The One About Quentin Tarantino Working Class Progressive Cinemas Greatest Open Secret. (Part One of Three)

February 3, 2010 by Toriach

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Well it's Oscar time again. And as usual there is a large variety of movies vying for the Best Picture award as well as countless others. Prominent among those movies is Quentin Tarantino’s most recent magnum opus Inglourious Basterds.

If you don't know who Quentin Tarantino is then allow me to be the first to welcome you to our little planet known as Earth. I hope you enjoy your stay.

Seriously though, everyone knows Tarantino, they know of his legend as a humble video store clerk with a passion for film. They know that his movies are glorious pastiches of all the movies he loves. He gleefully mixes genres, idioms, and more. In short the man is like a cinematic blender. He is also famous or perhaps infamous for the amount of violence, both shown and suggested in his films. From the ear slicing scene in Reservoir Dogs to the brutal scalping of Nazi’s in Basterds, with cold blooded shootings, slicings, and runnings over in between.

Everyone knows that Tarantino's films are glorious trash. Beautiful to behold, but with no more weight than the popcorn one consumes while watching them.

And everyone is wrong.

Rather I submit that Tarantino is actually one of the most potent voices in cinema today, detailing the lives of working class people with an intimacy and accuracy that can only come from having lived it. He is also one of the strongest voices for the Progressive agenda. Some would say that I’m wrong. And even if I were right all of that gets lost in all that blood and violence and gore. But the truth of the matter is that all that blood and violence and gore, is merely clever camouflaging that gets asses in the seats so they are positioned and primed to receive his messages on a subconscious level.

In the next few paragraphs, I will briefly review each of his films and offer up the working class and progressive themes contained within each. A note before I begin, I will only be focusing on the films that Tarantino both wrote and directed, while some films like True Romance, do contain some classic Tarantino moments, they ultimately are too dilute for consideration here, and also I’m going for an informal tone, not a scholarly dissertation.

So let’s start at the beginning (original no?)

Cover via Amazon

What it looks like it’s about: A group of men from diverse backgrounds, come together for a jewel heist that does not go off as planned.

What it's really about: The reality of work is something that is a constant in all of Tarantino's movies, but the thread is purest in Reservoir Dogs. The early scene where they all meet in the diner for breakfast, getting to know each other, this echoes the orientation that all new employees go through. Getting to know both their superiors, and their fellow employees. Sizing one another up, figuring out who can be trusted and who can't. Who will do the job and who won't. One of the clues that Tarantino gives the viewer is constant references to professionalism. Also on display is the tendency of people to settle into a political hierarchy. Where some are given special dispensation simply because of their a priori relationship to management. This leaves the rest of the work force at the mercy of not only indifferent bosses who care only for results, but also of co-workers who feel as if the rules that allow for the smooth functioning of a work place don’t apply to them.

Progressive themes: The main one in Reservoir Dogs, is the idea that whether a person is to be considered "Good" or not, is based solely on their actions, not because of any externally imposed system. Michael Madsen’s character the psychopathic Mr. Blonde, is bad, not simply because he tortures a cop, but rather because he acts in ways that are contrary to the well being of his fellow employees. By contrast Harvey Keitel’s Mr. White is good because he shows true concern for his fellow employees, specifically Tim Roth’s character of Mr. Orange. And Roth is shown to be good, not because he is a police officer, but because he also shows genuine concern for his fellow employees, and their well being.

Next up we have one of Tarantino’s best known films.

Pulp Fiction:Image via Wikipedia

What it looks like it’s about: A trio of interwoven tales focusing on a small group of ne’er do wells, and their escapades over the course of a few days.

What it's really about: Wow. Where to begin. This film has justifiably won numerous awards, and much acclaim since it’s release in nineteen ninety four. It is on numerous critics best of lists, and most people even if they don't like anything else Tarantino has done, like this. It is so dense that even the most in depth analysis might very well miss something, and this is not an in depth analysis. But here’s some of the highlights.

