Jackie Brown is a movie that premiered in 1996 that was directed by Quentin Tarantino and is based on Elmore Leonard's book “Rum Punch”. The movie and novel have very similar narrative structure and follow almost identical plot points. Both stories are about a middle aged stewardess named Jackie who gets caught smuggling drugs and money for gunrunner Ordell Robbie by the police. The police force her to smuggle more money as a way to catch Odell while Ordell wants Jackie to bring him the rest of his “retirement” money. So, Jackie with the help of Bail Bondsman Max Cherry, she devises a plan to double cross the police and Ordell so that she can keep the money for herself. Tarantino maintains and builds upon the spirit of “Rum Punch” by using …show more content…
filmatic techniques like, homage, music, and dialogue to expand upon the character relationships and themes of the source material. Moreover, he makes a few key changes from Leonard’s novel that help express these techniques ns present a more cohesive narrative structure. Jackie Brown is very much a Tarantino movie but, its faithfulness to its source material is what makes it a strong adaptation. Perhaps the biggest change that Tarantino made for the film Jackie Brown was to its title character.
In Leonard’s Rum Punch Jackie was a white women but in Jackie Brown, Jackie is black. This change works for the film on multiple levels, firstly it is to pay homage to one of the films inspirations, which is the blaxploitation movies of the 70’s and 80’s (Semley 22). Also, Pamela Grier who plays Jackie also starred in many of the films from that era (The name Brown is also a reference to her film Foxy Brown). The homage to blaxploitation films goes even further than just Jackie’s character. Music in Jackie Brown has heavy tie ins to the blacksploitation genre. Songs like “Street Life” and “Across 110th Street” add a vibrancy and new layers to the film that could only be achieved through its blaxploitation roots. Furthermore, music in the film is used to add a new layer to Jackie’s and Max Cherry’s relationship. You see this in the scene after Max visits Jackie’s house, he goes to a record store and listens to “The Delfonics” which is to show how Jackie has started to influence him (Tarantino). The music in the film is like its own character with the amount of personality that it brings to the narrative. For instance, many characters acknowledge or make reference to the music that's in the film. Homage is omnipresent throughout all of Tarantino's works. With the director almost like a music DJ in the way he splices the old with the new in his films (Rennett 391). In Jackie …show more content…
Brown these homages work in giving a new life to Leonard’s story but they also make it feel like a film. Tarantino also made some narrative and dialogue changes in some scenes that are used to present a more cohesive narrative that fits better on a film medium.
In Rum Punch, the story is much more an ensemble like narrative, with all the minor characters getting more back story and insight into their motives. However, in Jackie Brown, Jackie is very much the main character with most of the story revolving around her and her motivations. This enhances the film because while the novel showcased more of the minor characters, it would be too layered and detailed for it to work on a medium like film were their are much bigger time constraints. Moreover, focusing on just Jackie allowed for the movie to cut some of the weirder subplots in the book that may not have translated well to the screen. For example, there is a scene in Rum Punch where Ordell tries to kill a neo-nazi (Leonard 7). This scene in the book works well because of the backstory and context that a novel can provide but in a film it would have been much tougher to explain and was ultimately unnecessary in the overall plot. There are also many dialogue changes to some scenes which have enhanced the intrigue for said scenes. Tarantino movies are infamous for their raunchy and profanity ridden dialogue. Jackie Brown is no different with over 68 uses of the word fuck (Rennett 400). The starkest contrast between scenes from the novel to film comes from the scene where Ordell murders his colleague Beaumont. In the novel the
scene is almost a throwaway with very little dialogue between them before Ordell kills Beaumont. But, in Jackie Brown the scene is very dialogue heavy with multiple profanity and pop cultures references that Tarantino dialogue is known for. This change from the novel helps the scene in two ways, first it adds interest to a scene where very little was going on dialogue wise. Secondly, it provides insight into Ordell's character, because it allows him to show himself as a nice person who wants to help Beaumont one second to a murderous villain the next. Furthermore, the added dialogue does not have much to do with the plot (with them mainly talking about getting high and going to a waffle house) it is serves a purpose to the story. The dialogue and narrative changes that Tarantino made for the film serves as a way to condense the narrative for a easier to follow story, while also providing extra insight into some of the supporting characters. While Tarantino did make many changes from Leonard's novel he did keep the spirit of the novel. Much of the story is the same and the themes are also the same between both works. One