Pulp Fiction: An Intertextual Masterpiece

Intertextuality has become very popular in film production and cultural studies, especially in the second half of the twentieth century. This was brought to life in the 1990s, and director Quentin Tarantino was a pioneer of intertextual referencing in movies with his masterpiece Pulp Fiction. This film bridges an inexcusable divide in cultural studies and elevates intertextual referencing to the realm of art. Many directors and producers have challenged the usage of intertextuality in films and its role in catching the audience's interest and ensuring commercial success. Before analyzing the use, importance, and role of intertextuality, there is an unavoidable need to fully understand the common term and how it is embedded in cinematography. Since its inception, there has not been a clear definition of intertextuality because “it has come to have almost as many meanings as users” (Irwin). Many critics and linguists have taken different approaches in coming up with the meaning of this term. However, the most applicable definition here should merge with its use in Pulp Fiction in order to fully understand it in cultural studies. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines intertextuality as “the complex interrelationship between a text and other texts taken as basic to the creation or interpretation of the text” which is not enough but provides a basis of understanding.

Going to further heights, the concept of intertextuality traces back to Sausserean semiotics which put forward the idea of the relationship of signs in a sign system. Theorists and literary critics developed this term and added that “every text is from the outset under the jurisdiction of other discourses which impose a universe on it” (Gehrke and Keith). This means that every text comprises of references to other texts and cannot exist without them. It has also been coined as “the practice of integrating a variety of foreign discourses within a text through such mechanisms as quotation, commentary, parody, allusion, imitation, ironic transformation, rewrites, and decontextualizing operations”. (Ryan). Currently, people refer to intertextuality as piracy or plagiarism without knowing how powerful it can be when used sensibly. It is difficult to watch a film without noticing some reproduced texts or those that have been alluded to. The reader should understand that an author or director is in pole position of manipulating or transposing any kind of information by borrowing the meaning of other texts through hiding references in his own text. Pulp Fiction became a cult movie as the director used other texts to create meaning within the movie. The authors get the pleasure of recognition from the intertextual references while the audience makes sense of the allusions portrayed.

The movie flourishes with all kinds of references including film references from other films and pop culture. The reason for using them can be the desire to recognize and pay tribute to cinema and more importantly, to make the audience find and understand the references present which many people find entertaining. Categorizing the intertextual patterns, the references include;

Pulp fiction as a fictional magazine

Referencing of Jack Rabbit Slim

References to films that were mentioned by the actors in conversations, being watched on TV, and printed on T-shirts. This is direct referencing. It also includes mentioning of names found in pop culture.

Repeat of famous lines from other cult movies

Scenes and shots that the director imitated from other films

Holland referencing where the director paid tribute to the country where he finished his script

One does not even start watching the movie to come across the first form intertextuality. The movie title ‘pulp fiction’ is itself an intertextual reference with the director paying tribute to a magazine fiction from the 1st half of the twentieth century. In the movie, we come across two references that support this. The film starts with a definition of the word ‘pulp’ from the American Heritage Dictionary “a magazine or book containing lurid subject matter and being characteristically printed on rough, unfinished paper”. Through the movie, we come through the character Vincent played by John Travolta reading a book called Modesty Blaise. This was a very famous pulp novel and it appeared in two scenes in the movie, when Vincent was killed in Butch’s toilet and when he was on the toilet at Hawthorne’s Grill. The director exploited all the features that were present in the fiction which include a very violent plot, deep conversations, and melodramatic stories. Despite the director’s affection towards pulp, his intention of naming the movie Pulp Fiction and defining the term pulp to the audience even before encountering the first scene gave a clue of what the whole masterpiece was all about – intertextuality.