First of all as all of Tarantino's films are, it is about work. While Reservoir Dog's was about what one could view as unskilled laborers, Pulp Fiction is about highly skilled professionals. All of the main characters are in some way in the top of their profession, whether it is John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson's hit men, or Eric Stoltz' high quality heroin dealer, or Bruce Willis' almost a champion boxer. But Tarantino does not foster the illusion that these people are any happier or freer, simply because they are at a higher level in the work hierarchy. They all still, have people they have to answer to either directly or indirectly. In this case the archetype of "Boss" is represented in the character of Marsellus Wallace, played with restrained menace by Ving Rhames. He is the employer of the hit men, and the boxer. Plus he is a social force that the dealer must consider in deciding whether to help John Travolta's character or not. But then Tarantino goes one step further and shows us that power and wealth is no protection from random tragedy.

Plus Tarantino adds a new dimension with Pulp Fiction, namely relationships. From the deeply in love, and more than a little pathetic Pumpkin and Honey Bunny, to Vincent and Jules who are a couple in the midst of a break up. We also get treated to Jules and Mia's date, wherein despite chemistry the two through a misadventure realize they are better off keeping it cordial and platonic. Plus there is Butch's relationship with Fabienne. Here Tarantino shows himself to be a fearless and brutally honest observer of the way men and women really relate to each other. Butch's anger at a miscommunication between himself and his paramour is frightening both to her and us, because it is recognizable. We have all been in such a situation, where we realize the inappropriateness of our reaction, and so work to reign it in, in front of our loved one, only to give full vent to it, in private. There is also the relationship between Butch and Marsellus Wallace, which starts out as an adversarial one, and quickly becomes about two people having to depend upon one another for their survival.

Progressive Themes: One of the biggest ones in all of Tarantino’s movies, but especially here is that money, power and status does absolutely nothing to protect one from the vagaries of life.

Vince Vega and Jules Winfield for all their money, and power conferred upon them by their jobs, still have to deal with all manner of unpleasantness, from having to deal with a messily killed dead body, to a random stick up. Marsellus Wallace is beaten and sexually assaulted. Mia Wallace his actress wife nearly over doses. Butch betrays Marsellus to obtain money, but until coming to accord with Wallace, is filled with fear and worry.

The only characters who seems truly content is Eric Stoltz’ Jesus Christ Heroin Dealer aka Lance, who in spite of his high end clientele and product lives a fairly working class existence, and the character of Jimmy played by Tarantino himself although even they are not immune to problems being dropped quite literally on their door steps.

Another excellent theme in Pulp Fiction is the ugliness of sexual assault. Intellectually we all know that rape is primarily about violence. We know that their is no justification or modifier. What the victim wore, where they went, what they had or had not done in the past all irrelevant. Yet at the same time, it is hard to show rape on screen without sexualizing it. Tarantino solves this by taking two brilliant steps. one he makes the victim of the sexual assault a large man, and two, he does not show the assault. We hear it, and we see the after math. The two techniques combined mean that we are given the least sexualized representation of sexual assault that is possible in fiction. And by crafting a scenario where the assault is at the hands of a couple of pseudo racist psychopaths any attempt to blame the victim is thoroughly removed.

Another idea that is presented in Pulp Fiction and will be revisited in Kill Bill, is the counter to the demonization of single parents. Although there is not much depth present it is made clear in the famous "Watch story" that Butch is being raised solely by his mother. The adult Butch is a good person with a good heart. He is fairly self aware, and more than able to relate on all levels to his girl friend. He is not shown as emotionally stunted in any way simply because he lacked a father.

Finally we are shown that a simple honest working class existence is preferable to lots of money and power etc. Tarantino plays Jimmy who used to be Jules partner until he retired from "The Life". Jimmy is shown as intelligent, well adjusted and most of all content. It is only when the problems of the two hit men disrupt his world that he gets upset, and his sole focus in on maintaining harmony between himself and his wife.

In the end his life resumes it’s previous placid shape once the two men and the freelance expert The Wolfe played by Harvey Keitel are gone, and best of all he’s a whole new bedroom set better off than he was at the beginning of the incident.

Alright gang. In giving some thought to the number of films there are to tackle and how much depth there is to each one, I have decided to split this into three parts. Part two tomorrow will tackle Jackie Brown and Kill Bill (I'll be treating the two parts as one complete work). And then on Friday I'll be tackling Death Proof and Inglourious Basterds. In the meantime your homework is to watch Tarantino's films and email, comment, and tweet me either examples of working class and Progressive sentiments that you find in his films or your own theories as to what his movies are about. I’ll see you tomorrow, and until then….

Keep The Faith My Brothers And Sisters!

(This article originally appeared at The One About...)

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