Pulp Fiction

THIS IS NOT A RECOMMENDATION TO SEE THIS MOVIE!! UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES AM I SUGGESTING THAT ANYONE SEE THIS DISTURBING, VIOLENT, AND SORDID MOVIE! DON'T BLAME ME IF YOU WATCH IT AND ARE OFFENDED!

Having made that clear, let me say that Pulp Fiction is one of my favorite movies ever.

It is difficult to explain what it is that I love about it. Oh, all the usual things- unique, well-written stories, great acting, humorous dialogue (if you don’t get easily offended by constant foul language and vulgar conversation), intriguing directing- but the whole package goes way beyond the technical details. It shows the crime world in all its gritty self-centeredness, without glorifying it (like the Godfather) or moralizing about it. These are real people, in unusual circumstances, making real decisions that impact their lives in rather unexpected ways.

To me, the best example of this is the section of the movie called the ‘Bonnie Situation’. The two hit men of the movie- played by John Travolta and Samuel Jackson- have a shared experience: another character shoots them several times, point-blank, with a large-caliber handgun. They should have died. They don’t even get hit. The wall behind them is littered with bullets, but they are unscathed. One hit man sees it as a freak occurrence and goes on with his life of crime; the other realizes it to be a miracle and repents of his lifestyle. And he is the one still alive at the end of all the stories. How oftend do you see that kind of thing in a Hollywood flick? And that's just one small aspect of the movie- Pulp Fiction is just as unique and shocking, a decade later, as it was when it first hit the screens.