What’s So Funny About ‘Pulp Fiction’?

Dazzling, sexy, slick entertainment--this is what I anticipated from “Pulp Fiction.” What I got instead was nausea, disgust and a general feeling of repulsion.

I did not appreciate the viewer reaction to the senseless violence. The audience overwhelmingly cheered on the movie’s heroes. Apparently the most hilarious moments were watching a man give an adrenaline shot to the heart of a woman who had just overdosed on drugs and a scene in which two men grappled with cleaning up the brains and blood of a man they inadvertently shot.

The biggest enthusiast was a young man sitting behind me. At credit roll, I turned around to get a glimpse of this troubled youth. He turned out to be a 40-ish man who had brought his son. The man jabbed his pre-teen boy in a father-son bonding manner and proudly boasted: “I’ll bet you’re the youngest person who has seen this film!”

And people wonder why there is so much violence in our schools.

As I left the theater, I couldn’t help but search for a kindred soul--another person who had been shaken up by this film. Looking face to face, I found what appeared to be the happiest group of people I’ve seen since the day I drove by a junior high on the last day of school.

How many of these moviegoers watched the news at night? Probably very few of these people had ever lost a friend to a violent act. Were they aware that they were living in a city that has an alarmingly high crime rate?

Maybe they just don’t care. Maybe they just don’t think that violence will ever seep into their neighborhood. To me, crime is not a laughing matter. I fail to see the brilliance in juxtaposing a violent murder with an insane joke. If more parents like the one behind me continue to misdirect their children, violence will undoubtedly spread to the suburbs.

This movie was, to me, indisputably disgusting. I do not believe in censorship. I am not urging theaters to cease showing this film. I am urging viewers to ask themselves why they are laughing.

LISA KOONTZ

Sherman Oaks