favorite film.

Anonymous said...

i would not be suprised if he has jewish roots.coz his surname is tarantino and it is well known that in the south italian city taranto were once lots of jews.and some were New Christians. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0019_0_19590.html