Tarantino ripped off a scene
Tarantino ripped off a scene from this movie in Pulp Fiction. The one where Uma Thurman gets stabbed with the needle
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So what...Tarantino is a huge ripoff artist.
Check out Mike White's short film that he made in film school called "You aren't fooling anybody"
Just wondering, is that the same Mike White who made The Good Girl?
To each his own, but if so I'll take Tarantino's plagiarized work over that underwhelming excercise in forced whimsy any ole day of the f-ing week.
Also, keep in mind that Tarantino did not "steal" the scene, but rather adapted the STORY into a visual scenario. Its the same thing as checking out an urban legends website and incorporating some of those "modern myths" into an otherwise unrelated screenplay...it spices up the story and adds that all-important element of surprise. That scene worked great in PF (character interactions are especially strong), just as I'm sure Prince's story is riveting in this film.
Also, if Tarantino's "theft" has inspired even a few more people to seek out this film, more power to him. I'll definitely be seeing it as soon as I can find a decent copy.
Remember: Every director "borrows" elements from influences that came before (Scorsese's work is as deeply indebted to the French New Wave as PT Anderson's films are indebted to Scorsese, for example). The key is interjecting a personal style that allows the viewer to appreciate familiar things in unfamiliar ways. Tarantino is a MASTER at this (esp. in PF) and it has rightfully become his cinematic calling card. But he's always honest about his influences and he wears his love for the things he "pillages" on his sleeve. With so many Hollywood hacks churning out derivative garbage (Bad Boys II anyone?), can't we at least stop villifying one of the best filmakers to come out of this country in the past 15 years?
A Beautiful Mind was entirely original (cinematically; I do know its based on a book). Pulp Fiction (in your opinion) was not. I've seen PF dozens of times. I'll never watch Ron Howard's film again.
Why is that?
Because for all of Tarantino's "stealing," his film tapped into something uniquely human that the tiresome melodrama of ABM (what an appropriate acronym!) couldn't come close to achieving. Isn't it ironic that a director commonly referred to as a "thief" could craft a single film that tops everything Ron Howard (an "original" filmmaker) has ever made. I'm reminded of Peter Bogdanovich's constant dismissal of Sergio Leone's films. Well, its 2004, and Leone's films have influenced COUNTLESS directors and are now hailed as genuine mastertpieces.
And Bogdanovich? Well, I didn't catch his ESPN biopic on Pete Rose, but I heard its awful. And while we're talking "masterpieces", I'll take The Good, the Bad and the Ugly over Daisy Miller any day!!
'Also, keep in mind that Tarantino did not "steal" the scene, but rather adapted the STORY into a visual scenario'
NO, you are wrong, wrong, wrong. tarantino STOLE it. he is a plagiarist.
'A lift that most people have missed is the heroin overdose scene with John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Eric Stoltz. Lance's (Stoltz) entire explanation of the proper usage of an adrenaline shot is taken, almost verbatim from a little seen 1976 Martin Scorsese documentary, "American Boy."
"American Boy," 1976
STEVEN PRINCE: I managed to get a lot of medical supplies... we had adrenaline shots... to bring you through when you OD. And this girl once OD'd on us. She was out (snaps finger).
I had a medical dictionary. You know how you give a (sic) adrenaline shot? The adrenaline needle is about that big (motions with hands) and you gotta get through the heart. And you have to put it in a stabbing motion (makes stabbing motion) and then plunge down.
I got the medical dictionary out, looked it up. Got a Magic Marker..made a Magic Marker where her heart was (laughs), measured down two or three ribs and I went...HUH! (makes sharp stabbing motion) and then (makes plunging motion with thumb) and then she came back like THAT! (snaps fingers) She just came right back like THAT! (snaps fingers again)
"Pulp Fiction," 1994
LANCE: I'm gonna get my little black medical book.
VINCENT VEGA: What I need is a big fat Magic Marker.
LANCE: You gotta bring the needle down in a stabbing motion. (makes stabbing motion) Once you do that, you press down on the plunger. (makes plunging motion with thumb)
VINCENT VEGA: What then?
LANCE: She's supposed to come out of it like THAT!(snaps fingers)'
http://www.ronlim.com/worldarchive/tarantino.html
Ah Selmaboots,
So I guess the whole overdose scene in Pulp Fiction only involved stabbing her in the heart with a needle huh? What about the rest of the scene, its about 7 minutes long...you provided a MAYBE one minute long quote there. That was my point, all Tarantino took was the framing device (injection to the heart) and a single line of dialogue ("bring it down in stabbing motion").
Don't you see what he was doing with the scene. He makes it look like the Eric Stolz's CHARACTER watched the American Boy documentary...thats why he knows all that. Speaking of which, have you seen American Boy it Selmaboots?
Or are you just wasting everyone's time. Because you've already wasted away whatever potential you once had.
To be fair, the plagiarised event is the most remembered part of that scene, regardless of whether or not there's 6 more minutes of Tarantino wafflelogue surrounding it.
I told you when I came I was a strangershare
Yes selma, I read your message the first time.
And the second.
And the third.
Anything new to add?
Didn't think so.
Here we go, one more time: HAVE YOU SEEN AMERICAN BOY?
Shouldn't you accuse both scenes of "ripping off" the proper way to give somebody an injection of adrenaline into their heart from medical textbooks?
Also, FYI, you're misusing the word "plagiarist". Since Tarantino readily admits to ripping off (his words) other movies for random little things, it doesn't pass the most basic part of plagiarism, which is pretending that you yourself created it. Beyond that, he didn't come close to stealing any words or wordings, as your evidence clearly shows. And, beyond that, it wasn't an original idea to steal from 'American Boy'; it's just what you do to give somebody an injection to the heart.
EDIT: One more -- anybody else think it's ironic that the source you're depending on for your information gets the year that wrong? Seriously, I'd say "pre-Taxi Driver" vs. "post-Taxi Driver" is a pretty important distinction in the career of Scorsese.
art imitates. i doubt tarantino was maliciously plagiarizing. rather, he was most likely giving homage to 'american boy' as a sign of respect.
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