BethanyTarantino and Feminism
April 5th 2008 01:43
Er, actually, before I really start- I'm going to be discussing the movie Death Proof in detail, including the ending. If you haven't seen the movie and care to, you might want to skip out on this one.
In spite of several complaints I've read about this movie, women cuss like that, women talk about sex like that. It' s not unbelievable for a DJ to know random music trivia about her favorite band or two stunt-women (one who's a stunt DRIVER) to know about old car movies. Every time I hear someone saying 'it's not believable' I hear 'it's not believable for a woman'. This cracks me up because I've seen it coupled with "He wouldn't cry and get all whiny when he was shot." Yeah, getting shot and walking it off is realistic, but women cussing is out of this world. There are plenty of women who talk like that, and if I felt like recording my phone conversations...
Anyway, after Stuntman Mike causes Zoe, Kim, and Abbie to crash, Kim shoots him. Then, the three of them chase him down and Zoe gets a couple of shots in with a pipe. They chase him a bit more, play bumper cars, and when he comes to a stop they drag him out of the car and violently beat him to death.
These aren't 'super women', the stunt-gals are probably physically tough but by no means are they trained to kill. They were scared, they thought they'd lost a friend, they were furious, and they enacted vengeance. They didn't shoot him, or use any proxy to kill him- they took turns punching him in the face, and kicked him when he fell. I think the killing blow was an ax-kick, but I could be wrong. I do know that it is the most brutally violent I've seen a protagonist and 'normal' (normal = not trained assassin) woman be.
This is the kind of very physical violence you normally associate with men. I'm not saying we should nominate Tarantino for sainthood or anything like that. I'm not saying that he had any of that in mind when he filmed.
I just haven't seen women portrayed in this manner, and even if it wasn't seriously serious or 'meant that way', it's certainly discussion-worthy.
In spite of several complaints I've read about this movie, women cuss like that, women talk about sex like that. It' s not unbelievable for a DJ to know random music trivia about her favorite band or two stunt-women (one who's a stunt DRIVER) to know about old car movies. Every time I hear someone saying 'it's not believable' I hear 'it's not believable for a woman'. This cracks me up because I've seen it coupled with "He wouldn't cry and get all whiny when he was shot." Yeah, getting shot and walking it off is realistic, but women cussing is out of this world. There are plenty of women who talk like that, and if I felt like recording my phone conversations...
Anyway, after Stuntman Mike causes Zoe, Kim, and Abbie to crash, Kim shoots him. Then, the three of them chase him down and Zoe gets a couple of shots in with a pipe. They chase him a bit more, play bumper cars, and when he comes to a stop they drag him out of the car and violently beat him to death.
These aren't 'super women', the stunt-gals are probably physically tough but by no means are they trained to kill. They were scared, they thought they'd lost a friend, they were furious, and they enacted vengeance. They didn't shoot him, or use any proxy to kill him- they took turns punching him in the face, and kicked him when he fell. I think the killing blow was an ax-kick, but I could be wrong. I do know that it is the most brutally violent I've seen a protagonist and 'normal' (normal = not trained assassin) woman be.
This is the kind of very physical violence you normally associate with men. I'm not saying we should nominate Tarantino for sainthood or anything like that. I'm not saying that he had any of that in mind when he filmed.
I just haven't seen women portrayed in this manner, and even if it wasn't seriously serious or 'meant that way', it's certainly discussion-worthy.
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Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
By putting him against the stuntgirls, he got far more than he asked for.
Those stunts, too! Woah!
Comment by Bethany
Martian Movies
Just goes to show that you gotta be careful who you mess with, huh?
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I think Tarantino's strongest female character is still jackie Brown.(IMO his best work, my favourite being the boys own Reservoir Dogs) Obviously Beatrix (The Bride) in Kill Bill is a testimonial to female empowerment too.
As for Death-Proof I enjoyed how the first half was a traditional misogynistic exploitation piece. The close ups of butts, breasts and of course feet satisfying my male urges. Then in the second half the women are the stronger sex, more dominant and less passive. The tables turned, the hunter becomes the prey and soon turns victim to estrogen fuelled vengeance. All tongue in cheek fun.
Interesting post, good job Bethany.
Comment by CinemaVoir
Comment by Bethany
Martian Movies
JohnDoe- while Jackie Brown and the Bride are both very good examples, I chose to talk about Death Proof for two reasons.
A: I read a few comments on it.
B: Although the Bride does in the end throw Bill a beating, it's not quite the same. I haven't seen anything that matched the weaponless violence at the end of the movie. It wasn't shooting, swords, or a special Kung-Fu move. It was three women kicking the guy to death. They bested him at his natural talent and then through sheer brute strength they killed him.
Thanks for stopping by, both of ya.