There really isn’t a “message”. It’s a black comedy, very violent, and an homage to mid century pulp fiction magazines and noir films of the 1950s.

You have asked 2 completely different questions.

1. You asked about the message. This is like asking about the meaning or moral of the story.

2. You state someone asked if it would be a waste of time to watch. A movie does not have to have any meaning or moral or message to be worthwhile to watch.

What do you want to know?

How is it a black comedy?

@chelle21689 Have you seen it?

I dare you to say ‘what?’ again.

Any time of the day is a good time for pie.

Tarantino leaves it up to the viewer to find their own message, he just kicks back & makes movies for the sheer love of it.

There are some absolutely brutal and explicitly violent scenes and the sqeamish should probably stay away, but the movie stands up as a brilliant piece of film making, and is unforgettable. It is NOT a “chick flick”.

Pulp Fiction is an amalgamation of Tarrantino taking his years of working in a video rental store who then takes all the sensational elements of all those moments of videos he watched that occupy space in his skull in an attempt to intellectualize, philosophize and take to a new level the violence he devoured at his impressionable years in the medium of film and directors he so idolized.

Don’t piss off crazy and armed nutjobs.

I saw it when it first hit the rental market, many many moons ago. While I can understand and even enjoy the dark comedy, I was completely turned off by the explicit and graphic violence; so much so that (IMHO) the violence eclipsed anything else Tarantino was saying.

I’ve seen it but I don’t know if I would consider it a black comedy? Lol, I feel like a whole diverse audience has seen it.

That you cannot make a truly funny film using only politically correct terminology.

“Dead African American storage.”

See, that just doesn’t work.

Tarantino films: If you have to ask you’ll never understand.

No, it is not a waste of time to watch it. It is an well put together film. As @stanleybmanly said “a brilliant piece of film making, and is unforgettable” .

I was talking to a friend last week and found out he had steadfastly refused to watch this film until about three years ago. For some reason he chose to do so then and has watched it a half dozen times since. He was so impressed, he even went out and bought a copy.

Pulp is one of the best movies of the last 25 years. It is very worth your time.
How’s this for a message:
If you’re John Travolta, bathrooms are nothing but trouble.

So the question must be asked. Would the film have the same impact without the graphic violence?

It’s a post-modern reimagining of those pulp fiction/film noir films in the 90’s. Scenes take place out of temporal sequence and from multiple character’s perspectives that all knit together to form a somewhat cohesive narrative. There are moments when you’ll be like WTF, did that really just happen? I think THAT is the point of the film.

I would put that film up against citizen kane, truly brilliant.

The message is is that it’s the last good film Quentin Tarantino would write.

He’s still writing

It was his only “great” film to date. Most of the others are what I would consider “ok“or “good.”

I think the overall message is that drugs are bad

Thanks all. Great help!

I’m looking for the other one too with the 2 of them in a diner and a robbery

Like many Tarantino films Pulp is dialogue driven. I love that shit. Perhaps his stuff shoulf be called gangstercore.

I saw The Hateful Eight 70mm roadshow edition. I appreciated Tarantino’s desire to honor old school grand filmmaking but the organic wide screen technology was somewhat lost on his bloody interpretation of Ten Little Indians.

It did however feel like a cinematic event, something we don’t get enough of anymore.

Oh, and the message of the film: life is utterly pointless. Social structure, religion, morals are all artificial constructs and when worlds collide shit happens.

@chelle21689 “Black comedy” is a phrase that means dark humour. As in, macabre or grisly. It has nothing to do with race.

Re. the message of the film… probably @ARE_you_kidding_me has it right. Even in its most serious moments, we know the characters won’t get what they want or deserve. It’s kind of nihilistic.

@dappled_leaves Speaking of nihilistic…clearly by the gangster theme, there is a loss of value in the lives of all the characters. Each montage the characters starting with Vincent and Jules, who are shot at close range and none of the bullets hit them, are all then afforded a second chance to redeem themselves. All except Vincent make those changes in the direction to change and better their lives and because he thinks those bullet missing him was dumb luck and not an act of God as Jules believes it was, he loses his life taking a crap on a toilet…classic Tarantino.