of the biggest themes in the novel is aging or “getting old”. This theme is important because it’s the basis for why Jackie wants to double cross the cops and Ordell. There is a scene in the movie which perfectly expresses this motivation for Jackie when she says “If I lose this job, I gotta start over again and I ain’t got nothing to start over with. I’ll be stuck with whatever I can get. And that shit is more scary than Ordell” (Tarantino). This quote is important to the theme because it shows how desperate Jackie is to get a better life because it's her last chance or she’ll be stuck in lifelong poverty. Which is worst she claims then anything that Ordell can do to her. Like in the novel Tarantino also uses Ordell’s character as a way of expressing the theme of getting old. In the novel Ordell is a middle aged over the hill criminal just looking for an “out”. In the movie Tarantino maintains this aspect of his character, which is his why he acts out of desperation in most of the things he does like killing Beaumont and his other old criminal friend. These similarities between the novel and the movie are why the movie is such an effective story. It maintains what made Elmore Leonard's Rum Punch such a entertaining and interesting story. For a successful adaptation you must maintain the spirit of the original and Tarantino did an admirable job of keeping the themes from the novel the same as regards to its main characters. In conclusion, while there are many differences between Rum Punch and Jackie Brown the differences work well for the film. Like making the film a homage to blaxploitation movies and changing the story so that the most interesting character from the novel Jackie is the main focus of the story. Also the dialogue changes were welcome to add some life to scenes that were not as interesting in the novel. But, what stayed the same were the most important aspect of the novel which is the main theme of “getting old”. This theme is the basis for most characters motivations and is why Leonard's novel is such a compelling story. When adapting Rum Punch to the screen Tarantino made welcome changes to the story without compromising its integrity and made a compelling movie that brought Leonard's novel to life.
In “Jackie’s Debut: A Unique Day,” is written by Mike Royko, and appeared in the Chicago Daily News on Wednesday, October 15, 1972, the day after Jackie passed away. This article is about one of the most famous and cultural African Americans to ever play the game of baseball. In the beginning of the story, there were wise men sitting in the tavern that had something to say about Jackie. They weren’t the kindest words and said that he would ruin the game of baseball. Jackie was going to be at Wrigley Field and the kid had to see him perform. Him and his friend always walked to the baseball games to avoid streetcar fare. On that day, Wrigley Field was packed. He had never seen anything like it, there were about 47,000 people there and at the
On April 18th, 1967, Jackie Robinson, the first African American professional baseball player, wrote a letter to President Lyndon B. Johnson thanking him for his role in the Civil Rights Act. Within the letter, Robinson uses logos and pathos to reassure the president he is doing a great job, and to persuade him not to give up despite the wartime demonstrations.
Jackie knew that if he fought back, the whites would complain about how they should have never let an angry black man onto the field. He couldn’t let them have that sort of power over
Jack Roosevelt Johnson was born in the very segregated south in Cairo, Georgia around 1919. Jackie grew up loving baseball and knew that is what he wanted to do. About two decades before Jackie was born the MLB was split between white and Negro leagues. Jackie being an African-American, of course played for the Negro Leagues. He strived in this sport. He lead the Negro League with most stolen bases and had a great batting average. Both his statistics and love for the game brought the name Jackie Robinson to the attention of the Brooklyn Dodger's manager Branch Rickey.
Bobby Brown is a singer, songwriter, dancer, and rapper. His net worth is $2 million.
... only sports. His controversial first game was a major barrier for black people that he had just broken. At first no white person, except those sympathetic towards blacks, liked the idea of him in baseball and many were willing to do whatever it took to force him out of the league. Jackie was steadfast in not budging and giving to the pressure of fighting back to defend himself. With the help of Branch he could overcome this desire to fight against the people that hated him and wanted him dead and gone. However, after many months of struggling to restrain himself, people began to take his side and root for him. Jackie’s story has inspired many to overcome great obstacles and will continue to do so in the future.
In conclusion, details involving the characters and symbolic meanings to objects are the factors that make the novel better than the movie. Leaving out aspects of the novel limits the viewer’s appreciation for the story. One may favor the film over the novel or vice versa, but that person will not overlook the intense work that went into the making of both. The film and novel have their similarities and differences, but both effectively communicate their meaning to the public.
