I determine worth by a single metric – benefit to humanity.
cigarettes, little wayne, taylor swift, etc.. while economically viable, have no intrinsic 'worth' or benefit to society.
That is a great metric of worth. So let's look at this more closely. When something or someone is successful, let's take Walmart for example, they make a lot of money. They make a lot of money because they provide something that people want and like. When people get what they want and like it is a direct benefit to them. It doesn't matter if Walmart cares about a people's well being but providing them with something they like and want also makes Walmart better off. When a business is successful by making a lot of money they are not only providing other people with goods and services they want and need but they also provide jobs. They provide a means for people to feed, clothe and shelter themselves and their families. They provide "a benefit to society". Since many of Tarantino's movies are so popular it meant that it brought entertainment and joy to other people's lives and it provided jobs and a means of support to so many people in the industry. They are better off. They have experienced a benefit.
Bringing a couple of hours of entertainment and joy to other people, millions of people, as well as providing an income, and even great wealth, to families both in an out of industry benefits humanity
in a very real way. One of the reasons America is such a great place to live and everyone wants to come here is because we are a rich country.
Again, it may not matter to you personally, but don't presume you can speak for others because you are clearly wrong in that millions simply disagree with you. So when you say "garbage by ANY measure" you are demonstrably wrong. You can say it is garbage by your measure but it is not by mine because I love
his movies and willingly forked down the dollars to see it. And I don't see why your measure is more
important than my measure and certainly the movie industry, and millions of other people, disagree with you -- and their measure counts as well. In fact, it counts more than yours because it determines whether or not anyone wants to finance, and how much they will finance future Tarantino's movies.