QT's Diary

QT's Diary is a surreal online "blog" journal claiming to be the work of film director Quentin Tarantino. It featured humorous writing mimicking the verbal neurotics of director Tarantino (for example, constant reiteration of the word "alright").

The blog at first seemed genuine but quickly moved into self-referential satire, and "Quentin" began responding to fan mail directed towards him from people reading the blog, most of whom were under the impression that he was, indeed, the real Quentin Tarantino.

Blog history

The blog diary was first launched in summer of 2004 and seemed to grow overnight. Hours after the first "diary entry" a random post appeared on the IMDb Quentin Tarantino message board, started by a fan claiming to have met Quentin in a book store in California. The fan claimed that Tarantino gave him the web address for his new blog, which was "http://qtdiary.blogspot.com" — [http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://qtdiary.blogspot.com/ Internet Archive'd copy] .

The thread on the forum generated a massive number of responses and by a week later QT's Diary had attracted over a million visitors and readers including Roger Avary (who posted about its validity in his own blog website), numerous journalists, Quentin Tarantino's publicist Bumble Ward and, ultimately, via web print-outs, Quentin himself.

Tarantino gave his blessing to the project and told his publicist that he enjoyed it very much - he thought it was "funny." Meanwhile some fans were not so thrilled. After the initial shock of the blog came the maelstrom of backlash.

Reporters for websites and magazines began to debunk the blog. On film website JoBlo, Berge Garabedian claimed "...we have contacted Bumble Ward and she assures us the blog is a hoax."

Meanwhile, Mrs. Ward enjoyed the blog immensely, claiming, “I've been recommending it to everyone... [but] it’s a fake. The guy is doing a great job though, don’t you think? And truly, I’d hate to ruin his fun. But it’s fake. Quentin hardly knows what a mouse is.”

Soon, "Quentin" grew tired of battling his critics so he turned the blog into a surrealistic crime-drama in which a mobster, a President and a hacker known as "The Weasel" all made guest appearances. This lively injection of humor and blatant originality made the page views soar again.

In November, the blog's fictional hacker known as "The Weasel" struck again and deleted the entire blog (but not the Blogger.com account). A message read: "THIS BLOG HAS BEEN HACKED BY THE WEASEL!" A week later the message was gone and the blog was permanently off-line (the account presumably deleted or removed by Blogger). A week after that, a new blog had taken its place - a wacky one-page gardening blog. This act of self-destruction caused many fans began to question whether "The Weasel" had been real along and had, in fact, hacked the blog (which in turn caused people to question whether everything preceding the blog's deletion was true as well). However, it soon became apparent that it was just an early form of "viral" storytelling. Most likely the owner of the blog simply became tired of the whole joke and decided to delete it. There is no reason to think the owner was legally forced to remove the blog since Tarantino and his publicist had both approved of it weeks prior.

The aftermath

Although QT's Journal no longer operates today, its legacy as a surreal serial blog-cum-memoir - and its infusion of popular mainstream (Tarantino) and absurdist minimals (geeky hackers) and violent crime lords (Tommy Two Toes) is perhaps what helped make it one of the most-read blogs in the history of the Internet.

The author of the blog was never revealed, although speculation persists today.

In the media

During its short run on the Internet, QT's Diary earned great respect. It was featured in Time Magazine under an article of "celebrity blogs." Although they assured readers it was a fake, they claimed it was brilliant, giving it four stars. (The only one to achieve a full rating from the magazine.)

On the Internet, the simulation stock market website BlogShares, which deals in trade on Internet sites, listed QT's Diary as one of the most valued blogs. Even today, having been offline for almost an entire year, its value is high. BlogShares issued a humorous press release dealing with its popularity.

The blog also generated interest on many news sites after "Quentin" posted that he was going to direct the next James Bond movie. Many Bond fan websites picked up the text as a direct press release from the director, and passed it on as official news, until Bumble Ward assured them otherwise.

For better or worse, ultimately the blog shook up the Internet for a brief period of time and managed to include not only "fans" but also Hollywood veterans themselves, who were attracted to the blog out of curiosity and interest. Its genre-swapping patterns and pure originality from start to finish solidify it as one of the most imaginative blogs to have ever surfaced on the Internet - and considering the effect of Tarantino's directorial works in the 1990s, it somehow seems appropriate that a blog about him would similarly extend the boundaries of what is possible in cyberspace.

External links

*http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5820977/
*http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,713215,00.html (subscription required)