The strange history of the Pulp Fiction square

[@PointlessNostalgia]

The story about the car is a little convoluted. The car being stripped wasn't the Pulp Fiction car. But the VIN from that car being stripped had been cloned and put on the PF car. The PF car was in pristine shape in Bill's garage. Since it was stolen it was returned to Tarantino.

[@in2mindmedia]

I recognized the reference when I first saw the movie the year it came out. It's not a reference to a particular film, but it's a kind of cultural reference. It was used in a lot of places. It's kind of like an inside joke.

[@PointlessNostalgia]

Good point!

[@ItsUTUBEwhoCares]

Think of it like when the Matrix first did their slow motion action scenes. It was a cool gimick of the special effects that was cheap and available to everybody. A stylistic fad. Just a timestamp for an age that Tarantino loved.

[@PointlessNostalgia]

Oh I remember when that slow motion 360 was in a bunch of movies. Great shot.

[@Performence900]

I thank it just means: Dont be 2 dimensional

[@PointlessNostalgia]

Makes sense!

[@Jeff-z5y]

You do a great job researching and laying out information in an entertaining way. The tidbits about the Disney-owned building, the dance, the car story. I'm working my way through your videos and am sad that they don't have more views. Keep up the great work.

[@PointlessNostalgia]

Thanks so much! I glad you're watching them!

[@zarquondam]

Don't forget the use of the square-in-the-air in the 1959 short "Wildman of Wildsville" (which later became a 1962 episode of BEANY AND CECIL). That short is absolutely FILLED with Beatnik references. Also, in Disney's 1970 film ARISTOCATS, the cats make a square with their tails when they're singing "A square with a horn / makes you wish you weren't born / every time he plays / A square in the act / can set music back / to the caveman days" (during the song "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat"). By the way, Mia is using 1950s Beatnik slang like "square" and "daddy-o" because they're headed to a 1950s-themed diner.

[@PointlessNostalgia]

I have not seen Wildman! I will look it up! I did see the Aristocats and I will have to revisit it to see the square! Great points, thanks for watching!!

[@AnthonyL0401]

The square idea seems to be like quicksand in the 70s... people were referencing it suddenly. So QT referenced how he'd noticed several pop culture references to drawing a square on screen. It was his homage to some quirky thing he'd noticed and he finally put it wherever he could fit it, even though yes it did seem to not fit in the PF universe perhaps.

[@PointlessNostalgia]

Yes! I remember as a kid assuming that quicksand would be a major obstacle in my adult life and I needed to know how to get out of it.

[@PointlessNostalgia]

​​BTW: Betty said "you know, like 4 corners" as she made the square.

[@TryMyMartini]

I just happened upon your channel, and it is fantastic! Very interesting content, and excellent production. I was shocked when I saw that you don't have more subscribers than you do. Well you have another one now!

[@PointlessNostalgia]

That is so great to hear! Thank you so much for subscribing! Hope you enjoy the videos.

[@jravell]

A rectangle is also a square, so I never had a problem with the reference as such. You're thinking of a perfect square.

[@PointlessNostalgia]

Yeah, that’s true I guess. But if I’m drawing a square I’m definitely not going to draw a rectangle! Thanks so much for watching the video

[@highviewbarbell]

a rectangle has 4 right angles, but it is no a square. a square has 4 right angles and sides of equal length. all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares. "perfect squares" is a math term regarding square numbers whose square root is an integer (4, 9, 16, 25, 36, etc) and has nothing to do with shapes beyond the fact that they can be written as squared numbers (2^2, 3^2, 4^2, etc)

[@mayerbasic7004]

I thought maybe the square was supposed to deliberately resemble a movie screen. A meta-commentary of sorts. But probably just an obscure 50s reference. Outstanding research!

[@PointlessNostalgia]

Oh! That is a interesting thought! You may be on to something!

[@MartinBeerbom]

For a while, I harbored the idea that it's a rectangle because the movie was shot in anamorphic Panavision, so the optical FX would be applied to a horizontally squeezed image. During projection, the image would be unsqueezed, stretching the square to a rectangle. But of course it's nonsense, since the animators had to match Ums's hand position. Still... In any case, the scene always bothered me because I didn't understand it. I knew the phrase "Don't be a square", but since this rectangle is so far away from being square, I didn't make the connection.

[@PointlessNostalgia]

Yeah, I think your idea makes sense at first glance. Just an interesting factoid about a great flick!

[@karenleemallonee684]

I have never seen this movie, Pulp Fiction, yet I still found the video very fascinating! 👍👍

[@PointlessNostalgia]

Well, that’s pretty high phrase! Thank you so much for watching the video!

[@robertfreitag687]

Squarehead was an ethnic slur against Germans from the early 20th century. Kind of fits in with stereotypes about their alleged uptight, starchy presentation. Ultimately, I think it comes from some goofy shit about phrenology or some such.

[@PointlessNostalgia]

I didn’t know that about Germany! Very good knowledge!! Thanks for watching!

[@ihopetowin]

Tarantino's just hinting at a bunch of "square" references he's seen, I don't know what the mystery is, it's nothing so very profound.

[@PointlessNostalgia]

Yeah, maybe no specific one. But do you know of any other square scenes? Seems like all of these were made for children.

[@jhberg17]

Tarantino never saw a movie that he couldn’t homage the shit out of.. even cartoons.

[@PointlessNostalgia]

True true. I found some great kung fu movies because of him.

[@SlapShotRegatta22]

Finally understand? Isn't it "don't be a [square]"?

[@PointlessNostalgia]

Yeah, but I didn’t know it was a reference to so many other movies and I still don’t fully understand why it’s a rectangle!

[@folkalchemy]

Don’t be a rectangle

[@PointlessNostalgia]

😁

[@kyleallmeister2186]

A rectangle can be square, but a square can't be rectangle. I'm not sure if you are joking or not in your video? Definitely didn't think this was the weirdest thing in the movie by any means.

[@PointlessNostalgia]

I definitely get your point that technically a rectangle is a square. But if you were making a movie and you wrote "draws square on screen" would you not care if the actress drew a rectangle? It just seems like an odd choice. Thanks for watching the video!

[@kyleallmeister2186]

@@PointlessNostalgia I don't think so. I actually think it's a pretty neat scene!

[@PointlessNostalgia]

@@kyleallmeister2186 I do too. Just found it curious and decided to look into it.

[@rehorekMichal]

Hi there, random viewer. Don't waste your time. The explanation of the "square" is never given. Only random semi-fun facts about Oprah... The guy just likes to listen to himself jabber pointlessly, I guess.

[@PointlessNostalgia]

Hey, thanks for taking the time to comment. I honestly did my best to explain the history of the square in media and provide facts that were relevant to the movie scene. The Oprah moment from the academy award show involved Uma Thurman who was there because of this film. I only briefly covered it because it was a pop culture moment that was connected to this film’s academy award night. As for your last point about me jabbering pointlessly, I am guilty as charged. 😂 Hope you have a great day and sorry that the video wasn’t for you!

[@ianfreud]

I enjoyed it, but thanks.

[@PointlessNostalgia]

Great to hear! Thanks for watching!

[@rehorekMichal]

​@@PointlessNostalgia Thanks for the response. I just expected to be presented with the answer to the question in the title (which I see is now changed) and did not receive it in the 9 minutes of my time. The "explanation" of the square suddenly went to nowhere, yet the video continued on unrelated topics... You could have just said in the beginning "I don't know, here are some Pulp Fiction facts though!".