When it comes to parents, Quentin Tarantino was shut out of
luck. From what I have heard about them, from the man himself and various other
sources, neither his father nor his mother were particularly kind, or pleasant,
not to mention involved with their son’s life as he was growing up.
His father was a deadbeat, who never really showed up — his main
contribution to his son was his DNA, the ambition and frustration of a failed
actor and that wonderful last name. His mother gave him life, and that’s… about
it. When Quentin did make it, his father suddenly showed interest in
him he never showed before, trying to make money out of what was now a very
famous last name they shared.
Quentin’s father, Tony Tarantino, even joined forces with
yet another renowned celebrity deadbeat — Al Pacino’s father, Sal
Pacino. They briefly ran a production company together, using their last names,
made famous only by the efforts of their famous sons, whom they cared little
for prior to their success in Hollywood.
Meanwhile, Tarantino’s mother kept him more or less clothed, provided
him with some basic necessities but belittled his artistic merits. His
childhood was not particularly loving, or particularly fun. He wasn’t very
wanted, his parents both very young and rather clueless when they had him, and
remaining every bit as clueless even as they aged.
So when Quentin Tarantino made it big, he made it big. And he
enjoyed his fame and thanked his lucky stars. Not his parents, his parents had
little to do with it. All they did was drive him to misery and force him to
hide away in the magical realm of movies… which is, ironically, how he became
the brilliant director he is today. Their neglect drove him to greatness. It
was their greatest contribution to the world of cinema, and to their son.
A few years ago, after decades of being one of Hollywood’s most eligible
bachelors, Quentin Tarantino got married. He had a son of his own. And vowed to
be truly involved, and supportive, in ways his own family never was. Not a
heartless man, Tarantino did help his mother out when she got in
trouble with the IRS a few years back. But aside from calamities, they know better
than to expect a penny from the son they neglected throughout his formative
years and whose own son they never even met.
