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I realize this article is a tongue-in-cheek fan theory. However, it does make me wonder what Tarantino was up to with Pulp Fiction. The Ezekiel "quote" always

by teilo 9y ago

I realize this article is a tongue-in-cheek fan theory. However, it does make me wonder what Tarantino was up to with Pulp Fiction. The Ezekiel "quote" always bugged me because even without looking it up, anyone who spent any amount of time in the Old Testament, could tell that it was fabricated. "Finder of lost children" is not an OT motif in general, and certainly not in Ezekiel. Obviously, Tarantino knew people would look it up and go "what the heck is this?" Therefore I have to think it was an intentional move on his part, but why? I think it's a tell that there's a story-under-the-story in Pulp Fiction which lends credence to the other observations. There's obviously something supernatural going on. One of the things I love about the film is that Tarantino doesn't explain anything. He lets mystery stay mystery, as any good story should. I don't buy the Silmarillion connection. Nor do I think that this movie is a loose retelling of any specific classical tale, ala O Brother Where Art Thou. It's more likely that he doesn't have any specific story in mind, but sprinkled the supernatural element into PF to give it an air of mystery. But I'd love to be proven wrong.

bbctol 9y ago
There's nothing supernatural going on, except that the film is a very obvious and self-aware pastiche of, uh, pulp fiction plots. The Ezekiel quote is borrowed from an old martial arts movie, and the characters fully admit they just say it because it sounds cool before killing someone.
phonon 9y ago
Because he took it from a kung-fu movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LYT4JC2dd4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LYT4JC2dd4
- teilo 9y ago
  That's awesome. Thanks for that.
sevensor 9y ago
I think Tarantino put mysteries into Pulp Fiction for the same reason Scott wrote this post -- the mind likes to make connections where there are none. Scott did this quite deliberately, to entertain us both on the meta-level and on the level. I suspect Tarantino added inexplicable elements so that we as the audience would be entertained by speculation. There's nothing underneath. If you want to see what happens when the writers lose their nerve and try to explain everything, watch Lost.
- teilo 9y ago
  > I suspect Tarantino added inexplicable elements so that we as the audience would be entertained by speculation. Which is exactly what I concluded.
  - sevensor 9y ago
    Indeed. I went on a bit too long and buried my point, I'm afraid. What I wanted to draw attention to was the self-awareness of the original post: It's entertaining on both levels because although Scott puts a great deal of sincere effort into drawing out the connections, he's also well aware that there's nothing there.
- foobarian 9y ago
  On the other hand there is X files. There really needs to be an "engineer plot" genre where plot stays consistent to a small set of made up axioms. "The Strain" made an attempt. It boggles the mind why not in a single one of the zombie stories out there nobody bothered to wonder where the zombies get the energy? The way most of them work it's like cold fusion landing in one's lap.
  - qznc 9y ago
    People who love this genre hang out at https://www.reddit.com/r/rational https://www.reddit.com/r/rational They call it "rational fiction". There is quite some overlap with fan fiction, because people like to "fix" non-rational fiction. Eliezer Yudkowsky and his take on Harry Potter is the prime example. I can also recommend Alexander Wales who also made original fiction. Probably the oldest related work is A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain. Another name mentioned often in this genre is Brandon Sanderson and especially his Mistborn series, but I have not read it personally.
    - jaibot 9y ago
      Alexander Wales' rationalist take on Superman, "The Metropolitan Man", is great. Text: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10360716/1/The-Metropolitan-Man https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10360716/1/The-Metropolitan-Man Free audiobook: http://www.hpmorpodcast.com/?page_id=1705 http://www.hpmorpodcast.com/?page_id=1705
pavel_lishin 9y ago
It's entirely possible that the Bible in the Tarantinoverse is not the same Bible that we have.
- mrec 9y ago
  That's an excellent point. In the same way that Tarantinoverse airlines don't bat an eyelid at passengers having a katana as carry-on.
davidhakendel 9y ago
> The Ezekiel "quote" always bugged me because even without looking it up, anyone who spent any amount of time in the Old Testament, could tell that it was fabricated. The quote comes from a film 20 years earlier, Karate Kiba, not from the OT (despite the attribution in PF). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karate_Kiba#Cultural_references https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karate_Kiba#Cultural_reference...
lkrubner 9y ago
Tarantino knew people would look it up and go "what the heck is this?" This guy did a movie where a Jew kills Hitler. He has shown he has no interest in the question of "What really happened." Re-writing a small bit of the Bible is trivial compared to re-writing the most important event of the 20th Century. His focus is on being interesting and entertaining and he clearly feels that it is fine to put distance between himself and reality to achieve his goals.

