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    Pulp Fiction Is A Perfect Example of A Postmodern Text

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    laurenlaura09
    The document discusses how Pulp Fiction is a perfect example of a postmodern text. It uses intertextual references from other works, such as a character quoting from the Bible similarly to a character in Night of the Hunter. It also mixes up the chronological order of scenes to make the storyline less realistic. Other postmodern elements include unexpected special effects and anachronistic backgrounds. While some critics argue these postmodern aspects make the film too unrealistic, the document agrees the film exemplifies postmodernism through its unconventional structure and references.

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    Pulp Fiction Is A Perfect Example of A Postmodern Text

    Uploaded by

    laurenlaura09
    5K views2 pages
    The document discusses how Pulp Fiction is a perfect example of a postmodern text. It uses intertextual references from other works, such as a character quoting from the Bible similarly to a character in Night of the Hunter. It also mixes up the chronological order of scenes to make the storyline less realistic. Other postmodern elements include unexpected special effects and anachronistic backgrounds. While some critics argue these postmodern aspects make the film too unrealistic, the document agrees the film exemplifies postmodernism through its unconventional structure and references.

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    Pulp Fiction is a Perfect Example of a Postmodern Text

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    The document discusses how Pulp Fiction is a perfect example of a postmodern text. It uses intertextual references from other works, such as a character quoting from the Bible similarly to a character in Night of the Hunter. It also mixes up the chronological order of scenes to make the storyline less realistic. Other postmodern elements include unexpected special effects and anachronistic backgrounds. While some critics argue these postmodern aspects make the film too unrealistic, the document agrees the film exemplifies postmodernism through its unconventional structure and references.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    5K views2 pages

    Pulp Fiction Is A Perfect Example of A Postmodern Text

    Uploaded by

    laurenlaura09
    The document discusses how Pulp Fiction is a perfect example of a postmodern text. It uses intertextual references from other works, such as a character quoting from the Bible similarly to a character in Night of the Hunter. It also mixes up the chronological order of scenes to make the storyline less realistic. Other postmodern elements include unexpected special effects and anachronistic backgrounds. While some critics argue these postmodern aspects make the film too unrealistic, the document agrees the film exemplifies postmodernism through its unconventional structure and references.

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    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    ‘“Pulp Fiction’ is a perfect example of a postmodern text”

    Postmodern texts ‘make no attempt to pretend they are realist and deliberately
    expose their nature as constructed texts’. Strinati also describes
    postmodernism as "Coming to terms with and understanding a media-
    saturated society. The mass media, for example, were once thought of as
    holding up a mirror to, and thereby reflecting, a wider social reality. Now that
    reality is only definable in terms of surface reflection of the mirror" (1995).

    ‘Pulp Fiction’ is a perfect example of a postmodern text as it uses many


    intertextual references which ‘seek to represent media reality’. One of the
    most noticeable of these is when Jules uses a quote from the bible, similar to
    Robert Mitchum’s character in ‘Night of the Hunter’. The quote he uses is
    Ezekiel 25:17, which he recites to a man just before he kills him. This could be
    seen as unfamiliar in a crime film with gangster characters, you don’t typically
    see this kind of character reciting religious quotes to their targets. This is one
    postmodern element to the film. Another example of intertextuality in ’Pulp
    Fiction’ is Mia’s haircut, which is reminiscent of Louise Brooks in Pandora’s
    Box. I think the reason Quentin Tarantino, the director, uses these text
    references is for the benefit of the audience who notices them. It makes them
    feel more involved in the film because they know or have noticed something
    that a different viewer may not have. Another intertextual reference is when
    Butch chooses which weapon to use when he saves Marsellus. Links to ‘The
    Toolbox Murders’, ‘The Untouchables’, ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ and
    ‘Seven Samurai’ are shown in this scene when Butch picks up a hammer, a
    baseball bat, then a chainsaw, and finally a samurai sword. This choosing of
    the weapon can be seen as comic as he picks up a variety of weapons, but I
    don’t think many people would make the link to the referenced films.

    The most obvious element of postmodernism in Tarantino’s film is the mix


    up of scenes. The first time you watch the film it confuses you about why
    Tarantino has done this and isn’t very easy to follow the story line. However
    when you watch it a few more times you see that he put the scenes in a non-
    chronological order so that the film wasn’t overly realistic. This is one of the
    main criteria of a postmodern text, not being realistic to the extent that people
    could actually believe it is happening or happened, but that it’s there to watch
    for entertainment. Other unrealistic elements of the film include when Mia
    draws a square on the screen with her fingers, using special effects, this is a
    very random and unexpected aspect of the film but makes you realise that this
    isn’t a conventional film. Also when Butch gets in the taxi after his fight, the
    background backdrop is the kind that would be used in a black and white
    1950’s film, not conventional for a ‘noughties’ film. This postmodern element
    of the film would be apparent to any type of audience watching.

    However, some people argue that the amount of postmodern elements of


    ‘Pulp Fiction’ make it too unrealistic and unenjoyable. The film got many good
    reviews but also a few bad, one of them being, from James Wood for The
    Guardian, "Tarantino represents the final triumph of postmodernism, which is
    to empty the artwork of all content, thus avoiding its capacity to do anything
    except helplessly represent our agonies.... Only in this age could a writer as
    talented as Tarantino produce artworks so vacuous, so entirely stripped of
    any politics, metaphysics, or moral interest."

    I agree with the statement that “‘Pulp Fiction’ is a perfect example of a


    postmodern text” because after watching the film, seeing how it fits into the
    description of postmodernism with intertextual references and an
    unconventional structure, I found it very different to any film I’ve watched
    before which shows to me that it is postmodern.

    Lauren Harrison

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