For example, in the film Nick is introduced as a recovering alcoholic and is in rehab writing about his story involving The Great Gatsby. In the novel, Nick is not introduced as an alcoholic and does not overuse it. He states at the first party in the movie, “I have been drunk just twice in my life, and the second time was that afternoon…” (Fitzgerald 29). However, in the movie we learn that Nick was someone who overused alcohol and is now in rehab writing his own stories. Another contrast between the novel and the film would be that in the novel, Gatsby tells Nick how Daisy was driving the night that Myrtle was struck and killed by Gatsby’s yellow car. Speaking to Nick, Gatsby says, “You see, when we left New York she (Daisy) was very nervous and she thought it would steady her to drive-- and this woman rushed out at us just as we were passing a car coming along the other way. It all happened in a minute...first Daisy turned away from the woman toward the other car, and then she lost her nerve and turned back. The second my hand hit the wheel I felt the shock..” (Fitzgerald 143-144). However, in the film the split second on the screen shows Gatsby driving the car as Myrtle was killed. These are two major differences between the novel and the
The way she speaks and interacts with others is very distinct; it is what most would call “ghetto talk”. This is apparent when Jackie asked herself “I wonder how long it’s gone be like this?”. Jackie’s life is far from ideal. Throughout her life, she’s had to face one adversity after another.
To the average person, in the average American community, Jackie Robinson was just what the sports pages said he was, no more, no less. He was the first Negro to play baseball in the major leagues. Everybody knew that, but to see the real Jackie Robinson, you must de-emphasize him as a ball player and emphasize him as a civil rights leader. That part drops out, that which people forget. From his early army days, until well after his baseball days, Robinson had fought to achieve equality among whites and blacks. "Jackie acted out the philosophy of nonviolence of Martin Luther King Jr., before the future civil rights leader had thought of applying it to the problem of segregation in America"(Weidhorn 93). Robinson was an avid member of the NAACP and helped recruit members because of his fame from baseball. Jackie had leadership qualities and the courage to fight for his beliefs. Unwilling to accept the racism he had run into all his life, he had a strong need to be accepted at his true worth as a first-class citizen. Robinson was someone who would work for a cause - that of blacks and of America - as well as for himself and his team.
For much of the 20th century, African-American citizens had been disenfranchised throughout the South and the entire United States, they were regarded as inferior second-class citizens. Despite efforts to integrate society, the political and economic systems were meant to continue the cycle of oppression against African-Americans, throughout the south and indirectly yet ever present in the north. These laws of segregation, otherwise knows as Jim Crow laws, applied to almost every aspect of southern American society, including sports. During this time period, African-American athletes had to resort to second class organizational leagues to play in, this included the famous baseball player Jackie Robinson. Much of this institutionalized racism
According to the Collins Dictionary, “freedom” is defined as “the state of being allowed to do what you want to do”(“freedom”). The definition of freedom is simple, but make yourself free is not easy. Concerning about some common cases which will take away your freedom, such as a time-cost high education attainment. In this essay, I shall persuade that everyone should try his or her best to insist on pursuing freedom. For the individual, it appears that only if you have your personal freedom, can you have a dream; for a country, it seems that only if the country is free, can the country develop; for mankind, it looks like that only if people has their own pursuit of freedom, can their thoughts evolve.
All three of these films discussed the importance of race in America and how whites treated people of other races during this time. The two films Soul of the Game and The Life of Jackie Robinson are both about African Americans and their struggle of being accepted into the world of baseball. The third film, Hank Greenberg is about the life of Hank Greenberg and how he, as a Jew, was both ridiculed and then accepted into the world of baseball. All of these players, although they were not liked at the time, have gone down in history as some of the best baseball players in history and are certainly well known.
Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia to a family of sharecroppers. He was the youngest child, he had 4 siblings. In 1920 his father left the family, leaving his mother to take care of all 5 children. His mother, Mallie Robinson, moved the family to a predominantly white neighborhood in a suburban part of Pasadena, California. This was Jackie’s first experience being a pioneer in integration.
Discrimination played a major role during Jackie Robinson’s career. Throughout the movie there were many places he could not attend. Jackie’s