I have to start off by saying that I, like most everyone in the world, have not seen Quentin Tarantino's soon-to-be released "Inglorious Basterds". Maybe it will somehow shake the slasher-action genre and come out as a strong political statement but I highly doubt that. It would be nice to think that Tarantino could expand his universe to actually recognizing the existence of, if not his influence on, the real world but none of the early reviews have made it seem as if the film is anything more than a shoot 'em up (or baseball bat 'em up as the case may be).

So that leads to the obvious question: why would anyone think that, in this particular time, that a movie about Americans slaughtering their enemies is a good idea. Even if those enemies are Nazis, it still seems to be sending the wrong message and affirming the worst stereotypes of our soldiers. Or is QT just playing it up for the Red States? He's watched filmmakers of his generation try time and again to make message movies about the war and almost always fail. Instead, Tarantino has gone the other route and seems to be giving the extreme members of The Fox Nation just what they want: America exacting revenge, one bashed skull at a time.

Part of me wants to think this is true and that Quentin is a neo-con because then I could at least respect him for sticking to his beliefs, both artistically and politically. But if he does think of himself as even a a semi-moderate conservative, I have no idea how he could believe that this is the film he should be making. It's disappointing that one of the iconic directors of his generation could be so enamored and obsessed with particular film genres and gore that he embraces it, in spite of the impact it could have or the statement that it sends out. Tarantino will never be Hal Ashby but even Roger Corman's films usually had some sort of positive message buried deep within the shlock.

Normally I'm not a political person and I don't think that filmmakers should have to make message movies. And, admittedly, part of me thinks "Oh get over it, it's just a movie." Still, when someone comes out with a movie that is so out of tune with what the country needs or, rather, is in tune with a growing sentiment that could help pull the nation apart, I simply can't blow it off with, "Eh, but it's just supposed to be a pulpy, b-movie actioner."

In the end, I have to repeat that I haven't seen the movie and hopefully Tarantino will prove me wrong but right now I have a feeling that the last thing the world needs to see coming out of America is "inglorious Basterds".