Pulp Fiction

Makes constant reference to earlier films and a key feature of postmodernity is intertextuality. The dance reminds the audience of ‘Saturday night fever’.

Lack of meta-narratives, the irreverent tone such as when they discuss hamburgers with the same seriousness as discussing killing people. This creation of hyper reality is something Baudrillard felt strongly about, arguing it was a prominent aspect of postmodern media.

Assumes both of Jameson’s postmodern characteristics in its visual aesthetic and its worldview. It’s a pastiche of various cinematic modes—film noir, B-movies, samurai films, Blaxploitation.

Tarantino follows Vincent as he slowly surveys the cornucopia of iconography in one long take. To the tune of Ricky Nelson’s “Waitin’ in School,” sung by a Ricky Nelson impersonator, we see what Vincent sees: waiters and waitresses dressed as ’50s icons—Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Donna Reed—the walls covered with posters of era-specific B-movies—Attack of the 50-ft Woman, High School Confidential, Rock All Night—and finally, the perfect touch that would make Jameson smile with recognition and wince at the same time, a wall of televisions that resemble windows playing old street scenes on a loop, literally forcing the purveyors to look “in” rather than “out.”

The first example of postmodernism in the cult film is Tarantino's disregard for a chronological narrative. Instead he split the film into three stories, "VincentVega and Marcellus Wallace's Wife", "The Gold Watch" and "The Bonnie Situation." This fits in with Lyotard's theory of the declining meta narratives over time, along with the increase of "mini-narratives". This fracturing of time is very postmodern as it throws the audience off slightly, but then the film cleverly ties everything together as the film nears the end, so the audience can understand how everything fits together and it gives them a sense of satisfaction.

1.     The Diner part I

2.     Prelude to “Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace’s Wife”

3.     “Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace’s Wife”

4.     Prelude to “The Gold Watch”

5.     “The Gold Watch”

6.     “The Bonnie Situation”

7.     The Diner part II

But, chronologically, the scenes would be in this order: 2, 6, 1, 7, 3, 4, 5.

Although the film has some comical elements and situations, its humour isn’t derived from the references to the past therefore it isn’t parody. It is so thick with pastiche though, that it is difficult to place the era in which the film is set. A few examples of pastiche evident in the film: When Marcellus Wallace walks out in front of Butch's car at the traffic lights and turns to face him, this is like the scene in Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock when Marion's boss crosses the street in front of her car.