Tarantino Trademarks The N-word

Black people love me. I think.

Controversial film director Quentin Tarantino has trademarked the ‘N-word’ as it is now considered a central part of the Tarantino brand. In a move widely expected by movie industry insiders and lexicographers Tarantino took ownership of the word after proving to the Trademark Office his direct association with the it in his various movies.

Moviegoers worldwide were excited by the news with social media sites racking up millions of related comments once the story broke. It is estimated that the N-word was typed into social networks roughly 50m times this morning alone and the word is rapidly becoming one of the most popular in the English language.

James Smithson, an Internet commenter said: “I only use the word at home or among friends but now that it’s owned by Quentin I feel I can use it anywhere I like because we own it. Of course I wouldn’t direct it towards a Black person but It feels good to say it among my friends or in a club guilt free.”

Teen film critic, Cody Brion adds: “I go to his films just to hear the word. If he stopped using it I don’t think his films would be anywhere near as good. It’s his thing and he should be credited with spreading the word to a larger global audience who in turn can spread it to their children. Now it’s cool to say the word. You can hear kids from Japan to Australia to Finland using it and to me that’s awesome.”

In the 1900s, The N-word became the preferred term for insulting Black people and has been the goto term to denigrate, dehumanize and demoralize Black people ever since. The word first became associated with Tarantino when his characters used it with relish in his debut movie Reservoir Dogs. Since then it’s become a staple of his films with over 100 utterances of the word in his most recent film Django Unchained! He even said the word himself in his 1994 hit film Pulp Fiction thus cementing his relationship to the problematic epithet.

It’s also popular among certain rap artists who liberally sprinkle the word throughout their rhymes both as a term of endearment and of hate.

From now on any usage of the word in a recording, film or book will attract a royalty which is payable to the Tarantino Corporation. Hip-hop artists will be particularly hard hit as it seems the mostly Black artists now have to use their own money to pay for a word that is used to insult them. Many rappers, however, have chosen to cease using the word rather than pay the royalty which some see as a good thing.

A spokesman for the Tarantino Corporation said: “Let’s face it, it’s a really cool word, perhaps one of the coolest in the dictionary and despite it being deeply offensive to black people, most white people love to hear it and some even like using it. It has a lot of mileage. Once we get it accepted as popular parlance among whites who knows where we can take it. Perhaps politicians and maybe royalty will start using it. There really is no limit to its usage. You can use it with your friends, your family, at school and even at work.”

Image: Everett Collection / Shutterstock.com