Comments on: A Pulp Fiction Christmas

By: Joe Jamaica

Joe Jamaica — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 20:34:29 +0000

I agree, Bruce Willis goes back to do the right thing as he has been doing all along, from the start when he doesn’t throw the fight, to going back to his apartment to save his family heirloom watch. It is about honor, though at the time I didn’t see it. He squares with Marcellus, but it is a reward he didn’t expect.

By: Nephew Wolf

Nephew Wolf — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 06:16:28 +0000

I’d be happy to tell them that. This isn’t the revealed word of Jehovah we’re talking about, it’s just a frigging movie script.

By: Sister Wolf

Sister Wolf — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 05:07:24 +0000

Well, tell that to Quentin Tarantino and that guy who cowrote the script.

By: Nephew Wolf

Nephew Wolf — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 22:31:00 +0000

Butch has all kinds of pride–too much–but precious little honor. You see it in just about every scene he is in. Remember, he is probably the one who keyed Vincent Vega’s car outside the strip club. That’s the reaction of a person whose pride has been wounded. You can maybe argue that Butch has an epiphany of some kind at the pawn shop, realizing that here at last is an opportunity to behave honorably, but even that would be a stretch.

Butch is essentially a punk who happens to be able to fight.

By: Sister Wolf

Sister Wolf — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:36:48 +0000

So, Butch didn’t throw the fight, Check. He wanted to make more money than what Marcellus offered him. Check. But would he have thrown the fight under any circumstances? Doubtful. He had too much pride as a fighter. And too much honor.

If we could just address the ORIGINAL DISPUTE, Nephew Wolf? It makes us all sad that you can’t admit to being wrong. Are you George W. Bush?? Am I a nigger?? Are we in Inglewood??

By: Nephew Wolf

Nephew Wolf — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:08:13 +0000

Butch did not throw the fight because…wait for it…he had waited for word to spread that the fight was rigged and then had a partner place huge bets on him at long odds, spreading the action around among several bookies so as not to arouse suspicion. After winning the fight, as he had meant to do all along, he jumped into that cab, fully intending to make off with Marcellus’s money and collect on his own bets. In other words, he fucked Marcellus (as Jules would say, “like a bitch”). Weren’t you paying attention during the scene where he calls his partner from a pay phone? Or were you too busy trying to decide whether the phone booth represented the chivalric element of the superhero mythos, or just the alienation of modern electronic voice communication?

See what I mean about taking note of what’s actually going on in the plot of a film?

By: Sister Wolf

Sister Wolf — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:30:42 +0000

fashion herald – Me too. Is it hormonal or what??

San Diego Farmgirl – Now you’ve got him all excited about being called ‘young!’

Nephew Wolf – CORRECT, Butch did not throw the fight because….wait for it…it was a matter of HONOR! Just like when he went back to help Marcellus! You are conveniently ignoring our dispute over Butch’s motive, and the fact that you misread it, according to the actual screenplay no less.

You may find it repugnant to admit you were mistaken, but your honor demands it, does it not?

By: Nephew Wolf

Nephew Wolf — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:59:20 +0000

Actually, if I recall correctly, during the conversation at SW’s house I acknowledged that films have themes and employ symbolism, but I pointed out that they also have plots, and characters with motivations and needs (such as the instinct for self-preservation), and that the characters’ attempts to satisfy those needs and deal with things and events that thwart them are generally what move plots forward. So while ignoring symbolism and theme entirely would be a mistake in analyzing a film, so would ignoring characters and plot–indeed, it might lead one to write things like “he threw the fight, remember” when in fact Butch was on the run because he did not throw the fight.

I will leave the comment about boobies and explosions without rebuttal, because at this point I am always pleased to be mistaken for a young man.

By: San Diego Farmgirl

San Diego Farmgirl — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 02:58:30 +0000

I thought Vince didn’t sleep with Mia because she OD’d. He was trying to talk himself out of it in the bathroom, while she was out in the living room ODing on his stash. Moral crisis solved.

Sister Wolf, you are right about Butch. Of course honor was the lesson for him, he threw the fight, remember. Your nephew needs to take a ding dang writing class and learn about symbolism and themes before he can start speaking with any authority! haha Besides, if he’s like most young men, he probably rates movies according to how many boobies and explosions they have. 🙂

By: fashion herald

fashion herald — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 23:00:57 +0000

Poor JK, because when I think hillbilly I think Deliverance! Tarantino was just taking it a couple steps further than James Dickey.
Butch totally went back out of the goodness of his heart. But I cry at almost anything on TV.