The head of the New York City police union has asked us to boycott all Quentin Tarantino films. It's not because they hate Pulp Fiction or because they were offended by Django Unchained.

It's because Tarantino participated in a rally against police brutality on Saturday in Washington Square Park, according to the New York Post.

Tarantino flew from California to take part in the event among hundreds of other demonstrators.

"When I see murders, I do not stand by ... I have to call the murderers the murderers," Tarantino told the crowd of protestors in Washington Square Park. He also added that cops are too often murders.

As we might have expected, Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, took issue with Tarantino's speech.

"The police officers that Quentin Tarantino calls 'murderers' aren't living in one of his depraved big-screen fantasies - they're risking and sometimes sacrificing their lives to protect communities from real crime and mayhem," Lynch said.

[anad]

Lynch's words carry particular poignance in the so recent wake of 33-year-old Police Officer Randolph Holder's death. Holder was shot to death last week while trying to apprehend a bicycle thief in East Harlem.

Tarantino is not blind to the collective wound inflicted on NYC after Holder's death. He acknowledged on Saturday that the timing of the rally was unfortunate. However, he also said people had already traveled to be a part of the gathering.

"I think it's very disrespectful," said Holder's cousin Shauntel Abrams. "Everyone forgets that behind the uniform is a person."

tarantinoxx Just because you are a character doesn't mean you have character.

"It's no surprise that someone who makes a living glorifying crime and violence is a cop-hater, too," Lynch said. "New Yorkers need to send a message to this purveyor of degeneracy that he has no business coming to our city to peddle his slanderous 'Cop Fiction.'"We're not going to get totally on board agreeing that Tarantino is a "purveyor of degeneracy," since we're all about the right to free speech, but it is a little weird that someone who refuses to even discuss any relationship between fictional and real world violence has decided to adopt any stance at all. 

We believe in the NYPD's sacrifice for our city. We recognize that cop lives matter, but we also value human life in all its forms. That said, we must acknowledge that the NYPD has been both the perpetrator and victim of death and violence. 

[anad2]

So, we're going all Constitutional here. Tarantino's films are-- however lengthy, hampered by monologues, or silly they are --strictly legal. These protests are legal. If the NYPD doesn't want to be the villain, then they should get their house in order. 

However ill-fitting the mouthpiece may seem, Tarantino has a right to protest, and Lynch has a right to speak out against these protests. Both of these conversations spark necessary levels of discourse. Both of their viewpoints incite our empathy, and we're just glad people are even talking. 

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[via NY Post]

[Feature Image Courtesy Biz Pac Review]