The use of ultra-violence in films is a common thing in modern films and it is mostly used as an attraction to make a film action packed. In neo-noir films, however, the use of ultra-violence signifies a deeper meaning. It is used to portray a very surreal environment in which we live in. The violence in films such as Kill Bill by Quentin Tarantino might seem excessive to most, but it only serves to illustrate just how horrifying the reality can be in patriarchal hierarchical societies ruled by a single “god”. In this essay, I will discuss how the attempted murder of The Bride by Bill, the rape of The Bride by the male nurse in the hospital, and the rape and murder of O-Ren Ishii’s mother by Boss Tanaka shows how Tarantino wants us to understand how women are treated by men in the traditional realist world.
The opening scene of the film shows Bill crashing The Bride’s wedding in a chapel in El Paso. Having killed all the guests, he then proceeds to step on The Bride’s throat and shoots her. This opening scene is very important in Tarantino’s portrayal of the oppression of women in the traditional realist world. Bill stepping on The Bride’s throat, making it hard for her to speak, shows
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This shows how the oppression continues beyond women being deprived of a voice of their own. The Bride was rendered helpless by the actions of Bill and is being treated by a hospital. But even in the hospital where The Bride is supposed to recover, her state of helplessness was taken advantage of by the man in charge of her recovery to benefit himself. Tarantino is showing that if we make women powerless in our world, men will take advantage of it and use to their own benefit with no regards to the women’s
Each of these concepts are utilized at the advantage of men, and the disadvantage of women, and has shown to provide detrimental consequences and results for women in society. However, in this film, and other films by Tyler Perry, appear to take the added step to combat these aspects that are present in the media’s portrayal of women. While these are present in the movie, he often makes a point to combat it with an inverse portrayal of each
Kill! Kill!”, by Russ Meyers express social criticism pertaining to feminism; however, rather they use strange aesthetic to shroud their underlying message to not make their movies feel preachy. Both films have very unusual aesthetics, which “Run Lola Run” featuring a cyclical narrative driven by pervasive techno-music, and “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!”
Finally, horror movies do not appeal to the worst in us. The fact that it appeals to the senses of others with a taste for horror, or to those with underlying mental disorders does not assert that it will trigger a dark side—presumed to be—enclosed inside of all of us. Consequently, king’s statement “horror movies appeal to the worst in us, “is subjective and generalized. One is indeed, capable of lynching, although not all.
She points to the deficiency of the Bakhtinian theory that fails to establish dialogism between the grotesque body and the female one. While explaining that although he relates the grotesque body to the images of womb, pregnancy and childbirth, he fails to recognize their close affinity to “to social relations of gender” (The Female Grotesque: Risk, Excess and Modernity 63). She condemns the Bakhtinian contradictory treatment of the female body, which simultaneously celebrates its generative and subversively debasing potential and abbreviates it to be a mere vessel to give new birth (RW 240). While trying to explain what “remains repressed and undeveloped” in her male counterpart, Russo points to the subversive potential of the female grotesque to overthrow the normative constraints on female actand look (Russo 63). “[D]efined […] in relation to the ideal, standard, or normative form” of the twentieth century, this work tends to argue that the female grotesque in contemporary age still has the power to create horror as it plays a fundamental role “to identity formation for both men and women as a space of risk and abjection” (Russo 12, Miles
The themes of masculinity and American ideals heavily influence this film. Men are presented to be powerful in this film, and that power derives from the fact that they carry guns and commit acts of violence. In the film, almost all of the males have either a pistol or a shotgun. This depiction is inaccurate, as most people in the west didn’t own a firearm. In contrast, women in the film are portrayed to be the weaker gender, being present only to take care of their partner.
For example Anthony says, “but this oligarchy of sex, which makes father, brothers, husband, sons, the oligarchs over the mother and sisters, the wife and daughters, of every household” This is very sad since women and girls should not be ruled or told what to do because they are thought of to be less than man. The constitution is in place to have a unified country not to have an oligarchy of men lead households. The pathos appeal is used to show what suffering women are going through due to men ruling them, and not knowing how to fight back. Susan B. Anthony in her speech also says, “Are women persons?.....and no state has the right to make a law, or to enforce an old law, that shall abridge their privileges and immunities.”, which also connects with the emotions of the audience. She is trying to make people feel bad that women are treated less even though they are just as righteous as men to have the same privileges.
