Fan Theories From 'Pulp Fiction' That Are As Good As A Five-Dollar Shake

Posted by u/JustEmbarrassing:

Rewatching Pulp Fiction, it's really hitting me how terrible Vincent is at his job. His incompetence causes nearly every hiccup in the entire movie.

* Just spent the last three years in Amsterdam, possibly laying low based on a previous screw up.

* Fails to check the back room of the apartment that he and Jules raid for an armed man, who nearly kills him if not for the "miracle."

* Accidentally shoots Marvin in the face. Any competent gun owner would avoid this (hand on the trigger, pointing it without intent to shoot).

* Disrespects The Wolf, the only man with the know-how to fix the "Bonnie Situation," a situation that he himself caused.

* Has a substance abuse problem, and does work for his boss under the influence of said substance, nearly killing Mia.

* Leaves gun on the counter of Butch's kitchen as he uses the bathroom. He was reading in the bathroom, so he was most likely there for a while. Of course, this leads to his demise.

So Vincent isn't exactly the best hitman. So why does Marcellus trust him so much? Well, think about it, he really doesn't give Vincent that much responsibility through the film.

* Job 1: Go with Jules (a very competent hitman, whose relationship with Marcellus is so good that he can yell at him when things get heated during the Bonnie Situation) to kill three men who are keeping the "briefcase' from me. During this job, Jules basically does all of the work.

* Job 2: Take my wife to dinner while I'm out of town. Literally, just drive her to dinner and take her home safe, basically babysitting.

* Job 3: Go wait in Butch's apartment just in case he shows up. I mean, his stuff is all packed up and he probably isn't going to show up again, so... just hang out?

Remember, Vincent has only been back in America for a few days at this point. These are the only three jobs that he's been given and, honestly, they're all pretty simple for that line of work.

Posted by u/sonofmonday:

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

At the diner, Jules sits Pumpkin/Ringo down and recites the Ezekiel verse to him. He tells him that after years of reciting that verse, he is not sure if he is the shepherd, the righteous, or the tyranny of evil men. In the end, he spares Pumpkin's life and even gives him the money in his wallet. Chronologically, after Jules and Vincent leave the diner, they deliver the briefcase to Marcellus at the bar/club and later that day, Marcellus hires Vincent to hunt and kill Butch for going against his deal.

Jules took his surviving the shots from the man hiding in the bathroom as divine intervention from God. By taking the first step on the path of righteousness by sparing Pumpkin/Ringo's life, he is the true brother's keeper who shepherded Ringo, who is the weak, through the valley of darkness.

As the speech says, Blessed is he...God blesses him for this good act by sparing his life. Throughout the movie, we see Vincent as the one playing in the devil's playground; doing drugs, killing the guy in the backseat with no remorse, etc. Butch, on the other hand, was also playing both sides by taking bribes from both Marcellus and another guy in Knoxville however, he was also blessed by God when he decided to go back and save Marcellus. So when he risked his life to get his watch, he was protected by God, maybe even personified God when he massacred Vincent with a shower of bullets.

Posted by u/SightWithoutEyes:

So, during Butch's segment, Fabienne tells him that she wants a pot-belly.

This is her hinting to him that she's gonna have one, and soon, because she's pregnant (which kind of makes Butch's response that if she had a pot-belly, he'd punch her in it kind of f**ked up).

It puts the whole gold watch thing into perspective, because Fabienne's baby is Butch's, and that watch is a family heirloom passed down to each generation.

Posted by u/kywhuh:

Everyone knows this scene, I'm talking about the scene where Butch and Wallace are captured at the [pawn shop.] So Ive always tried to understand why Butch returned to save Marsellus, I mean, its plausible that he thought that, by saving him, things would be alright between them, and that's what in fact happened. But it was impossible for him to be sure about that, not only because Butch didn't [throw] the fight, but he killed one of Marsellus "best" hitman (Vincent Vega). After watching this chapter a lot, I finally came with a more solid reason to why he returned to save him, and to understand this better, we have to remember a few things that happened earlier:

Butch's chapter starts with Captain Koons doing a monologue about the watch, the import thing about this scene is where did the watch come from and what happened to Butch's father. Koons says that the watch was bought on an old general store in Tennessee way back in WWI by his great-grandfather. Don't forget about this info.

Moving on, about Butch's father, Koons says that he died on a Vietnamiese prison camp and he gave Koons the watch and told him to deliver it to Butch.

Finally, while in the [pawn shop], Marsellus is being [assaulted] on one room while Butch is tied up and waiting for his turn in another, but he fights back and unleashes himself, knocks out the gimp and manages to escape.

As Butch is about to leave, he stops for a few seconds. at this scene, you can clearly see a Tennessee [license plate] right next to him, and its not even out of focus, its definitely there intentionally.

But why? Because this whole situation is new perspective of his father's story. The Tennessee sign is a reference to the place where the watch was purchased, and the situation is a reference to the prison camp, but this time it's Butch's prison. Now he has the chance to save not only his "partner," but the metaphoric representation of his own father.

Posted by u/Loose_Cannon22:

As we all know Budd lied about pawning the Hattori Hanzo sword Bill gave him just to break his brother's little heart. But could he have possibly lied to Hanzo about losing his old sword so that he could get a new one to make some cash? Then he pawned the new sword. It could have been passed around and it got to that pawn shop in Pulp Fiction.

Posted by u/Stendhal_now:

Pulp Fiction is the only Quentin Tarantino movie without any self referencing. You may think it's because it was one of his first movies and he had nothing to self reference yet. But the real reason is that the only real world we see is the one in Pulp Fiction, and all other movies are in-universe movies the characters in Pulp Fiction watch on TV. The continuous references to Red Apple cigarettes are product placement; this is the reason this particular brand is referenced in most movies.

Why would Tarantino insist into putting a constant reference to a non-existing brand of ciggies? It makes no sense. But, if Red Apple cigarettes are an actual brand of cigarettes in the Pulp Fiction world, it would make sense that the brand put some product placement into the movies, since they all are violent movies targeted to adults.

It would also explain why The Hateful Eight announces itself as "The 8th Film by Quentin Tarantino," when it actually is the 9th: Pulp Fiction isn't a movie, it's real life, and Tarantino is a TV film director who lives and directs in that world.