Article: Tarantino's Hateful Eight Destroys Museum Martin

[FLATROCK HILL]

Well I hope so! How many Monroe fans do you know who never got the news about the repair, and believe to this day that the mandolin is still busted?

Some folks live off the grid.?.
There were a few Japanese soldiers still fighting WWII until the mid-seventies. Anything's possible!

[mrmando]

I confess, I really didn't know who Monroe was until I was 16 and happened to spot a copy of Frets at Waldenbooks with the famous story about the repair job...

[mrmando]

What good is an instrument too 'precious' to be played and enjoyed that it's kept in a glass case?

Good question. What good are the original copies of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence on display at the National Archives? Just crummy old pieces of sheepskin with scribbling on them. What good is the Rosa Parks bus on display at the Henry Ford Museum? Just an old heap that no one's going to drive any more.

I dunno, does the phrase "historical value" mean anything to you?

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And obviously the instrument in question was not "too 'precious' to be played." It may have been too precious to be smashed against a post, but it was being played just moments before that.

[Mark Hawkins]

I voiced my opinion. Are you incapable of voicing yours without an unprovocated attack? How can you seriously compare those documents to a freaking guitar? That's a monumental stretch and frankly ludicrous to even suggest unless you can support your statement with evidence of any war ever fought over a musical instrument. Simply being old doesn't equate to historical significance.

[mrmando]

I voiced my opinion. Are you incapable of voicing yours without an unprovocated attack?

Well, FWIW your "opinion" was that the guitar was "less than worthless" because it couldn't be played, when in fact it was being played right before it was smashed. So if you don't want your opinions assailed, perhaps you should formulate opinions that actually draw from the facts at hand.

How can you seriously compare those documents to a freaking guitar?

It's not a comparison, it's a rhetorical device that demonstrates the weakness of your logic by applying said logic to a different set of circumstances. The documents I mentioned are kept in glass cases full of inert gases because they're too fragile to be handled and read, so by your logic (i.e., not mine) they're less than worthless.

That's a monumental stretch and frankly ludicrous to even suggest unless you can support your statement with evidence of any war ever fought over a musical instrument.

Obviously you've never witnessed the audition process for the first violin section of a high school orchestra.

Simply being old doesn't equate to historical significance.

So now you're the arbiter of what is and isn't historically significant?

[gweetarpicker]

I was upset when I heard about the Martin. I read that the Director intentionally allowed the guitar to be smashed because he couldn't bring himself to cut the scene and replace the guitar with the copy before smashing it as was supposed to happen. Apparently the take was going too well (or he wanted to get a genuine reaction from the actress who had been playing the guitar). I own an early 1860s Martin that sounds fabulous for early folk and classical. I think Tarantino showed absolutely no respect for a fine old Martin guitar or for the museum who loaned him the period instrument. I love early Martins and I think there are a lot of people who consider them both stellar instruments and important historical artifacts. For what little good it did, I chose not to go the movie because of what happened.

[mrmando]

I read that the Director intentionally allowed the guitar to be smashed because he couldn't bring himself to cut the scene and replace the guitar with the copy before smashing it as was supposed to happen.

Where did you read that? I haven't seen any news story that directly assigns the blame to Tarantino himself. On the other hand, I wouldn't say he's entirely innocent ... he could have yelled "Cut!" and didn't, for whatever reason, intentional or otherwise.

[journeybear]

Why is this incident causing such strong emotional reactions? It's unfortunate it happened, for sure, but it's done. Nothing anyone says or does will bring the guitar back. Rants. diatribes, personal boycotts of the movie - all exercises in futility. Verbal attacks directed at other members here won't do anything worthwhile either; in fact, quite the opposite. Can't we all just get along?

By the way, it's a darned entertaining movie, well worth seeing. If you're troubled by the on-screen smashing, close your eyes and cover your ears for those five seconds out of the 2:47 running time. That way you won't cheat yourself out of enjoying the rest of this cinematic experience.