To start this off, let’s discuss Uma Thurman.
Uma Thurman, for many men, is what you could call a ‘problematic WB’ (would bang). Many men find Uma’s face off-putting and unattractive. I understand their position and I do not hold it. Uma has wide set eyes, a slightly larger nose and is racially ambiguous. Uma Thurman’s father is ‘American’ (Scottish, English and German) and her mother is Mexican. Uma has sexy, full lips. Say what you will about Uma Thurman’s eyes, but they’re undoubtedly mysterious and alluring. Uma’s father Robert Thurman, one of the world’s most prolific professors on Tibetan Buddhism. She was raised Buddhist.
In Pulp Fiction, Uma Thurman plays Mia Wallace, the wife of a black criminal boss named Marcellus Wallace. Let’s leave aside the coal burning element to this story for the sake of continuing the essay (please). Mia’s husband asks one of his hitmen, Vincent Vega (played by John Travolta) to keep her company while he’s out of town and to show her a good time. There are two scenes before Mia is introduced to Vincent where a bunch men laugh at him. Essentially, they warn him that he’s NGMI.
Mia invites Vincent inside her apartment from a home speaker system and teases him while he paces around her home nervously while she snorts coke and gets ready. Immediately you know that Mia is aware of the power that she holds over men.
Mia and Vincent then go to an 50’s styled restaurant with a dance floor, sit down and awkwardly make small talk. In this scene you learn that Mia has a down to earth, relatable side after she tells some embarrassing stories about herself. Before I keep going, let’s discuss Vincent Vega.
It’s difficult to describe Vincent Vega without using the indefinable word ‘cool’. Vincent is cool. Vincent doesn’t really give a shit about anything. Vincent was hired to do a job and doesn’t worry much about the ‘whys’ of the world, as we learn later during his theological discussion with Jules (played by Samuel L. Jackson). Vincent is handsome, dresses well and does high end drugs when he can and still gets shit done. Vincent just wants to get paid. Above all, Vincent Vega is practical.
Moving on. Mia and Vincent continue their date by pushing themselves through forced small talk. Vincent doesn’t really want to be there but he’s being paid to be there. He’s not trying to fuck Mia. He just wants to do what he has to do then go home. Both Mia and Vincent both look visibly uncomfortable. Then suddenly, Mia breaks the awkward silence.
“Don’t you hate that? Uncomfortable silences. Why do we feel it’s necessary to yack about bullshit in order to be comfortable? That’s when you know you found someone really special: when you can just shut the fuck up for a minute and comfortable share silence.”
Imagine a girl saying that to you on a first date?
In this scene, Mia did what men are supposed to do on a date, which is to cross the line. To upgrade the date from pretending like you’re not attracted to the other person to making it clear that you aren’t there to just make small talk. However, Vincent isn’t trying to fuck Mia, which he makes clear with his body language. Mia, however, is trouble. Hence why Vincent friend’s assured him he’s NGMI.
Mia goes to the bathroom to ‘powder her nose’ (do a few lines of coke) and looks herself in the mirror before going back to Vincent. At 16 seconds into the above clip, Mia gives herself a look. An extremely confident, mischievous look. She knows what she’s about to do. She knows the power that she possesses over men. Mia doesn’t have Vincent locked in yet, but is very excited and confident about the challenge.
Mia returns to the table. An opportunity arises for them to enter a dance contest. Vincent is hesitant at first but Mia demands that he dance with her by threatening his job. “I do my believe Marcellus, my husband and your boss told you to take me out and do whatever I wanted. Now I want to dance. I want to win. I want that trophy. So dance good.” Vincent happily accepts the challenge.
Mia and Vincent dancing is a sex scene. The chemistry that breaks out between Mia and Vincent is nothing short of magical; I wouldn’t be surprised if they later fucked off-set. There was some innuendo in the scene leading up to the dance, but whatever it is that draws them to each other, whatever it is they both become when left alone together, comes out in full force when they dance together. Chemistry is the most mysterious force in the universe.