Any research and analysis can be satisfactory when all meanings and features found in any text have been completely analyzed. According to Fish, “readers of poetry know that no part of a poem can be slighted and they do not rest until every part has been given significance” (Fish). Everything in the film can be taken as an intertextual reference including every line in a conversation, every phrase used, the movie set, every punctuation and movement. Since it is possible to research every line or phrase of the whole film, the most notable one is the Jack Rabbit Slims fictional restaurant of the 1950s and 1960s. This scene is a thick steak of intertextual references. First, the dining car seats were copied from the film Speedway that was released in 1968. Similarly, a shot that showed Vincent take a gaze at a car game was copied from a film titled Red Line 7000. It is also difficult not to recognize all the promotional posters of different B-movies in the restaurant. The movies were from the late 1950s to early 1960s and most of them were directed by Roger Corman. Some of the movies are Daddy-O, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, Dragstrip Girl, and Motorcycle Gang among others. The restaurant has waiters who impersonate different well-known actors from the 1950s and 60s. One of the impersonated actors is Marilyn Monroe in her famous seductive skirt and pose, Zorro, James Dean wearing his famous garb, Buddy Holly and Mama van Doren. Vincent and Mia also come across a Nicky Nelson impersonator performing his song Waiting in School. Tarantino went to astonishing heights to make the menu a load of thematic references. Vincent and Mia order meals called Douglas Stirk steak and Dunward Kirby hamburger respectively. Vincent’s order referred to a film director in the 1950s while Mia’s order referred to a 1960s actor. The director showed his mastery in the drinks menu that Mia was asked to choose. The drinks bore the names of comedy duos Martin and Lewis and Amos and Andy. The first was a white duo while the second was a black duo. Mia ordered the second which referred to the fact that white actors were preferred more than black actors at that time.

Another intertextual reference at Jack Rabbit Slim’s happened when Mia and Vincent were entering the restaurant. In the car, Vincent disapproves the restaurant and Mia responds by telling him that an Elvis should be able to love the restaurant and makes fun of him as being like a father, a Daddy-O, and then draws a rectangle with her fingers. Mia assumed that Vincent liked music from the Elvis era. During this conversation, Mia likens him to a square meaning that any person who rejects new trends and is only limited to four corners. The square sign was borrowed from a movie called Three Little Bops (1957). The notable work from which the director may have copied the square from the Disney cartoon called the Flintstones where Betty draws a square to Fred. This is because Flintstones appears later in the film on Judy’s T-shirt in the adrenaline shot scene. There are many references from cartoons in the film and this might give the audience the idea that the director is a fan of cartoons and intended to pay tribute to them. It is difficult to leave the dance scene in the Jack Rabbit Slim’s. It is the most famous scene in Pulp Fiction. The most obvious intertextual reference is a dancing Travolta because during that time he was one of the most famous dancing stars in movies like Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Grease (1978). For the duration of the dance, Travolta performs the Batusi dance from the 1966 Batman series having been shown the dance scene to give them an idea of how to do their own dance moves. Moreover, during Mia and Vincent discussion takes a turn and becomes Mia’s short acting career story, the failed Fox Force Five TV series, referenced from an actual TV series Force Five (1977). She makes a certain gimmick in each episode which is copied from a TV series called Welcome Back, Kotter. To juice it up, Travolta launched his acting career in the series.

Direct referencing in an intertextual style that is used throughout the movie. It is often referred to as Para textuality (Genette). The director opted to put direct references in the conversations in order to make them more realistic to the viewers and to pay homage to his favourite work of art. In the movie, direct references include movies that were mentioned by characters, movies on TV, musicians, names, and movies on T-shirts.

Movies mentioned include Wake Island mentioned by Captain Koons, Captain Kangaroo in a song sung by Butch before he hit Marsellus, Cops mentioned by Vincent while discussing not being hit, Super Fly T.N.T mentioned as he was cleaning the car, The Guns of Navarone comes up during the ‘You Ready to Blow?’ rant, Kung Fu (1972) when Jules referenced walking the earth like Kaine from the movie and Green Acres during Vincent and Jules discussion as to what constitutes a filthy animal.

