Pulped Fiction

I caught the last half of "Pulp Fiction" on regular cable tonight, and I'd like to reenact the experience for you:

beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeee "Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead." eeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeee "I shot Marvin in the face!" eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee e eeeeeeeeeeeeee e eeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

I found it interesting that they repeatedly replaced "fuck" with "damn". Apparently a natural human function is more repellent than blasphemy. And "shit" is much worse than, say, showing people shooting each other in the face.

Almost more agonizing was the butchering that Tarantino's great staging got. There's a wonderful scene where Butch and Marsellus Wallace are discussing what to do with the gay hillbilly S&M rapist they've defeated. In the letterbox version you can see Butch standing behind Marsellus in a really well-framed shot, taut with tension and perfect lighting that really makes the whole scene hum. On TV, though, they chose to crop it so you can't see Butch at all until he walks out. The whole tone of the scene changed, making it much less effective and powerful.

It reminded me that I really need to get a copy of it on DVD, it's a classic. Especially when it's more than just an hour and a half of beeping puncutated by the occasional hail of gunfire.