IMDB Top Ten Movies of All Time: #7 Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction is rated R for strong graphic violence, drug use, sexuality, and profanity! If you’re unsure if you can watch it or read this article, ask your guardian first!
Tarantino is an old foe of mine. I crossed paths with him a long time ago, when I first walked in on my father watching Kill Bill. I’m not sure which one it was, but the scene I saw was when Uma Thurman was being buried alive, so that kind of put me off of his work for a while. I would catch glimpses of his other works over a few years: A few minutes of Django Unchained that my brother had put on, parodies of his work in other media, and of course, as I became interested in film, I witnessed the phenomenon of every white guy who liked movies and owned a flannel praising the name of Tarantino like he was a god and as if watching Pulp Fiction could be likened to witnessing the second coming. I actually didn’t watch Pulp Fiction until I decided to write this review, but I have seen a few of Tarantino’s other movies. Admittedly, Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained are guilty pleasures of mine. After all, who doesn’t enjoy watching Brad Pitt bash in Nazi heads or Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz murder slave owners? But I had never taken the leap to try and see what was so great about Pulp Fiction.
Now, before I say anything about this movie, I feel it would be irresponsible of me to ignore the character of Quentin Tarantino, how it affects his movies, and how my opinion of him affects my opinion of his work. Personally, I think that Quentin Tarantino is an absolute garbage fire of what can barely be called a human being who doesn’t deserve to ever work in Hollywood again, and he only continues to do so because every other powerful man in Hollywood is just like him. He is a racist and a misogynist. He constantly uses the n-word in his scripts just because he can (and also puts himself in roles in his movies where he can say it), and reportedly uses it in his daily life too. He exploits actresses for the sake of his fetishes to the point where it’s a joke among movie fans, and he puts those actresses in danger too.
During the filming of Kill Bill, Uma Thurman was pressured by none other than Tarantino into driving an unsafe car for a scene which resulted in a crash. Another incident reported was that Tarantino spat on Thurman during the filming as well. While filming for Inglourious Basterds, Tarantino actually choked Diane Kruger so a scene would be ‘more authentic’. And then there’s just the endless track record of all his female characters suffering abuse and trauma. I will do my best to give an unbiased review, but I also don’t want to give anyone the impression that Quentin Tarantino is someone to be admired.
Pulp Fiction doesn’t have a straight forward plot; it follows three connected stories, each with a different protagonist: Vincent Vega - a hitman with a bit of a heroin problem played by John Travolta, Butch Coolidge - a boxer played by Bruce Willis, and Jules Winnfield - Vincent’s philosophizing loving partner, played by none other than Samuel L. Jackson. These tales are told out of chronological order, creating a non-linear narrative, which is part of what makes the film so iconic.
Mia Wallace, AKA the one bright spot in this film.
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I’ll be honest. This movie was boring as hell. I genuinely had to put in effort into paying attention and even then I had to do something with my hands to keep me occupied. The only parts I really enjoyed were the scenes with Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman), and that’s mainly because I’m a fan of Thurman as an actress. Other than that, there’s maybe one scene I admire, which is where Mia has overdosed on heroin that she thought was cocaine, and Vincent has to give her an adrenaline shot directly in the heart. The build up is great, with a few long takes following Vincent and his drug dealer while they desperately try to get what they need and they scream at each other and feud. Besides that, the movie is just really mediocre. I wasn’t intrigued by what the characters were doing, I didn’t care whether they got out of their situations or not, and overall all I could think was: meh. It’s a shame, because I think the movie has a decent cast. This problem is also one I saw in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, another Tarantino film that I actually enjoyed. There’s no plot, and can just be described as “Guys Go Around Doing Stuff”. The difference is, in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the stuff that the guys were doing was interesting.
I still don’t understand why this movie is so beloved, though my brother’s theory is that people are just really into the non-linear storytelling. With other Film Bro movies, even ones directed by Quentin Tarantino, I could see where the appeal lied, whether that be with an intriguing plot, good cinematography, or just straight nostalgia. But here? I can’t even come up with an explanation that I can understand, much less agree with.
I know by saying all this, I’ve basically guaranteed that every time I look behind me, a white guy wearing a Pulp Fiction shirt will be there to say “Now, let me play Devil’s Advocate!”, but the only way I could be convinced to watch this movie again is if you paid me for it, and paid me well. In my opinion, this is a boring, overpraised, barely mediocre film that’s got an okay soundtrack and some quotable lines that aren’t even that quotable. Seriously, who put this on a top ten list of all time?
