Pulp Fiction: Light in the Darkness of Morality
According to Webster’s dictionary the definition of ethics is, “Moral principles that govern a person or group's behavior. The definition of moral is, “Concern with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character.” Pulp Fiction presents many ethical issues of violence, racism, drugs, greed, and excessive individualism that reflect human experience. It connects the storylines of LA mobsters, small-time criminals, and a mysterious briefcase in a battle between courage and vengeance. In this essay I will explain how Quentin Tarantino’s film Pulp Fiction is a profound ethical exploration of human nature and that morals can be found even in seemingly evil people and in the darkest of situations.
Some important scenes from the film are breakfast in the Diner, Butch’s match, the pawnshop, Mia Wallace’s near heroin overdose, the Gold watch, and Jule’s epilogue at the Diner. The first scene is the prelude to the last scene. Ringo and Honey Bunny, a pair of crooks, decide to change their luck by robbing the very diner in which they are eating. As soon as they begin to put their plan into action the scene shifts to the first main story with Vincent and Jules who are on their way to work. The topic came up of whether their boss overacted when he had a man tossed out of a window because he massaged the feet of his wife. This dialogue between Vincent and Jules is important because it explores the moral limits of foot massaging and whether it deserves an act of revenge worthy of adultery.
Butch’s fighting match is another important scene. He accepted a large sum of money from mobster Marsellus to agree to lose his upcoming match and instead he brutal...
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The only real way to truly understand a story is to understand all aspects of a story and their meanings. The same goes for movies, as they are all just stories being acted out. In Thomas Foster's book, “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, Foster explains in detail the numerous ingredients of a story. He discusses almost everything that can be found in any given piece of literature. The devices discussed in Foster's book can be found in most movies as well, including in Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic, “Pulp Fiction”. This movie is a complicated tale that follows numerous characters involved in intertwining stories. Tarantino utilizes many devices to make “Pulp Fiction” into an excellent film. In this essay, I will demonstrate how several literary devices described in Foster's book are put to use in Tarantino’s film, “Pulp Fiction”, including quests, archetypes, food, and violence.
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Incohesive, long, and dialogue-heavy, Inherent Vice has all the potential to flounder. Yet under the steady (or rather, wild) hands of director Paul Thomas Anderson, the film becomes a psychedelic, incredibly enjoyable ride brimming with wit and melancholy. The film follows Larry ‘Doc’ Sportello (played in routinely magnificent fashion by the now ever-reliable Joaquin Phoenix), and his exploits to help his ex-girlfriend, Shasta Fey (Katherine Waterston, also exquisite) investigate a kidnapping of notorious real-estate billionaire Mickey Wolfmann. From there, the plot descends (or ascends, depending on your perspective of the film) into sumptuous lunacy; a mystery involving the coveted and secretive
Menace II Society, a film about a young Black man who has lived the “hustler” lifestyle and is struggling to leave it, is a perfect example of deviance as the main character, Caine Lawson, and the characters around him violate many of society’s norms. Throughout the film, the characters swear incessantly, carry around guns and drugs as most people would carry around cell phones, commit street crimes, especially burglary and mugging, on a regular basis, and beat and kill people unscrupulously. The following quote captures just how deviant Caine and the other characters in this film were, “[Caine] went into the store just to get a beer. Came out an accessory to murder and armed robbery. It's funny like that in the hood sometimes. You never knew what was gonna happen, or when” (Albert Hughes). Why would Caine consider these crimes “funny”, or rather, so insignificant? What caused Caine to become so deviant? The answers to such questions were woven into the plot of the film and will be discussed in the following paragraphs.
The story examines fate and code of conduct of the Misfit and the grandmother. The story is thought provoking, disturbing and challenges one's perspective of what one may consider right or wrong. There is also a degree of selfishness behaviors that raises questions about the characters ability to show empathy freely despite their disposition. The Misfit affirmed his code of conduct by an injustice, he is not able to recall the crime and there is no paperwork to substantiate the crime. He said, "I call myself The Misfit, because I can't make what all I done wrong fit what all I gone through in punishment" (O'Connor, 1953). Therefore, his moral code is not about what is right or wrong, but what he perceived as gratifying. The question is, whether
The initial interaction between Lucy and Cheng Huan at the store creates an interesting dynamic of uneven attraction. Objects and figures within the frame emphasizes this fact, such as an unconscious Lucy in the center. The organization of objects, and set-pieces in the shot is referred to as the setting. As an integral component in mise-en-scene, setting helps locate the actors and even control how the story is. The one-sided adoration prevalent in this scene exemplifies the possible alternative motivations behind Cheng’s kindness. In these shots, Lucy’s face always points towards the camera so that the audience can see both characters clearly, and while Lucy sleeps, Cheng stares at her with considerable intensity. By acknowledging his lust, many of his actions can be interpreted in a completely different way. At (46:22) Cheng ...
In the study of Anthropology, ethics refer to a set of moral principles or standards that govern the general human conduct. This moral philosophy outlines what is good or evil, together with what is right or wrong. Hotel Rwanda is a film that clearly brings out some of the ethical issues surrounding the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The theme of ethics is prevalent all through the entire film.
Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction is one of the most daring, puzzling, and ultimately exciting pieces of cinema to hit the screen in years. As wholly original as it is a copy of hundreds of films before it about tales of hit-men and criminals, it dares you to step out of the dull and enter a colorful, exhilarating world that could only be Los Angeles. The intensity level of the movie is off the scale. People are laughing like crazy in the theater to the intelligent dialog and other scenes that have the audience gasping for air in shock over what just happened. Although one might say that Pulp Fiction is overly violent and disturbing, it is in fact, one of the greatest movies ever produced. Quentin Tarantino’s incredible screenplay, the intensity of the actors, and music to set the mood, created movie worthy five stars.
‘Our interest in the parallels between the adaptation inter-texts is further enhanced by consideration of their marked differences in textual form,’
The film Pulp Fiction was an immediate box office success when it was released in 1994 and it was also well received by the critics, and celebrated for the way it appeared to capture exactly a certain pre-millennial angst and dislocation in Western capitalist societies. The term post-modernist, often used to refer to art and architecture, was applied to this film. The pulp fiction refers to popular novels which are bought in large numbers by less well educated people and enjoyed for their entertainment value. The implication is that the film concerns topics of interest to this low culture, but as this essay will show, in fact, the title is ironic and the film is a very intellectual presentation of issues at the heart of contemporary western culture and philosophy.
The film that I have chosen to analyze is “The Purge”. “The Purge” is a 2013 American horror film directed by James DeMonaco. It was released on June 7, 2013, to mixed reviews. I will be analyzing “The Purge” by looking at conflict theory, class division, the importance of the ethnicity of each individual character, and the government’s overall political and economic agenda. In brief, I believe that Purge night takes place because of Conflict theory, due to political and economic agendas.
Ethics are the set beliefs and values of an individual which they apply to circumstances relating to morality. To act in an ‘ethical’ manner, an individual must display integrity by doing what they believe to be right.
[1] Ethics is defined as “the code of moral principles and values that governs the behaviour of a person or a group with respect to what is right or wrong” (Samson and Daft, 2005, p.158)