Pulp Fiction: considerations and reaction paper

• Today we watch the first part of what is considered (perhaps) the most influential film of the 90s
  • Three intersecting plots
    • Small-time thieves Honey Bunny and Pumpkin
    • Hitmen Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega (Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta)
    • Boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis)
    • Characters intersect based on circumstance and roles within Los Angeles underworld, which revolves around Marsellus Wallace
  • Non-linear narrative
    • The film ends where it begins
    • The middle of the film documents narratives occuring prior to and after the film's beginning and ending, respectively
    • First of several modern films with a "disordered narrative" as Denby calls it.
      • Arriaga: "Amores Perros" (2000), "21 Grams" (2003)
      • Kaufman: "Adaptation," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"
• Considerations
  • Theoretical: Postmodern film
    • Postmodernism in film: traditional narrative structure is altered; new structure of story allows reinterpretation
      • Manipulates "suspension of disbelief" (children picking up pencil in drawing)
      • Accept for text's sake its premise as being real
  • Historical: Movie's title and narrative is based in part on pulp magazines of the early- and mid-twentieth century
    • Pulp distinguished from Glossies
    • Commonly associated with crime-related stories: detective/mystery, westerns (as well as others, including fantasy, adventure, war, sports)
      • Lines between good/evil are blurred, through characters and their actions
    • Pulp characteristic: sensational cover art (movie poster emulates)
  • Referential: Post-WWII popular culture
    • Commercial goods
    • Drug references
    • Film references (and at least one book)
    • Music incorporation
• Note general references made by characters and Tarantino, time sequence changes

Assignment

• Post an example of intertextuality from Pulp Fiction to the course Vista discussion board
• Due by 10pm tonight
• In your answer, which should not exceed fifty words, include the following: The text referred to, the date of the text, and the Pulp Fiction scene in which it appears
• For example: Son of a Preacher by Dusty Springfield (1968) is played during the scene in which Vincent visits Mia's house

 

Class material

Pulp Fiction movie poster (1994). Note the worn look and icons incorporated.

The cover of a pulp fiction publication