Pulp Fiction Question Number Two

[Frank Falcone]

Do you feel a little disconcerted over your fascination with Pulp Fiction
and all it's graphic violence and gangsterism?

[Indiana Hans]

Nope!

Indiana Hans, Denmark

"Frank Falcone" <FrankF...@cableone.net> skrev i en meddelelse
news:t9dogo5...@corp.supernews.com...

[Kairos]

Not disconcerted but surprised. It's magic!!!

"Frank Falcone" <FrankF...@cableone.net> escribió en el mensaje
news:t9dogo5...@corp.supernews.com...

[Asiteapart]

<< Do you feel a little disconcerted over your fascination with Pulp Fiction
and all it's graphic violence and gangsterism? >>

I think its part of our collective consciousness to be interested and excited
by violence. Heres a challenge: Just try not to look at a car wreck when you
drive by.

pete

[Peasprout]

I don't know that I'd go so far as to say I'm fascinated by the film. I
admire it as an original and tightly woven piece of film-making. More
importantly, I don't find and undue amount of graphic violence and/ or
gangsterism in the film. It tells the stories of gangsters, so
naturally that will play a role, but it doesn't seem any more extreme
then Goodfellas or other modern films.

In article <t9dogo5...@corp.supernews.com>, Frank Falcone

[aka chelsea corazon]

hmmmmmm . . . your 'challenge' interests me almost more than the series
of questions
posed . . . here's my answer: for most of my life (pre-q.t.) my
reaction would have
been just the opposite---to turn away from a car wreck, not wishing to
see violence.

i give credit to both 'reservoir dogs' and 'pulp fiction' for changing
my attitude to that: i would now feel guilty if i passed the scene and
didn't at least
observe, note, and say a short prayer
(providing the emergency services were already there and doing their job.)

otherwise, i would hope i, or someone in my party, would have a cell
phone and call
911 immediately. that's the best i can think of at the moment. it's
all about conscience,
for me, more than consciousness.

chelsea

[Matt Olson]

**How can you even say that? Before PF and RD you wouldnt look at a car wreck? Come on how can you not look at it, its just there, you just drive by and look away so you dont see the violence? I'm sorry but that is just too far out there for me, I know you would watch it, or at least take a glance as you pass by everyone does, and I dont see how a movie would change that with you.  If I watch a violent movie does that make me watch violance all the time? NO But it is in our minds to like and find violance exciting and there is nothing wrong with that,  I dont feel like killing someone or shooting Heroin because I saw PF, and I dont think I ever will.  The same with computer games if I play quake the dosnt mean i'm going to go out on a killing spree.  I think people look into things too much and should just sit back and enjoy a good movie for what it is......a good movie.  you dont need to analize everything, you can look at Pulp Fiction as a movie with a good plot, great actors and just fun to watch or you can be negitive and look at it as a violant movie with 260 F words a gay rape seen and talk about sex and drugs. But that is going too far into it,  If you want to know what kind of lanuage it has go to www.screenit.com and it analizes it for you.  But its just a movie, I dont watch PF and go out cursing all the time.  Its just a movie remember that when you watch it, just enjoy.

Matt
~Rolodex Propaganda

[DSc...@millenniumbrooklynhs.org]

After watching it many times, I am sure many fans (myself included) forget how graphic the film can be to some viewers. Violence and Gang references are both forgotten about due to the roller coaster of emotions one experiences throughout the film. [Spoiler Alerts below, obviously]
-There are humorous moments that we, at first, cringed at. For example, Marvin's death scene is shocking and spontaneous. But after watching it more, I began to laugh at the lines Vincent and Jules exchange with one another. It's one of the funniest scenes in the film because of how calm Vega is and how anxious Winnfield turns. The Royale With Cheese discussion, Foot Massage argument, the Jack Rabbit Slim's scene, and Winston Wolfe's aura all provide humorous and light-hearted elements as well.
-The whole relationship of Vincent and Mia has dramatic elements surrounding the temptation of Vincent, the strained marriage of Mia and Marsellus, and the whole Overdose scene. Butch Coolidge's search for his precious Gold Watch and fight with Marsellus entering the Pawn Shop is very thrilling, and one cannot look away from the screen. The Ezekiel 25:17 Speeches at Brett's house and the Diner are filled with great tension as well that the suspension is at an all time high.
-Romantic temptations circulate the film through Mia and Vincent, Butch and Esmerelda, and Pumpkin and Honey Bunny. Jody and Lance's relationship also adds romantic allusions in their scenes.
-One other genre coming into play here is Suspense. Fans and people who are shown the film for the first time cannot stop watching the film until they find out: where Butch's watch is, how Mia will survive her Overdose, what is in the Briefcase, how Pumpkin and Honey Bunny's robbery unfolds, how Vincent and Jules will clean up the car before Jimmie's wife arrives, and lastly when Butch and Marsellus will escape the creepiest rape-chamber of a Pawn Shop. That's why people can't stop watching Pulp Fiction, they wanna see "just what happens next" or "only the next scene" until you watch Jules and Vincent walk out of the Diner as the movie finishes.
These are all good reasons to forget about the violence and profanity of Pulp Fiction. It's a great film filled with a good storyline, relatable characters, wonderful cinematography, and famous scenes. It's no doubt one of the greatest films of the last century and should be noted as a watershed picture for the development of motion pictures. Again, that's just my opinion, in no way am I forcing anyone to feel this way. But that's why I think we're still loving and talking about Pulp Fiction two decades later. It's because we've all gradually substituted remembering Pulp Fiction for the profanity, drug use and violence and we've remembered it for its plot, quotes, and now-iconic status.

[raz...@gmail.com]

On Saturday, February 24, 2001 at 6:19:58 AM UTC+8, Frank Falcone wrote:
> Do you feel a little disconcerted over your fascination with Pulp Fiction
> and all it's graphic violence and gangsterism?

There are a least a couple ways to "parse" the representation of crime and gangsterism in movies.

One is to point out the peculiar "hurdle" which a crime filmmaker sets up for his/herself. The hurdle is this: Can I make the viewer _care_ about the destinies of some of society's moral outsiders? That's a tall hurdle. And achieving that effect is a notable achievement.

Another related take is the ol' "redemption" angle. In other words, you make the experience (of a filmic ride-along with society's moral outsiders) worth the while because you engineer/mythically weave a redemption... you manage to redeem at least one of the characters.

Yet another has to do with morality being a slippery little pig, and notoriously easy to lose sight of in one's own life. If you can use the depiction of immorality in gangland as a kind of lever for prying up the rocks and shedding light on the everyday moral shortcomings of the putatively "upstanding" civic denizens in our society, you've achieved a great thing. The Coen Brothers are notable in this regard.

The beauty of Pulp Fiction is that it manages to address the great moral questions in a practical, instrumental fashion on all these fronts, and perhaps others I haven't seen yet--hence the "fascination", that is to say, why I'll be seeing it at least a few more times before I pass on.