28206, you're so wrong about this Posted by The Damaja, Sun Aug-21-05 03:49 PM
> >I'm listening. >
firstly, metaphors aren't supposed to be connected with their subject, as you ought to know
ask donne what individuals have to do with islands ask burns what love has to do with plantlife etc
>And like I said, the metric system/imperial system as metaphor >for morality is either: > >a)A pitiful, shitty metaphor for morality, as morality is >difficult to crystallize specifically because its abstract and >immaterial, while measurements are material. A 'yard' is the >same today as it was in 1900.A 'meter' is the same today as it >was in 1900. > >'Evil' is not the same today as it was in 1950. 'Evil' is not >the same in Brooklyn as it is in Nairobi. > >So if it was a metaphor, it was a shitty one, and should have >been left out. >
you're taking it beyond a simple metaphor and wanting it to be a full blown analogy we can entertain this if you want the metric system has come into common usage in english speaking coutries relatively recently, so actually it fits well since Tarantino's film is about how evil functions in MODERN society, where values have changed a lot (and yes the metric system is the one used by the criminal underworld of PF - the drug dealer weighs the heroine in grams)
anyway do you realize what you're saying? have you ever seen the statue called Justice outside the Old Bailey (you most likely have) have you noticed that in one hand it holds a sword and the other hand it holds a set of scales? THE FUCKING SCALES OF JUSTICE the most well known metaphor for justice/law/morality in the entire english language, probably in the world, probably in HISTORY
where is your argument NOW?
oh and guess what they talk about STRAIGHT after metric weight measurements... they talk about LAWS
>b)An even more pitiful example of how you, and Crouch, and >whoever else made that god awful connection, are good fiction >writers, focusing in on irrelevant details and manufacturing >false meaning for....whatever reason....trying to come across >intelligent to white folks, in Crouch's case. I don't know >what your excuse is. > >I'm willing to entertain the possibility that your simply an >idiot. >
this particular metaphor had nothing to do with Crouch, though several other critics/reviewers picked up on it in articles
heck, it might be the only part of Jules and Vince's dialogue in the entire film (with eachother) that's not OVERTLY about morality or theology, so thinking of it as a metaphor isn't entirely unreasonable
>>the difference between measurement systems is a fairly >decent >>metaphor for the difference between laws and moral codes > >No, its a terrible metaphor. > >The evolution of the differences between the imperial and >metric system are entirely different than the evolution of >laws and moral codes, and is therefore intuitively unhelpful >for putting across that point. >
this would be a problem if it was an analogy Tarantino was dwelling on extensively, which it isn't. it's a short metaphoric bit of conversation which recurrs in the next scene to create tension
>In fact, the only thing the imperial/metric dichotomy has in >common with the moral differences discussion is the fact that >metric/imperial systems are different, in which case the >characters in 'Pulp Fiction' could have been talking about any >given difference between two random nations, such as currency, >language, Gross National Product, Goverment, ethnicity, >Imports, Exports, Climate, Mean temperature, literacy rate, >infant mortality rate, population, per capita income, >population density, average humidity......... >
currency? would work, but it's far too obvious. "You know the funny thing about Europe about is the little differences. You know what they call dollars over there? Euros. It's because they have a different currency."
language? no, because it's not concerned with values. see also: climate, temperature, literacy rate, population, income,
GNP? just a scaled up version of mmoney
imports and exports? maybe you COULD make a good analogy with that one
OR you could just use WEIGHT MEASUREMENT, an easy topic to use, a metaphor that's already widely recognized
>.....a comparison of any of those would have been as good, or >better than the use of the metric/imperial systems because the >above characteristics are at least largely unique to single >countries..... > > >...yes that metaphor sucked, and you suck for defending it. >
your attack on this metaphor was not a good idea
|