Film noir, in the most traditional sense, is a genre of cinematographic film notable by a tone of pessimism and fatalism. From the forties and fifties - when the genre was first identified with American detective or thriller films - film noir has since experienced a resurgence at the dawn of the new century, often dubbed as “neo-noir” films. One film in the neo-noir category is Pulp Fiction, directed by Quentin Tarantino. The title, “pulp fiction,” owes itself to the “cheap fiction magazines printed in the United States from the end of the nineteenth century until the middle of the twentieth” (Bailey). The disposable wood pulp-based paper the fiction was printed on was meant to be thrown away and passed on. The public considered pulps to be
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After the next couple of shots, the camera displays an exasperated Brett as well as an image of Vince’s toro holding his pistol against himself. This occurs while Jules is giving his recitation of the Ezekiel passage from the Bible. The code, as well as the image of Vincent’s handgun, contradicts Jules’ bible excerpt to ultimately convey the notion of both sin and religion being hand in hand, and clearly reveals the inherent flaws and obsessions of religion and evil. Jules’ “righteousness” is depicted in an evil light - both figuratively and literally - as he commits a great sin of murder while reciting a bible excerpt, showing that both his religious inclinations and murderous actions possess little meaning and ultimately the holiness of religion and hell of sin no longer has any definitive boundaries. In a postmodernist society, the bible transforms into part of the everyday, mundane activities people engage in, thus losing its purpose and significance as a whole. In the post-modernist world of Pulp Fiction, Whalen notes that “violence takes the place of feeling” and its radical juxtapositions have the “effect of short-circuiting sense and affect” (Whalen 3). This lack of emotion directly reflects postmodern-day society with the absence of substantial dialogue and meaningful personal contact with one
After the next couple of shots, the camera displays an exasperated Brett as well as an image of Vince’s toro holding his pistol against himself. This occurs while Jules is giving his recitation of the Ezekiel passage from the Bible. The code, as well as the image of Vincent’s handgun, contradicts Jules’ bible excerpt to ultimately convey the notion of both sin and religion being hand in hand, and clearly reveals the inherent flaws and obsessions of religion and evil. Jules’ “righteousness” is depicted in an evil light - both figuratively and literally - as he commits a great sin of murder while reciting a bible excerpt, showing that both his religious inclinations and murderous actions possess little meaning and ultimately the holiness of religion and hell of sin no longer has any definitive boundaries. In a postmodernist society, the bible transforms into part of the everyday, mundane activities people engage in, thus losing its purpose and significance as a whole. In the post-modernist world of Pulp Fiction, Whalen notes that “violence takes the place of feeling” and its radical juxtapositions have the “effect of short-circuiting sense and affect” (Whalen 3). This lack of emotion directly reflects postmodern-day society with the absence of substantial dialogue and meaningful personal contact with one