Say ‘Pulp Fiction’ One More Goddamn Time: quotation culture and an Internet-age classic

Abstract

Pulp Fiction, as a film classic of the Internet age, circulates through a culture of online quotation. Fans of the movie repeat bits of dialogue such as ‘royale with cheese’, share images from the film such as the shot of Jules and Vincent aiming their guns, and recreate scenes such as the dance scene with Mia and Vincent. This paper historicizes classic films through the example of Pulp Fiction fans who share expressions of their fandom in YouTube videos and Tumblr postings of images and GIFs. It looks at these quotations as evidence of audiences' interpretive work, which produces ideological meanings about the film. These meanings speak of dominant structures of knowledge and understanding that come from the broader society and its unequal relations of power. Meanings about race and gender, and to a lesser extent class, are especially important in the film's circulation. Some examples of moments and characters of Pulp Fiction analyzed in this paper are Jules and Vincent's interracial hit-man partnership, Mia and Vincents twist at Jack Rabbit Slim's, Jules as an icon of a certain ideal of black masculinity, and Mia's revival after her near-fatal drug overdose. Sometimes these quotations are straightforwardly appreciative, and sometimes they are parodic remixes and mashups. This paper also considers the importance of an absence of certain parts of the film from quotation culture that can be regarded as threatening to dominant conceptions of masculinity, such as the dungeon rape scene.

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