The Wolf is the Lamb: Pulp Fiction's Saviour-type

"Redemption" is the grand theme of Pulp Fiction, and no discussion of Pulp Fiction's treatment of redemption (this being the 4th installment exploring the treatment) is complete without recognizing the saviour-type that Quentin Tarantino presents, who is none other than Winston Wolf.

I fully appreciate that some people might be uncomfortable with the idea of using gangster stories to portray Jesus or aspects of the salvation relationship; or, if that's not what Tarantino intended, then they might be uncomfortable with my interpreting the movie in this manner. 

I wouldn't presume to challenge you by saying "hey, what did you expect from DRD's Movie Musings? This ain't yo' mamma's prayer meeting"(although, by saying I won't say it, I just did, didn't I?) 

But, I will challenge you to read on, and then you tell us what you think.

American Gangster and the devil on 116th Street

In the movie The Usual Suspects, Roger "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey) answers Dave Kujon's (Chaz Palminteri) question: "Who is Keyser Soze? He is supposed to be Turkish. Some say his father was German. Nobody believed he was real. Nobody ever saw him or knew anybody that ever worked directly for him, but to hear Kobayashi tell it, anybody could have worked for Soze. You never knew. That was his power. "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

The Usual Suspects is a great movie, but it's a work of fiction.  American Gangster, however, is based on a true story, and not only speaks to the discussion of the devil's approach, but also reflects wonderful aspects of the salvation relationship.

Redemption & saviour types: Hollywood’s go-to sources

Hollywood is awash in studies on redemption. 

Some of the greatest movies of all time are explorations and treatments of this redemption theme, including the following popular titles which occupy high spots on the IMDb Top 250:

• The Godfather 
•  the Star Wars original trilogy (we're not going to even begin to discuss episodes 1-3 here)
•  Pulp Fiction  and, of course (wait for it…)
•  The Shawshank Redemption (and the word is baked-on into the title itself, isn't it? Nothing subtle or mysterious here at all).

Christianity is one of the primary forces that has shaped our Western society and culture, and this world religion holds redemption as a central theme. 

As such, we continue to return to its study as it is part of the foundation of our world view, even if we today are, as a society, more secular and more scientifically atheistic.