PLUp Fiction

So what exactly is Pulp Fiction? True, it is a 1994 film directed by Quentin Tarantino in which Los Angeles mobsters depicted by Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta wreck bloody havoc in the streets. However, the term pulp fiction did not originate in the cinema or in the 1990s. It stems out of a form of creative writing that was largely popular among the American public in the early to mid 20th century. Labeled as 'pulp magazines' because of the low grade paper used to make the pages between the covers, pulp magazines overwhelmed news stands in the 30s and 40s. Although the pages of the story were of sub par quality, the covers were what really drew readers attention with their vibrant, colorful, and dramatic depictions of heroic situations.

The magazines themselves spanned a variety of genres including adventure, westerns and detective stories. Each individual issue offered a slightly new take on the quintessential struggle of good versus evil, most often involving a mythic hero defeating a mysterious villain to save a damsel in distress. Most importantly, the magazines offered cheap entertainment (10 cents an issue) to working class young adults and teenagers in a culture where the majority of the population didn't have television. Pulps allowed their readership to experience people, places and adventures that they did not have access to in their daily lives. They helped create a shared identity among those who read regularly, brining people together who would not normally have conversed.

Needless to say, American culture and society have come a long way from the mass distribution of comic books, but the role of people engaging with each other has not decreased in importance. The problem today is that so much information circulates various types of media platforms that there is hardly a chance for collectivist discussions to take place. Selective perception of material creates different opinions and combating viewpoints which, more often than not, lead to disagreement instead of debate or conversation. By starting this blog I hope to channel some ideas about issues that are relevant our lives as young people in the world that we have inherited from our parents. The nature of posts will not always be profound or serious but hopefully they will allow many people to come into contact with things they would not have found on their own time and spark new interests to explore. I encourage anyone who reads this to reflect on viewpoints and circumstances that are not your own, to see things in a different light from what you have been taught. While you may not change your opinion, considering two sides of the same story creates understanding between enemies and generates new knowledge. So in celebration of Tarantino's version of Pulp Fiction lets see what sort of rich, eclectic dialogue we can create in the context of a nonlinear storyline.

-Patrick

I leave you with this link to ponder...check it out!
(Gemineye - Poetic Bloodlines)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPz9lL0y8sE&feature=related

"Tonight has just begun, everything is alright my son, you see I need you...I use poetry to teach people, the world I created has been overrun by ignorant thinking and I need poets to take the world back and break the curse...."