Pulp Fiction

In several Tarantino films, we see some pretty heavy-handed meta-textual writing: a film spliced into a film within a film and a film critic embedded in the script (Inglorious Basterds), a script within a film (Reservoir Dogs), a German fairytale/legend within a slave narrative (Django Unchained). Pulp Fiction is thusly named to draw our attention to the movie’s place in that particular genre. What purpose do such things serve in these films? They certainly draw our critique to Tarantino’s self-conscious engagement in the continuum of storytelling. How can you use these pieces of his films to interpret the films holistically? (Film, and in fact, words themselves might be the most dangerous weapons in any Tarantino film)