The Has Been And The Never Was :: essays research papers

The Has Been and The Never WasThis is the story of two very contrary individuals who, up until a certain point, could have been called The Has Been and The Never Was. They are two successful actors who pursued slightly different paths to fame. When the two were cast in concert in the same image, their performances were nothing short of spectacular. They proved to all of Hollywood that they were A-list, bankable Talent, and deserved the professional respect accorded to people of this caliber. The movie that they appeared in was Pulp Fiction and the actors are John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson.First, a few outline sentences about the film that many people call one of the superlative ever made (a simple search on the Internet brings up over 50,000 websites devoted to the movie). Directed by a then unproved Quentin Tarantino, who Roger Ebert calls The Jerry Lee Lewis of cinema, a pounding performer who doesnt care if he bust up the piano, as long as everybody is rocking (Chica go Sun-Times 10-94) the movie is a gang of several short-stories into a larger story. Tarantino ignores the concept of time, going forwards and rearward in such a way that the ending and the beginning of the movie are almost the same scene. This nonlinear way of shooting, combined with the splendiferous acting of Travolta, and Jackson make the film one that can be watched a dozen times, and every time the viewer will shoot down something different away from it.The Has-beenJohn Travolta is an actor whose career has seen as many downs as it has seen ups. An awe-inspiring Hollywood star of the late 70s and archean 80s, Travolta was the youngest of six children born to tire salesman and former semi-pro football player Salvatore Travolta and exalted school drama teacher Helen Travolta on February 18, 1954 in Englewood, NJ. Being the cosset of the family, Travolta grew up pampered. The Travolta children were encouraged to be creative, and would stage shows in the basement of their home. By age twelve, John knew he wanted to be an actor, having already united an acting workshop in his hometown. He soon began appearing in local theater and began taking tap lessons from Gene Kellys brother Fred. Travolta admits he picked up a lot of moves from TVs Soul Train, and he ascribes his love for jump to the fact that his high school was fifty percent black.