Urban Legends -- The Pulp Fiction Briefcase (All Lies)

The Legend

One of the important plot points in Quentin Tarantino's movie Pulp Fiction is a briefcase that, when opened, lets out a brilliant light. The audience never sees what is in the briefcase, but characters in the movie are always impressed by the sight of whatever it is.

So, what is in the briefcase?

It's not really that much of a mystery. Just check out the movie's credits and you will see that a number of corporations are thanked. One of them is a certain snack food maker who agreed to pay a product placement fee, even though Tarantino was going to use their product in a very indirect way.

That's right, Marsellus Wallace's briefcase is filled with delicious golden Twinkies.

Behind the Legend

Although the prop briefcase on the set of Pulp Fiction did indeed contain an assortment of carefully arranged unwrapped Twinkies (and one seriously bright light), this does not necessarily indicate that Twinkies are what the filmmaker intended viewers to think of. In fact, so far as the film is concerned, the suitcase could contain Zingers, vanilla Hostess Cupcakes, or even a home-made angel-food cake. There is no definitive way to tell.

Other unsubstantiated theories about what the briefcase might hold (spread though fan Web sites and discussion boards) include:

According to Tarantino and screenplay cowriter Roger "Tex" Avery, the briefcase's contents are none of our damned business.

All information on this site is, to the best of our knowledge, false.
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