adamjayneWhat You Think You Know About the Kill Bill Story Isn’t Right? As part of our Friday Night Movie Club, we’ll be watching a film with our readers every few weeks. As she begins her screening of Kill Bill Vol., Vulture writer Bethy Squires gives us her selection. Streaming will start at 7 p.m. ET on April 14. For live commentary, follow Vulture on Twitter.
This tag begins the Futurama episode, “Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV”: “You’re watching Futurama — the show that doesn’t advocate robbery! Mr. Tarantino’s entire career can be summed up in that line.
In Tarantino’s films, violence is portrayed as cool, and the coolness of the violence undermines the director’s ambivalence.
The Story
Taking Kill Bill Story as an example, let’s examine its plot. To save her unborn daughter, Beatrix Kiddo wants to leave her violent life behind. In spite of getting engaged, Beatrix is attacked by Bill, her jilted ex-lover, and nearly killed by his assassins. Beatrix plots revenge on Vernita Green four years later. Nikkia, Vernita’s 4-year-old daughter, is not deterred by her mother’s well-being. The original drafts even featured much more revenge after Beatrix slices open Vernita’s chest with a knife. A huge gunfight was originally going to take place between
Go Go and Beatrix’s twin sister, Yuki. Vengeance is like a hydra; cut one head off, three more grow. When you begin to empathize with both sides, it’s a bit of a bummer. Right before their deaths, Vernita and others on Beatrix’s kill list, such as O-Ren Ishii, Budd, and even Bill, display some sympathy for each other. Due to the bride’s lack of basic human “mercy,” there is a moral grey arc in her journey. However, that gray is overshadowed by her glowing yellow jumpsuit and her katana fighting prowess.
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Weekly recommendations for TV and movies from Vulture. As badass-chick “I’m killing boys” propaganda with iconic soundtracks, both Kill Bills have gotten lodged in the pop-culture subconscious. As a result of their nihilistic lyrics and yakuza-inspired soundtracks, they portray retribution through violence, which in turn will bring more violence. Fans, especially those on the internet, celebrate the “Good for Her” cinematic universe for showing bad girls getting their shit done in their favourite movies.
A meme of revenge has been created around the Bride. SZA’s song “Kill Bill” is a perfect example. Audiences might not support the main character’s violent ways, but they love the song.
Behind the Scene
There’s a good reason for that. The Bride kills Vernita in the scene aforementioned. The scene begins as she walks up to the now-retired assassin’s house in Pasadena. In TikTok, Beatrix’s expression of white-hot rage is symbolized by a memetic music sting (a fragment from Quincy Jones’s theme from Ironside).
It is a kung-fu-film fanboy’s dream as Tarantino uses every trick in his book to create this scene, including using found weapons, breaking furniture, and finally, a kitchen knife versus a cast-iron pan. There’s something between speaking in tongues and wild boar grunting coming from Vivica A. Fox and Uma Thurman. We are distracted from the fact that the Bride is willingly perpetuating a cycle of violence that ruined her life by the frenetic editing, Nikkia’s sudden return, and Vernita’s last-ditch attempt to shoot Beatrix through a box of cereal. Actually, it stinks!
Kill Bill Story Vol 2023
As part of the press tour for Kill Bill Vol. In 2003, Tarantino exploded on his interviewer after being questioned repeatedly about his new film’s violence. The reason is that it’s so much fun, Jan! he screamed at the local news. Tarantino is interested in the repercussions of his characters’ actions and their anguish, especially when they are victims of violence. Does Tarantino direct? There is less seriousness in him. It’s awesome and it references Lady Snowblood, so he’s putting it in. Chiba whips asses because he is a master whipper. It’s fun for him to make the movie, Jan. Even now, 20 years later, it’s still fun to watch. All the spectacle of the Kill Bill story makes it easier to forget its moral complexity. Isn’t it a magnificent spectacle – and doesn’t Uma Thurman look awesome in Bruce Lee’s jumpsuit?