However, film critic, Robin Wood, argues that ‘since Psycho, the Hollywood cinema has implicitly recognised horror as both American and familial’ he then goes on to connect this with Psycho by claiming that it is an “innovative and influential film because it supposedly presents its horror not as the produce of forces outside American society, bit a product of the patriarchal family which is the fundamental institution of American society” he goes on to discuss how our civilisation either represses or oppresses (Skal, 1994). Woods claim then suggests that in Psycho, it is the repressions and tensions within the normal American family which produces the monster, not some alien force which was seen and suggested throughout the 1950 horror films. At the beginning of the 60’s, feminisation was regarded as castration not humanization. In “Psycho” (1960) it is claimed that the film presents conservative “moral lessons about gender roles of that the strong male is healthy and normal and the sensitive male is a disturbed figure who suffers from gener confusion” (Skal, 1994). In this section of this chapter I will look closely at how “Psycho” (1960) has layers of non-hetro-conforming and gender-non conforming themes through the use of Norman Bates whose gender identitiy is portrayed as being somewhere between male and female
In her feminist film theory essay, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema", Laura Mulvey uses psychoanalysis to criticize and scrutinize the fetishism, scopophilia, and eroticism in Hollywood mainstream cinema. What Daughters of the Dust executes impeccably roots from radically abandoning the cultural conventions that depict women as subservient and submissive to patriarchal
While in the second frame, viewing the simultaneous response as the victim is being murdered by her psychic power. These editing techniques assist in the message of feminism as Carrie holds superiority, and total control over both frames of the scene as well as her supernatural capabilities. This ultimately hints towards the women’s liberation movement, as Carrie is now free from her
Vengeance has been an ongoing problem for many centuries. In the long run, with the new generation, they have been following the same pattern to get revenge, without knowing the reasons why. If no one is willing to stop and think it over, to evaluate if it’s worth the risk, then the act of vengeance will be ongoing at the cost of many lives. Many people do not realize that having to avenge the death of a loved one will take so much time and patience in their lives. In the short story, “An Act of Vengeance,” by Isabel Allende, the issue involves a young girl who gets raped by Tadeo Cespedes, whom also killed her father on the same day.
Black women are treated less than because of their ascribed traits, their gender and race, and are often dehumanized and belittled throughout the movie. They are treated like slaves and are seen as easily disposable. There are several moments throughout the film that show the racial, gender, and class inequalities. These moments also show exploitation and opportunity hoarding. The Help also explains historical context of the inequality that occurred during that time period.
Based off of this text, the descriptive details of the actions of both the woman and audience members are quite noteworthy. All these phrases used throughout the excerpt connect back to one idea: this woman is represented as a sex symbol, and nothing more; she is not of a great social status and is not praised in society; this is similar to back then when slaves were viewed as maids and nothing of greater significance. Moreover, “wound[ed] [their] belly in a slow and obscene grind” shows that the men were acting inappropriately and sexually based off of the woman’s performance. “Thin hair of his bald head” shows that the men there were old, proving the older mentality of the men who see the whites being separated from the minorities. “Diamond studs” represents the wealth of the men that were watching this performance.
Victims. Time and time again women have been victims of misogyny, commodification, and social obligation. Women are forced to squeeze into an idealistic mold and confrom to society’s standards. They have been stripped of their right to have a say in what is being done to them, and are sold off as property to their husbands who treat them as inferior. These husbands seem to have no regard for the opinion of their wives; as if being male brings superiority.
Kill Bill Vol.1 - Close Viewing The Film “Kill Bill: Vol. 1” is directed by Quentin Tarantino, his fourth major film. In a brief genre classification of the film, it can be defined as a female lead samurai film. However it combines many aspects which bind it together in to a Grindhouse esque, female driven, revenge martial arts epic. In this essay I will look at the themes of revenge and the trope of the female action hero. More specifically I will be analysing and critiquing these themes within the scene named ‘Showdown at the house of the blue leaves’ and its importance as a whole.
The movie clearly exposes the many ways that the human dignity of African- American maids was ignored. They had suffered daily embarrassment but were able to claim their own way dignity. The film described about empowerment of individuals as well as about social justice for a group. It is a moving story depicting dehumanization in a racist culture but also the ability to move beyond the unjust structures of society and to declare the value of every human being.