Musicians mentioned in the film include Madonna when Fabienne equated her tummy to Madonna’s, Elvis Presley when Mia told Vincent he is an Elvis man as discussed earlier, and Kool and the Gang mentioned during the Bonnie situation.

Movies on TV being watched by the characters include; The Losers which is a Vietnam war film that Butch watches with Fabienne, Clutch Cargo that is watched by little Butch just a while before he is given a watch by Captain Koons, Brideless Groom when Lance watches it before receiving a phone call from Vincent.

Some of the T-shirts worn by the characters had direct references printed on them. This includes Speed Racer (1967) by Lance and the Flintstones worn by Jody.

Names mentioned by the characters and names of the characters are direct references. The names include;

Cowgirl and cowboy – in the film, Mia calls Vincent ‘cowboy’ and Vincent calls Mia ‘cowgirl’. This is a direct reference in movies both Travolta and Thurman starred which are ;Urban Cowboy and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues respectively.

English Bob – a bartender character in the film is called ‘English Bob’ after a character with the same name in the movie Unforgiven.

Coolidge vs. Wilson and Vossler vs. Martinez – the first two names refer to American presidents Calvin Coolidge and Woodrow Wilson. These were the boxers that were announced before butch could fight. The last two names are Tarantino’s longtime best friends.

Jules and Jimmie – the characters Jules and Jimmie in the film are ex-partners which is a reference to the French film Jules et Jim (1962).

Vincent and Jules – it has never been proven true what really inspired the director in naming his two main characters. However, the names are copied from the main duo, Twins (1988) that starred Schwarzenegger and de Vito both characters being called Vincent and Jules respectively.

Fonzie – the name is mentioned by Jules when he tells both Yolanda and Pumpkin to act cool like Fonzie

Ringo – also, Jules calls Pumpkin the name Ringo because of his British accent. This references Ringo Starr, a Beatles member.

Palooka – this comes up in the film when Vincent calls Butch ‘Palooka’. This is a direct reference to Joe Palooka that was a cartoon character who was a heavyweight boxing champion. This was in the Palooka cartoon in 1934.

Flock of Seagulls – this was a reference to the band Flock of Seagulls. Jules calls Roger this name during the early stages of the film because of his hairstyle.

Lash LaRule – at the end of the Bonnie Situation, Wolf calls Vincent this name. It is the name of an actor that starred in western movies as a cowboy. Tarantino has always been a huge admirer of western movies.

Each movie has a favourite line. In Pulp Fiction some lines have been copied from different movies. This employs the most important intertextuality tool, paraphrasing. This is referred to as hypotextuality (Genette). Taking a catchy line from famous movies and paraphrasing them has become very common in cinematography. The following are some of the lines paraphrased from other lines from famous movies.

Marsellus tells Zod “I’m gonna call a couple of hard pipe-hittin’ niggers to go to work on the homes here with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch” after shooting him. This line was copied from the movie Charley Varrick (1973) when the character Maynard gives a warning to a bank manager that some thieves “will go to work on you with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch”.

During the Bonnie Situation, Wolf tells both Jules and Vincent “That gives us exactly forty minutes to get the fuck out of Dodge”. The director borrowed this line from the movie Gunsmoke (1955) in which the sheriff tells the antiheroes to “Get the hell out of Dodge”

When Vincent shoots Marvin in the head Jules questions his decision. To Justify shooting him, Vincent tells him “You probably…. You went over a bump or something”. This line was copied from the film The Fury (1978). In the movie, one character gets in a car and points a gun at another character and tells him “I’m afraid that we might run over a bump and the gun will go off”.

As mentioned earlier in this paper, Mia and Vincent's conversation turned to Mia’s short acting career. When Vincent questions her, she tells him “That was my 15 minutes”. This was an expression from Andy Warhol who coined it by saying “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes”.

