It is no secret to those who know me that I am a Quentin Tarantino fanboy. His film, "Kill Bill," is one wherein the idea of a cinematic hero is twisted, and in which he sends-up the typical gender image of females in cinema. Much like Shosanna’s quest in "Inglourious Basterds," Beatrix Kiddo’s quest in "Kill Bill" is one fueled by vengeance and revenge. It similarly contrasts the heroine’s depiction with those in cinema before her, though in this case, these contrasts are in relation to cinematic male heroes.
Around twenty minutes into the film, we are treated to an investigation of the church where Beatrix and her friends were murdered by the gang of assassins which she formerly belonged to. One of the initial shots paints her as the center of the chaos, with her body on full display. Outlined by chalk, and in a white dress, Beatrix is given a heavenly look, an aspect only to later be reaffirmed by the sheriff, who calls her a “. . . blood-splattered angel.” While her feminine figure is called to attention, the character often rejects the view of women simply as either victims—indicated by the bloody and beaten condition of Beatrix—or as angels, indicated by the white dress and the position of her corpse. For example, after the sheriff makes his angel comment Beatrix spits in his face, signifying her rejection of the stereotype for a passive, female victim or for women as pure objects in cinema. Positioned in the bottom of the shot, Beatrix is rebelling against the dominant males and male gaze which all stand above and tower over her; males and a male gaze which objectify and do not take into account individual character.
A fight scene which occurs later in the film is, much like the earlier portrayal of Shosanna in "Inglourious Basterds," a reversal of the rather immobile-yet-still-rebellious Beatrix we saw in the scene discussed previously. Throughout the extended fight, there is certainly a focus on Beatrix’s newfound mobility. During her fight with the character Gogo, Beatrix’s feet are shot in a close-up as they move toward the camera while the woman defends herself from Gogo. This occurs not once, but twice, and while the tracksuit Beatrix is wearing is most certainly a nod to one Bruce Lee wore, the black stripes paired with yellow call to mind a bee. The imagery emphasizes Beatrix’s mobility and even flight, as the camera follows her jumps from surface to surface, and in an overhead shot it is positioned so that we see Beatrix move from the right side of the frame to the left in a matter of seconds. There is a certain smoothness as Beatrix glides across the screen while we watch from overhead, despite the context of the action and the fact that the tracksuit is already covered in blood.
What we are privy to in this scene is a woman who does not want to be angelic, which is evident as we see a close-up of her face as she brings a table leg with nails to Gogo’s head. Not quite centered in the frame, Beatrix’s face is cut and scratched, and while her hair is not completely disheveled it is also not pristine, unlike Shosanna’s in the window scene from "Inglourious Basterds." Her eyes are red from the strain of just having a chain wrapped her neck, and there is no remorse expressed—a lack of feeling which I believe we are deliberately shown. Beatrix is not centered because she is off-balance; she strays from the path many cinematic blondes follow, and it is rare that we see a woman in film not only brutally murder another, but feel no regret for doing it. Granted, it was a matter of self-defense in this moment, as with the whole fight until the revenge-killing of O-Ren, yet we as the audience have come to expect women to rarely if ever display and act on rage.
Often, films have a tendency to portray women as passive or, if not passive, then hyper-sexualized and violent. Beatrix Kiddo is essentially a happy medium of the latter—her feminine figure is acknowledged, but it does not define her character. She is violent, sure, but there is a reason for said violence. In fact, Tarantino provides a contrast by focusing the camera on Gogo’s legs as she descends the stairs within the House of Blue Leaves during her entrance. The focus here on body, as well as Gogo’s weapon, points out the typical representation of a female fighter in cinema; the emphasis on a revealed or revealing area of the female’s body, as well as her strange weapon—in this case Gogo’s bladed ball on the end of a chain—is typically wish fulfillment for males. However, with Beatrix we get a woman defined not by her looks or her weapon but by skill and how she envelopes qualities of both “blood-splatter” and angels.
