[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

My honest opinion of why Reservoir Dogs was more overtly racist than the later flicks is I think Tarrantino himself realized he inaccurately used racism as a device, that the lines were too blurred, and he began to shift towards developing the plot and character development more clearly in the films. I think Pulp Fiction reflects that as again, "nigga" is generally used more than "nigger" and especially in the scene with the contrast between the experience of Butch and Vince with Marceles.. When Marceles asks Butch, "Are you my nigga?" I think its very clear that Butch interpreted that to mean "are you my nigger" as in "are you my bitch" because he clearly didn't like the situation and replied "it certainly appears so" whereas when Vince came in Marceles was like "Vincent Vega is in the house? My nigga" and Vince goes over and has a bromance moment!

I don't think Butch is any way a racist character, but what we see is that within the film itself Tarrantino acknowledges the cultural difference between "nigga" and "nigger".. That is what makes the Jimmy scene all the more perplexing! I mean, that interchange between the Butch and Vince scenes is seamless and flawless transition between the two different uses of the "same" word based on inflection and cultural sub-meaning...

My own personal feeling is that Jimmy meant to say "nigga" but was so damned nervous (as he clearly was flustered, the acting in that scene is BAD, and we have to imagine that was the "best" take since you know, films are edited for quality) he didn't pull it off and between all the bad takes that was the better of the mix and made the final cut.

And when Tarrantino reflects on it, he supposes, "Hey Jimmy has a black wife, Jules is his friend.." so the people will understand that Jimmy isn't really racist just slightly confused in his vocabulary and slang