There is no better way to pay tribute to a favourite movie or director than having and making a similar shot or scene. In Pulp Fiction, there are shots and scenes that have been copied from other films. This refreshes the memory of the audience that has watched the referenced movie and can unearth similar feelings as the original shot, which is a notion that many directors capitalize on (Bertelsen). The following are some scenes and shots that have been referenced from other movies.

When butch recovers his gold watch and drives away, he sees Marsellus crossing the road. This scene is similar to a scene in the film Psycho (1960), where a character named Janet Leigh sees her boss as she pulls up to him. The similarity is the look that both Marsellus and Janet’s boss have.

When Vincent opens up Marsellus briefcase, the glowing contents illuminate his face. This scene resembles one taken from the movie Kiss Me Deadly (1955) where the director demonstrated a mysterious feeling around the briefcase.

The rape scene that takes place in the basement of the pawn shop was inspired by the films Deliverance (1972) and A Clockwork Orange (1971). In both films, the rape scenes have similarities with the rape scene in Pulp Fiction. In both scenes, the biggest guy is chosen to be raped. In A Clockwork Orange, the victim has a red ball in the mouth to silence him. All these are similar to the scene where Marsellus is being raped.





Quentin Tarantino could not forget the country in which he finished the script of the movie. He incorporated Dutch aspect in the movie to pay homage to the country. During that time, he stayed in Amsterdam where he wrote a large part of Pulp Fiction.

In three scenes in the movie, Vincent mentions his experiences from Amsterdam, how he likes the culture. The scenes include when he was purchasing heroin from a dealer, at the beginning of the film when he was talking to Jules, and when he was at the diner with Mia. In addition to this, Mia also mentions that she travels to Amsterdam occasionally to relax and enjoy herself.

At the Jack Rabbit Slim’s, Vincent rolls Mia a Drum rolling cigarette, which is a Dutch tobacco company.

Reflection

Pulp Fiction is a masterpiece that gives the audience a chance to look for meaning inside the film. Intertextuality has appeared to be a very powerful tool that gives movies endless entertainment by revisiting favourite moments in favourite films. It is always up to the audience to accept the whole journey from the start to the end. Although it becomes so involving, the audience becomes a detective charged with the job of finding every reference whether intentional or unintentional and be able to analyze and interpret it depending on his knowledge and experience as well as their perception of reality. Depending on the number of intertextual references and their relevance to the storyline, the most imperative factor that makes a film a cult classic is the author-viewer communication and if the audience enjoys seeking and finding the intertextual features. It is difficult to watch a movie without any movie reference or pop-culture reference. It is clear to say that, pulp fiction dawned a new era of intertextuality that many directors and authors have come to adapt to their notable works. Tarantino created a cult of intertextuality that many directors questioned when the movie Pulp Fiction hit the theatres. When questioned about it he did not deny that he copied most of the intertextual features directly from former movies. He said, “I steal from every single movie ever made” (Tarantino). However, too many references render the storyline of a movie irrelevant. Correspondingly, the audience becomes confused and fails to connect all of them to the movie’s plot despite their knowledge of the references (Metz). An author can include as many references in a movie only if they fit perfectly with the plot of the movie.





















Works Cited

Bertelsen, Eve. "Serious Gourmet Shit”: Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction." Journal of Literary Studies (1999): 8-32.

Fish, Stanley. How to Recognize a Poem When You See One. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1980.

Gehrke, Pat J and William, M Keith. A Century of Communication Studies: The Unfinished Conversation. New York: Routledge, 2015.

Genette, Gerard. The architext: an introduction. California: University of California Press, 1992.

Irwin, William. "Against Intertextuality." Philosophy and Literature (2004): 227-242.

Metz, Walter. "Toward a Post-structural Influence in Film Genre Study: Intertextuality and" The Shining." Film Criticism (1997): 38-61.

Ryan, Marie-Laurie. Narrative as Virtual Reality: Immersion and Interactivity in Literature and Electronic Media. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2001. eBook.

Tarantino, Quentin. Empire 1994. Interview.