There are various elements found in all of Quentin Tarantino's movies that make them stand out, most notably the graphic violence in them, but one theory blames this on one of Tarantino’s most successful works. Quentin Tarantino’s career as a filmmaker began in 1992 with the crime movie Reservoir Dogs, through which he introduced the world to his peculiar narrative and visual style. Although Reservoir Dogs made his name known, it was Pulp Fiction two years later which made Tarantino a widely known and praised name.
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Since then, Tarantino has explored a variety of genres in his movies, always with his trademark style of graphic violence and generous amounts of blood. Tarantino always finds a way to fit graphic violence in his movies, whether it's a martial arts movie like Kill Bill, a western like Django Unchained, or an alternate look at the 1960s like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Now, a theory gives an in-universe explanation as to why Tarantino’s movies are so violent, and it’s all due to the events of Inglourious Basterds.
A Theory Blames Inglourious Basterds For The Violence In Quentin Tarantino’s Movies
Inglourious Basterds Might Have Had A Huge Impact On Tarantino’s Universe

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In 2009, Tarantino explored World War II in an alternate timeline in Inglourious Basterds. The movie follows two parallel plans with the same goal: kill as many Nazis as possible, including Adolf Hitler. First is Shosanna Dreyfus’ (Mélanie Laurent) plan, as her family was killed by SS officer Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), and she plans to kill him, Hitler, and many more at her cinema, where the premiere for Joseph Goebbels’ Nation’s Pride will take place. The second plan is that of the Basterds, led by Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), who also want to use the premiere to kill Hitler and company.
This world learned about the Basterds’ actions and their involvement in Hitler’s death.
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Shosanna’s and the Basterds’ plan end up merging, and together, they manage to kill Hitler, Goebbels, and hundreds of Nazis and supporters during the premiere. According to a Reddit user, this might have had a much deeper impact on the world of Tarantino’s movies and is the reason why everyone in it is so desensitized to violence. The author of the theory points out that Donny “The Bear Jew” (Eli Roth) is the father of True Romance’s Lee Donowitz, so this world learned about the Basterds’ actions and their involvement in Hitler’s death.
Hitler dying in a movie theater gunned down by two Basterds (The Bear Jew and Omar) would have had a much bigger and different impact on pop culture than his death in a bunker, leading to an obsession with pop culture in the world of Tarantino’s movies – this is why many characters are so knowledgeable on movies, TV, and music and have full conversations about them, such as the famous “Like a Virgin” speech in Reservoir Dogs.
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The “hyperviolent slaughter” at the end of Inglourious Basterds led people all over the world, but mostly in America, to become desensitized to extreme violence, which is why it’s so common in Tarantino’s movies (to different degrees, but it’s always there) and the characters aren’t really shocked by it.
The Tarantino Movie Universe & Its Two Levels Explained
All Quentin Tarantino Movies Are Connected

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The theory about Inglourious Basterds being the reason for all the violence in Tarantino’s movies makes more sense when looking at the famous Tarantino Movie Universe Theory. As confirmed by Tarantino himself, all his movies live in the same universe, but there are two levels. The first level is the “Realer Than Real Universe”, where Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood live. The second level is the “Movie Universe”, formed by the movies that those on the other level watch, and these are both Kill Bill movies and Death Proof.
Jackie Brown lives in its own universe as it’s an adaption of the novel Rum Punch, by Elmore Leonard.
Accompanying these movies in both levels are movies Tarantino wrote but didn’t direct, such as From Dusk till Dawn in the second level and True Romance and Natural Born Killers in the first level. The movies in the second level are pretty violent and graphic, which makes sense as these were made in and for a world where Hitler was gunned down by the Basterds and such violence became not so rare.
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What Quentin Tarantino Has Said About Violence In His Movies
Quentin Tarantino Has Openly Spoken About The Violence In His Movies
Perhaps the most asked question Tarantino gets is why his movies are so violent. Tarantino has made it clear that he doesn’t support violence in the real world, but in movies, it’s “cool” and “fun”, as he makes the separation between real-life violence and fictional one. During an appearance at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2012, Tarantino said that violence in movies affects audiences “in a big way” and he feels like a conductor and the audience’s feelings are his instruments (via The Standard).
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It’s unlikely that Quentin Tarantino will confirm or debunk the theory about Inglourious Basterds being the reason for the violence in his movies, but it makes sense when looking at the entire Tarantino movie universe – and even if it’s not true, it’s worth taking the time to think about how Hitler’s alternate death could have affected history and the world.
Sources: Reddit, The Standard.

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Inglourious Basterds
R
In Nazi-occupied France, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" execute a mission to terrorize the Third Reich. Simultaneously, a young Jewish cinema owner plots to kill Nazi leaders attending a premiere at her theater. Both plans converge in a high-stakes showdown filled with action and revenge.
- Director
- Quentin Tarantino
- Release Date
- August 21, 2009
- Cast
- Brad Pitt , Diane Kruger , Mélanie Laurent , Christoph Waltz , Eli Roth , Michael Fassbender , Daniel Brühl , Til Schweiger
- Runtime
- 153 minutes