![]() Beatrix’s assertion of a female avenger is reiterated only when it conforms to the standardised ‘ masculine perception‘ of an action hero. Throughout the movies, Beatrix is projected to the audience from the lens of the male agents that define her as a blood-spattered angel, co*ksucker, blonde pussy and so on while she continuously attempts to defy their assaultive gaze even in her weakest and most passive moments. It is this rhetoric that has been consistently gratified in the Bride’s character throughout the Kill Bill movies, by ascribing her with traditional masculine attributes, and providinga significance of rarity among her type The sign “ woman” is thus negatively represented as “ not-man,” which means that the “ woman-as-woman” is absent from the film. In patriarchal ideology, the image of women can only signify anything in relation to men. 1-2, some male characters like the Sheriff, the old man namely Esteban who owns a brothel in Mexico, the gravedigger and Budd (Bill’s brother), make comments about Beatrix’ femaleness, blonde hair, eyes and beauty. While the exchange of traditional gender roles, particularly as they relate to the execution of extreme violence might strike a chord with feminist sensibilities, the film’s story arc places an undue focus on female beauty presented to us from a typical male gaze. The list goes on.Īlso read: Male Gaze In Visual Media: The Fetishisation Of Women And Queer Characters On Screen Thus, the determining male gaze projects its fantasy on the female figure, with her appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact.īeatrix Kiddo is constructed as an angry, sadistic, skillful female avenger, who wears masculine costumes (sweat-suits, sport-shoes, jeans, leather jackets, boots), fights perfectly, knows far eastern fighting techniques, uses weapons (especially knives and swords like a samurai) very well, drives motor-cycles, gets out of a nailed coffin in a grave and kills dozens of O-Ren Ishii’s guards. In a similar fashion, the Kill Bill movies exemplify the male lens by co-opting a gendered enactment of revenge in which the female lead becomes a spectacle, catering to the gaze of the spectator who is made to identify with the male look. While the exchange of traditional gender roles, particularly as they relate to the execution of extreme violence might strike a chord with feminist sensibilities, the film’s story arc places an undue focus on female beauty presented to us from a typical male gaze These gendered structures are ones in which the former offers a visual pleasure by looking at others and the latter is used to derive a self-identification with the figure in the image. She argues that films stimulate visual pleasure by integrating structures of voyeurism and narcissism into the story and the image. In her article Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey provides us with a diabolic concept of the male gaze reflected in cinemas. However, it becomes crucial to employ a critically nuanced position to understand the perpetuation of female oppression in the cinematic concept of the male gaze. Screengrab from Kill Bill Image: Pinterest She is seen striding her way through, with her exemplary professional fighting skills in pursuit of blood revenge. The groundbreaking contention around Tarantino’s Kill Bill is the co-option of violence in a seemingly feminist tone throughout the movies, touting a female lead with supposed agency, on a rampage venture to get back at her abusers after being comatose for a period of four years. Thus, the determining male gaze projects its fantasy on the female figure, with her appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact The Kill Bill movies exemplify the male lens by co-opting a gendered enactment of revenge in which the female lead becomes a spectacle, catering to the gaze of the spectator who is made to identify with the male look. Unlike other action movies, Tarantino’s gore and violence have a unique savour to them and seem tolerable with his transitional style of juxtaposing diverse cultural references. With Uma Thurman in the lead, the violence and fight scenes in both the movies are presented as a collage of different genres with some scenes filmed in black and white, some involving a great deal of dialogue, some barely incorporating speaking and a Japanese anime cartoon scene.
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