I think I’m a bit confused as to the example of the interviewer in the videos. I think the quality of the questions he asked were somewhat varied – some were interesting, others were rehashing of some topics that probably don’t need to be rehashed.
Still, it didn’t seem like he was ever asking anything particularly unfair, or backing the interviewees into a corner. It seemed like there was just a fundamental disagreement as to why they were there – he wanted to discuss larger themes, and they wanted to promote something – and that could be just as much the fault of the celebrities management as it is of the interviewer. I have tremendous respect for Tarantino, but I felt he was being a dick in that interview – I actually would have been really interested to hear his answers to some of the questions. I’ve read interviews in the past with him that were very thoughtful. I guess it’s valid that maybe he’s answered them in the past, but I haven’t heard those answers, and perhaps his views have changed since then (although: apparently not).
I think the questions towards RDJ were maybe a little bit over the line if it wasn’t clearly stated beforehand that he was going to ask about those things, but given that part of RDJ’s brand is a redemption story, I don’t think asking him to talk about that is absolutely awful (as long as it’s not served up as a surprise, which in this case perhaps it was).
I guess my overall point here is I’m not sure this an example of trolling so much as bad communication of expectations.