What is 'Pulp Fiction'? The Title of Tarantino's Best Film is Related to Vincent and... a Loo

When Tarantino called the film Pulp Fiction, he wasn't kidding. It's not just a reference to cheap paperback crime novels. It's a diagnosis.

First of all, for one specific character: Vincent Vega. He's the one who carries that very "pulp fiction" — cheap literature — in his hands and, most importantly, reads it exclusively on the loo, the site of his fatal end.

The film's cover should have featured Vincent

Vincent's entire arc is a series of comical mistakes involving toilets, illegal substances, and his complete incompetence. He leaves his gun on the table when he needs to hide it, doesn't put it on safety, which means he has to scrub the car. He goes to the toilet when he needs to guard a boxer. He gets distracted by books when someone's life is at stake. And most importantly, almost all of the film's disasters happen when Vincent is doing his business in the loo.

He doesn't check the bathroom when there's an armed assailant hiding in it. He doesn't take the illegal drug out of his jacket pocket, leaving Mia a chance to overdose. He sits on the toilet in Butch's house for too long — and pays for it with his life.

The whole series of failures begins after his return from Holland. He is no longer an experienced killer, but a person unsuitable for the profession because of his addiction. Because of it, he has problems with his intestines, which is why the hero carries around with him the so-called "Pulp Fiction" a cheap detective novel.

This is where the symbolic layer of the title is hidden. The film is called Pulp Fiction not because it is about criminal showdowns worthy of a novel. But because the main character gets into awkward situations between urgent needs.

If Tarantino had been a little more straightforward, he would have put Vincent on the cover, right on the loo.