by teilo 9y ago

bbctol 9y ago

There's nothing supernatural going on, except that the film is a very obvious and self-aware pastiche of, uh, pulp fiction plots. The Ezekiel quote is borrowed from an old martial arts movie, and the characters fully admit they just say it because it sounds cool before killing someone.

phonon 9y ago

Because he took it from a kung-fu movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LYT4JC2dd4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LYT4JC2dd4

teilo 9y ago
That's awesome. Thanks for that.

sevensor 9y ago

I think Tarantino put mysteries into Pulp Fiction for the same reason Scott wrote this post -- the mind likes to make connections where there are none. Scott did this quite deliberately, to entertain us both on the meta-level and on the level. I suspect Tarantino added inexplicable elements so that we as the audience would be entertained by speculation. There's nothing underneath. If you want to see what happens when the writers lose their nerve and try to explain everything, watch Lost.

teilo 9y ago
> I suspect Tarantino added inexplicable elements so that we as the audience would be entertained by speculation. Which is exactly what I concluded.
- sevensor 9y ago
  Indeed. I went on a bit too long and buried my point, I'm afraid. What I wanted to draw attention to was the self-awareness of the original post: It's entertaining on both levels because although Scott puts a great deal of sincere effort into drawing out the connections, he's also well aware that there's nothing there.
foobarian 9y ago
On the other hand there is X files. There really needs to be an "engineer plot" genre where plot stays consistent to a small set of made up axioms. "The Strain" made an attempt. It boggles the mind why not in a single one of the zombie stories out there nobody bothered to wonder where the zombies get the energy? The way most of them work it's like cold fusion landing in one's lap.
- qznc 9y ago
  People who love this genre hang out at https://www.reddit.com/r/rational https://www.reddit.com/r/rational They call it "rational fiction". There is quite some overlap with fan fiction, because people like to "fix" non-rational fiction. Eliezer Yudkowsky and his take on Harry Potter is the prime example. I can also recommend Alexander Wales who also made original fiction. Probably the oldest related work is A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain. Another name mentioned often in this genre is Brandon Sanderson and especially his Mistborn series, but I have not read it personally.
  - jaibot 9y ago
    Alexander Wales' rationalist take on Superman, "The Metropolitan Man", is great. Text: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10360716/1/The-Metropolitan-Man https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10360716/1/The-Metropolitan-Man Free audiobook: http://www.hpmorpodcast.com/?page_id=1705 http://www.hpmorpodcast.com/?page_id=1705

pavel_lishin 9y ago

It's entirely possible that the Bible in the Tarantinoverse is not the same Bible that we have.

mrec 9y ago
That's an excellent point. In the same way that Tarantinoverse airlines don't bat an eyelid at passengers having a katana as carry-on.

davidhakendel 9y ago

> The Ezekiel "quote" always bugged me because even without looking it up, anyone who spent any amount of time in the Old Testament, could tell that it was fabricated. The quote comes from a film 20 years earlier, Karate Kiba, not from the OT (despite the attribution in PF). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karate_Kiba#Cultural_references https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karate_Kiba#Cultural_reference...

lkrubner 9y ago

Tarantino knew people would look it up and go "what the heck is this?" This guy did a movie where a Jew kills Hitler. He has shown he has no interest in the question of "What really happened." Re-writing a small bit of the Bible is trivial compared to re-writing the most important event of the 20th Century. His focus is on being interesting and entertaining and he clearly feels that it is fine to put distance between himself and reality to achieve his goals.