Discussion YMMV / OnceUponATimeInHollywood

Removed:

• Critical Research Failure: Tarantino in defending Bruce Lee's portrayal in the face of criticism, specifically the part where Mike Moh's Bruce boasts about beating Cassius Clay. Bruce Lee's own family and friends have noted that Lee would never have said that, having nothing but admiration for him. Tarantino pointed out that he based it on a passage in Linda Lee's book on her husband. However a Variety article notes that the passage that Tarantino cites says "Those who watched [Bruce] Lee would bet on Lee to render Cassius Clay senseless" and nowhere is that boast attributed to Lee himself, or by Lee's wife to him second-hand. In other words, Tarantino mistook a second-hand reported speech for something Lee said.

Critical Research Fail is something that anyone should know to be false automatically, like calling a frog a reptile. This entry is about a claim that requires specific and dedicated research to discover that it isn't true. It's more Artistic License based on a misunderstanding than Critical Research Fail.

Removed:

• Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
  • It can be hard for some viewers to cheer on Rick killing Susan with a flamethrower. We know what she did in real life, but as far as Rick knows, she and the rest of her gang are primarily guilty of petty breaking and entering, and being hippies. He wasn’t present when they actually threatened and tried to murder Cliff and Francesca. She did have a gun and was firing wildly into the air after breaking through the glass door of his house screaming, but by the time she fell into the pool she was more or less helpless and some might find her death by flamethrower unnecessarily brutal as a result. Though it should also be noted that Rick had been drinking heavily all night and probably wasn’t thinking clearly. He just knew she'd invaded his house, had a gun, and was firing it; he might not have even gotten a clear view of how incapacitated she was.
    • It does bear remembering that he did not go for the flamethrower immediately. He hesitated until Susan stood up and began firing the gun wildly, presenting a clear and immediate danger. And Cliff only set her on fire after she leveled the gun at him.

As the natter notes, the original entry's version of the sequence isn't accurate. Susan is firing wildly after she lands in the pool, so she's not presented as helpless. She's an extremely dangerous and unbalanced intruder who would terrify anyone into acting in self defense. She also aims her gun directly at Rick before he pulls the trigger on his flamethrower.

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