Quentin Tarantino: Definitive Guide To Homages, Influences And References

Pulp Fiction

15. Another Madonna Reference

Fabienne mentions that she would like to have a pot belly, and makes a reference to Madonna in the music video for "Lucky Star." Interestingly, there's been much speculation as to why exactly Fabienne might want a pot belly: many people believe that she is referring to being pregnant.

14. Modesty Blaise

The book Vincent is reading on the toilet in the dinner is Modesty Blaise. This series of novels (originally a comic book), which first appeared in 1963, follows a sexy secret agent of the same name. It's also the book Vincent has clasped in his hands when Butch guns him down in his apartment. Why would he be reading this book? Presumably he was inspired by Mia Wallace's talk of Fox Force Five, the fictional TV show about a "team of female secret agents."

13. Linda Kaye's Cameos

The unlucky lady who is shot on the street by Marcellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction after Butch runs him over in the Honda is the same woman who is violently pulled from her car by Mr. Pink during the diamond heist in Reservoir Dogs. Both characters, presumed to be the same unlucky person, were played by actress Linda Kaye.

Pulp Fiction

12. Lash LaRue

During the chapter when The Wolf is called in to fix Vincent's trigger happy mistake, The Wolf refers to him as "Lash LaRue." Lash LaRue was a popular western actor in the 1940s and 1950s, presumably one that Tarantino would remember over the span of his long television career. Interestingly, Lash LaRue was the one who taught Harrison Ford to use a bullwhip for the Indiana Jones films.

11. Don't Be A Square...

Mia tells Vincent not to be "a square" and draws one in the air with her fingers. It appears as a construction made out of dotted lines and disappears after a second. There's no clear origin as to where this first appeared in popular culture, but Tarantino most likely got it from either The Flinstones, The Parent Trap, Sam & Friends or Looney Toons, all of which contain moments in which a character draws a square in the air and has it appear as a series of dotted lines, before disappearing.

10. Brown Or White?

Buddy Holly asks Mia how she wants her $5 shake: Amos & Andy or Martin & Lewis? This references to the fact that Amos & Andy were a popular black 50s double act, and Martin & Lewis were a white 50s double act. What he's asking her, then, is if she wants her shake to be chocolate or vanilla.