In this paper I will examine the postmodern use of pastiche and loose association used in the film Pulp Fiction and the novel The World in 10 ½ Chapters and its use to exemplify the many effects of memory.
Recollection of the past can create an emotional response of happiness and whimsy. Feeling of nostalgia wrapped up in another era in history can offer an escape from dissatisfaction of life in the present as well as celebrate pop culture of the past. In Pulp Fiction, Vincent (“Wince”) Vega follows orders from his “gangster boss, “Marcellus Wallace to escort Marcellus wife, Mia out for a night of fun. The restaurant scene as well as interaction with Mia Wallace is saturated with pastiche. Mia’s initial awkward dialogue derives sentiments from
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As a nostalgic reaction to pieces of a past culture may celebrate another time, but also offer personal comfort in the present, the past may be widely celebrated by connecting past pop culture with the present culture. This form of nostalgia uses memories of an era’s success and continues to attempt to uphold it in a permanent celebratory remembrance of cultural impact. In Pulp Fiction, the film plays homage to some of the great films of the past. The film is enhanced by use of pastiche, incorporating films that have brought joy and excitement to viewers for decades. In Pulp Fiction, the dark suits, skinny ties, the camera shots of the guns, and the slow, sinister apartment massacre is reminiscent of gangster films from the 1950s and 1960s. Honeybunny and “””” ‘s storylines are resented during the beginning and end of the film, their love story is intermingled with their lust for crime, specifically robbery, is a comedic twist to the Bonnie and Clyde. John Travolta gets to recollect on his own success in films “Grease” and “Saturday Night Live”, by re-creating a dance competition, in which he leaves victorious. Butch, a misunderstood boxer is placed in the most scenes mimicking great films from the past. As Butch takes a taxi from his big boxing match, is clearly a steal from the 1987 film, Taxi Driver. The style of the taxi along with the seating position of the “FARE” and the dark conversation is heavily …show more content…
The chapter confronts the mind’s ability to falsify and recreate the past when the truth is unpleasant. The narrator, a disgruntled woodworm, addresses the human’s ability to create selective memories to appease the desire to have “old glorious figures,” which then disregards the reality of the past. Pastiche is used in creating an alternate point of view of the Biblical story of Noah. The woodworm tells the reader, Noah was not a nice man. I realize this idea is embarrassing, since you are all descended from him; still there it is. He was a monster, a puffed-up patriarch who spent half his day groveling to his God and the other half taking it out on us.” (12) Immediately, the reader is confronted with the notion that perhaps the story that has been shared for centuries as a beacon of courage and strength was actually a misconstrued memory. The narrator even admits that the animals on the ark “were chosen, they endured, they survived: it’s normal for them to gloss over the awkward episodes to have a lapse of memory.”(4) This use of selective memory has not only helped to give strength to the humans who want to construct Noah as a hero, but for the animal species who do not wish to recall the dangers they endured as they have
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.
Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” is one of my favorite movies of all-time, it is about gangsters as well as everyday people struggling to get out of the dire situation they are in. In the final scene Ringo, a common criminal, is robbing a Diner. Jules just happens to be in this Diner, and Jules is one of the meanest gangsters in the city. Ringo and Jules have a confrontation in the Diner and eventually Jules is holding Ringo at gunpoint. Instead of killing him, he tries to convey a message to Ringo. In this message he uses logos, pathos and ethos to explain to Ringo that he is trying to transform from an evil man into a righteous one.
Man must not only remember his past, but also choose to remember it as it really happened—for, to again quote Eliot, “What might have been is an abstraction" (175). Fantasizing about an abstract, idealized past will never give success i...
In conclusion, it is through these contradictions between history and memory that we learn not to completely rely on either form of representation, due to the vexing nature of the relationship and the deliberate selection and emphasis. It is then an understanding that through a combination of history and memory we can begin to comprehend representation. ‘The Fiftieth Gate’ demonstrates Baker’s conclusive realisation that both history and memory have reliability and usefulness. ‘Schindler’s List’ reveals how the context of a medium impacts on the selection and emphasis of details. ‘The Send-Off’ then explains how the contradiction between memory and history can show differing perspectives and motives.
At the very beginning of chapter 8, this picture of fish looking up at the deformed shape of the ark, and the remains of the passengers riding in it, you get the feeling that the fish have more history than being poisonous. 76. All the little lines, and all the bold lines, come together to form a masterful piece, foreshadowing the history of the fish in the lake. Both of the pictures above help to explain visually important, and important, scenes throughout the book. Drawings included from chapter to chapter, help to build suspense for the following events.