At first Mia and Vincent simply get looser, transitioning from not dancing to dancing. Oiling their gears. Then, Vincent checks out Mia while she’s dancing.
He’s hooked. Mia’s confidence and sexuality enraptures him. He wants her.
And Mia knows it. She backs away and starts to physically draw him in with a devilish look in her eye.
Mia starts dancing closer to Vincent, essentially telling him “Yes. What you think is happening is happening.” Vincent just realized what the fuck he just got himself into and submits to wherever the night is going to lead him. They both look each other dead in the eyes.
They both let loose. Dancing however they feel like in the moment, completely effortlessly. This is the moment during sex when they are both completely lost in their chemistry. No self-awareness. No concern about how they look or how they’re performing. Both operating as one entity. Completely taken over whatever powerful force is pulling them together. This is something Buddhists attempt to achieve by meditating for decades. Complete submission into the moment.
For the rest of the scene, Mia and Vincent are essentially fucking on stage for the entire crowd to see. They win the contest.
Vincent takes her home and they dance themselves into her apartment. Vincent dips Mia. As she comes up and they both look each other up and down for about 6 seconds. In the world of raw intimacy, this is an eternity. Vincent says “Is that what you call an uncomfortable silence?” Mia responds, “I don’t know WHAT you call that.”
At this point, Vincent could have made a move right then and there. But he didn’t, so Mia suggests she’s going to put on music and make drinks. Mia may know how to seduce a man but she would never make the first move. Vincent declares he’s going to take a piss, Mia tells him that’s TMI.
I won’t walk you through the rest of the scene because it has more to do with Vincent trying to save his own ass than Mia and Vincent’s intimacy. Vincent goes upstairs and starts talking to himself in the mirror, telling himself out loud the reasons why he shouldn’t fuck her. This goes on for quite a while; Vincent eventually concludes that he’s going to say goodbye, go home, jerk off and not fuck his boss’s wife (wise!).
While Vincent is dealing with this life-or-death dilemma, Mia mistakes his bag of purely cut heroin for cocaine, does a massive line then overdoses and almost dies. Fast forward past the scene where Vincent stabs her in the heart with a giant syringe of adrenaline, he eventually takes Mia home again.
Vincent, understanding that he almost just fucked and killed his boss’s wife, asks Mia if she’s going to stay silent.
The thing about girls like Mia is that while they’re crazy and wild, they often have an ethical code. Yes, she will cheat on her mafia boss husband with one of his hitmen, but she’ll go to the grave before she rats on him for it. Wild women are complicated. Not all wild women are all like that, but Mia is of a specific type. She’s seen some shit. She’s wild but has things under control. She’s calculated. She knows what’s at stake and uses her power carefully. This is why Vincent’s friends said he’s NGMI. By pure luck, he did, by the skin of his teeth.
The Mia and Vincent scene in Pulp Fiction is about a wild night that takes on a life of its own. This scene is about submitting not only to the moment, but submitting to the kind of chemistry that comes around extremely rarely. Quentin Tarantino is good at creating rare chemistry between people. No one knows why Mia and Vincent have the chemistry that they do, as chemistry cannot be defined or measured. Trying to figure it out is fruitless. Some people never allow life to throw exciting predicaments at them because they never put themselves in situations where it can happen. Life isn’t going to get exciting while staying at home. Those who do experience this kind of chemistry must submit to it, because sometimes life is calling you. Both Vincent and Mia said yes and ended up with a story that neither of them will ever forget. And they will never forget each other. Saying no to unquestionable chemistry is to say no to what fate has in store for you.
As one who social dances, the most seductive part about finding chemistry with a woman is being able to find that body flow with them in the moment. You’re not thinking about your bullshit job or about your to do list at home. Just ebbing and flowing in the art form. I highly recommend it as a hobby.
I know exactly the moments you’re talking about. The seem to be moments that you have to earn. They’re moments that when you pass through you come out the other side, a one way portal that can’t be undone. Your makeup and has experienced and irreversible change. The frequency of these moments is a factor to the fullness of my life