" Pulp Fiction Deserved to Win": Animating Affective Responses to Tarantino's Masterpiece

Abstract: This article considers the intense and sustained fan reaction towards Pulp Fiction (since its 1994 release) through the lens of affect and animation. Specifically, the article draws on Sianne Ngai's concept of animatedness (the act of feeling and being moved) and Roland Barthes's idea of photography animating spectators in divergent and personal ways. Much of these animated and affective responses stem from Pulp Fiction losing to Forrest Gump (1994) at the 1995 Academy Awards, the latter often described as "one of the worst Best Picture winners ever." The faults of Forrest Gump enhance the qualities of Pulp Fiction , a symbiotic relationship formed over the past 30 years by such emotive and hyperbolic language.