Have you ever had one of those days that were so bad that you desperately needed a night at the ice cream or candy store? The 1970’s was that really bad day, while the night of self- indulgence was the 1980’s. Americans love to escape from our daily stress, and of all the products that allow us to do so, none is more popular than the movies. Movies are key cultural artifacts that offer a view of American culture and social history. They not only offer a snapshot of hair styles and fashions of the times but they also provide a host of insights into Americans’ ever-changing ideals. Like any cultural artifact, the movies can be approached in a number of ways. Cultural historians have treated movies as a document that records the look and mood of the time that promotes a particular political or moral value or highlights individual or social anxieties and tensions. These cultural documents present a particular image of gender, ethnicity, romance, and violence. Out of the political and economic unrest of the 1970’s that saw the mood and esteem of the country, as reflected in the artistry and messages in the movies, sink to a new low, came a new sense of pride in who we are, not seen since the post-World War II economic boom of the 1950’s. Of this need to change, Oscar Award winner Paul Newman stated,
In this paper I will offer a structural analysis of the films of Simpson and Bruckheimer. In addition to their spectacle and typically well-crafted action sequences, Simpson/Bruckheimer pictures seem to possess an unconscious understanding of the zeitgeist and other cultural trends. It is this almost innate ability to select scripts that tap into some traditional American values (patriotism, individualism, and the obsession with the “new”) that helps to make their movies blockbusters.
It is fitting to discuss the recollection of the past in an age advancing to an unknown futurity and whose memories are increasingly banished to the realm of the nostalgic or, even worse, obsolete. Thomas Pynchon and William Faulkner, in wildly contrasting ways, explore the means by which we, as individuals and communities, remember, recycle, and renovate the past. Retrospection is an inevitability in their works, for the past is inescapable and defines, if not dominates, the present.
As a result, several applications to Campbell’s theory have been conducted on postmodernism literature in works like Voytilla’s Myth and The Movies: Discovering the Myth Structure of 50 Unforgettable Films, where she applied the theory on major works such as The Godfather to even The Beauty and The Beast. But none was conducted on The Alchemist the self-established modern classic by Paulo Coelho.
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.
There are movies that make you laugh, that make you cry, that blow you away with jaw-dropping, ever-so-satisfying action sequences. And there is Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece, an homage to the old Pulp Magazines and crime novels popular in the 1950s. Known for their incredibly dense and complex dialogue and excessive violence, Tarantino adds his trademark nonlinear chronology and thorough character development to create a movie that celebrates the fact that chance governs all of our lives. The film consists of multiple stories that tell of the criminals, gangsters and outliers of Los Angeles, the underbelly of society. It follows Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield as they embark on their mission to recovering a briefcase that
As proved in this clever arrangement of bathroom scenes, Quentin Tarantino is a creative albeit unorthodox director. Though he draws inspiration from a vast expanse of resources, this Quentin’s productions are undoubtedly unique. Through his clever use of the bathroom as a means through which to bring forth a questioning of ethics, Tarantino has again proved his creativity as a director. This movie made me think. This movie made me reevaluate my moral values and empowered me to challenge my own ethical views. This movie literally taught me more about myself than I had previously realized. We can only hope Tarantino continues to produce such impactful films so we can continue to explore our values the way Pulp Fiction has allowed us to.
In conclusion it is clear that Tarantino’s film is postmodern, and Jameson’s insightful essay stands in relation to Pulp Fiction much in the same way as a prophecy stands in relation to its fulfilment. The postmodernist Tarantino expresses in a full and technicolour form what Jameson the modernist had only partially understood in the more static arts of painting and architecture.
It has been stated that the application of memory functions in fictional works which act as a reflective device of human experience. (Lavenne, et al. 2005: 1). I intend to discuss the role of memory and recollection in Kazuo Ishiguro’s dystopian science-fiction novel Never Let Me Go (2005).
The postmodern cinema emerged in the 80s and 90s as a powerfully creative force in Hollywood film-making, helping to form the historic convergence of technology, media culture and consumerism. Departing from the modernist cultural tradition grounded in the faith in historical progress, the norms of industrial society and the Enlightenment, the postmodern film is defined by its disjointed narratives, images of chaos, random violence, a dark view of the human state, death of the hero and the emphasis on technique over content. The postmodernist film accomplishes that by acquiring forms and styles from the traditional methods and mixing them together or decorating them. Thus, the postmodern film challenges the “modern” and the modernist cinema along with its inclinations. It also attempts to transform the mainstream conventions of characterization, narrative and suppresses the audience suspension of disbelief. The postmodern cinema often rejects modernist conventions by manipulating and maneuvering with conventions such as space, time and story-telling. Furthermore, it rejects the traditional “grand-narratives” and totalizing forms such as war, history, love and utopian visions of reality. Instead, it is heavily aimed to create constructed fictions and subjective idealisms.