"Be Sure To Tip Your Waitress"

One of the most common norms in modern culture is the tipping of your waitresses and/or waiters.  In the very first scene of Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino challenges this ideology that we must tip our waitresses and waiters.

In the scene above, “Nice Guy” Eddie tells everyone to pitch in some money for the group’s tip for their waitress.  Everyone digs into their wallets for cash, all except for Mr. Pink.  When Eddie verbally pushes Mr. Pink for not tipping, Mr. Pink replies with, “I don’t tip”, “I don’t believe in it”.

Eddies continues to push Mr. Pink asking if he never tips.  Mr. Pink then replies, “I don’t tip because society says I have to”.  He goes on saying he only tips if the waitress really deserves it.  He goes on saying that his refusal to tip won’t cause the waitress to starve.  Mr. Pink’s reasoning is that they work a minimum wage job, and when he had a minimum wage job, society didn’t deem his job tip worthy.  He then compares waitresses and McDonald’s employees.  He says that they are two very similar jobs, yet you only tip the one and not the other.  Mr. Pink continues his point by saying, “Society says, don’t tip these guys over here, but tip these guys over here”.

Classic Comedian Final Words

Mr. Pink and Quentin Tarantino are implying to the viewer in this scene that we don’t tip because the waitress/waiter did a good enough job or that we feel compelled to through generosity, but rather that society tells us to.  The dominant interest here is that tipping is a ruse set up by society to give a select few of individuals your money.  Right at the beginning of Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino hammers the viewer with an idea that a belief repeatedly impressed upon them through out their life is nothing more than a shepherd’s cane that society is using to herd them in the direction that it wants them to go in.  In this scene, Tarantino makes the simple phrase “Be sure to tip your waitress” seem like the world's most controversial topic.

However, Tarantino writes Mr. Pink’s own downfall to his ideology through Mr. Blue and Mr. White’s argument that many waitresses depend on their tips to make a living.  Mr. Pink also says if a waitress doesn’t make enough money she can quit, but it isn’t that simple.  If a waitress is depending on her minimum wage job and her tips to provide for her life, tuition, and/or family, then she cannot risk become unemployed and search for a job that may not be available.  In other words, her only options are either employment at her crumby job or unemployment with a high chance of poverty.

Character Analysis

Reservoir Dogs by Quentin Tarantino is a crime flick about six men who know nothing about one another being contracted by a professional criminal and his son to rob a jewel store.  In one scene from Reservoir Dogs, the boss named Joe, gives the each of the six contracts their own alias.  Using this scene, we can analyze each character with semiotics.

Joe (Lawrence Tierney)

This first character you see is Joe.  In this scene, Joe gives each character their name and when Mr. Pink questions his name, Joe snaps back rudely.  When Mr. Pink asks to pick his own name, Joe says he “tried that once”.  This shows Joe is experienced in leading crime.   He also repeatedly refers to his decision being final.  He establishes his dominance over the other men and shows he is the alpha-male.  “There’s two ways you can go on this job, my way or the highway.”  As well as being adamant in his decision, he is also short tempered and is easily angered by Mr. Pink.

Mr. Brown (Quentin Tarantino)

The first character to receive his alias is Mr. Brown.  Mr. Brown isn’t one of the big characters, being in only a few scenes, but enough is gathered in the scene to show that he tries to be the funny guy of the group.  After Joe calls Mr. Pink a faggot, you can hear Mr. Brown laughing like a little kid.  He also seems like the only person in the room who would complain about being Mr. Brown for such a pathetic reason as being similar to dung.

Mr. White (Harvey Keitel)

Mr. White is the next person given an alias.  Throughout the scene, you cans see Mr. White looking at Joe respectfully as his superior.  He also attempts to establish peace in the group by telling Mr. Pink that no one care what his name is, which is again respecting Joe and his decisions.  Out of every character in the warehouse, Mr. White is the man most likely to say, “sir, yes sir” to Joe.

Mr. Blond (Michael Madsen)

When you see Mr. Blond named, you notice that his head is cocked to the side and he is slouching in his chair.  His body language is showing that he is the cocky one in the group and that he is full of himself.  He acknowledges Joe’s decisions and understands the rules, but he has his own way in doing things.  This is shown throughout the movie as he turns the heist into a blood fest and in many more scenes.

Mr. Blue (Edward Bunker)

Mr. Blue is one of the quiet ones not only in this scene but also the entire movie.  Not much is known about him and his silence adds more of the mystery to his character.

Mr. Orange (Tim Roth)

Mr. Orange also remains quiet and his slouched posture in this scene shows he is calm and collected.  It is made clear at this point in the movie that he is an undercover cop and the way he acts in this scene demonstrates how he blends into the gang in order to avoid blowing his cover.

Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi)

Mr. Pink is the last character Joe names in this scene and he is the own who puts up the most fuss about his name.  This shows he is a very whiny person.  He repeated complains in the scene and argues with Joe.  One can also conclude that Mr. Pink seeks trouble which is demonstrated in the rest of the movie.  And finally, Mr. Pink cowers away from Joe after Joe gets red in the face with anger.

"Nice Guy" Eddie (Chris Penn)

The final character in this scene is Joe’s son, “Nice Guy” Eddie.  He is another character who is silent in this scene but his silence is out of respect for his dad.  He looks up to his dad – as any son would – and he looks down towards the other characters as if he is better than them, putting himself on equal ranking and authority as his dad.

Just from some semiological analysis in this short scene, we are able to identify every main character in Reservoir Dogs and establish characteristics or personalities for each character.