American History

In the past decade, feminist movements have greatly developed in terms of the political, cultural, social, and economic realms wherein feminist are advocating equal rights and protection for women. The issues of unequal treatment of women in comparison with men and other forms of injustices that are grounded on sexual differences have been among the most common themes of feminism. The aforementioned issues are exactly the problems that feminists are trying to address. In relation to this, feminist goals are also gaining popularity among the public, which also influence even one of the most popular means of entertainment in the society, movies or films. In line with this, the movie Kill Bill by Quentin Tarantino exemplifies some of the most important feminist themes in the movie, which should be given due attention and importance.

Initially, the movie Kill Bill seems like the usual action-packed films that most people watched these days. However, the plot of the story gives emphasis on feminist themes such as domestic violence, sexual harassment, degradation of women, and the strengthening the identity of women. The story of the movie revolves around the life of Beatrix Kiddo also known as Black Mamba, who is played by Uma Thurman. Beatrix was able to experience domestic violence because her partner, Bill, in the movie physically and emotionally abused her. At the beginning of the movie, Bill ordered people to attack Beatrix and he eventually shot her, which caused Beatrix to be comatose (Bender  Tarantino, 2003).  In this part of the film, it is clear that domestic violence is a situation that actually happens among people, which places women in a very disadvantageous situation. The life of women like Beatrix who suffers violence through their partners is actually in danger. Beatrix was lucky enough to survive the violence that she experienced but other women might actually be killed in this kind of situation.

Another important feminist theme that the movie shows is the sexual harassment that women experience. Beatrix was sexually molested while she is comatose, as a hospital personnel sexually abuse her. In addition, the hospital personnel even ask for money for other men in order to let them sexually abused the patients (Bender  Tarantino, 2003). This part of the film symbolizes how women are usually the victims of sexual abuse because some men usually used their strength and dominance in order to take advantage of the weakness of women. In relation to this, the degradation of women is also depicted in the film, especially through obscene and sexual remarks that are used in order to refer to women. In a part of the film, Beatrix was referred to as blonde pussy, which is actually a sexual remark. The car owned by the hospital personnel was named as pussy wagon that also refers to female sexual organ. This kind of remarks exemplifies how women are embarrassed and degraded by merely identifying them as sexual objects, which satisfy the desire of men.

Moreover, it is noticeable that the name of the main character in the film was only mentioned during the latter part of the movie. The name Beatrix was only mentioned during the part where she was able to gain revenge from the people who wronged her (Bender  Tarantino, 2003). This part of the film symbolizes the need of women to fight for their identity and right. It is only through women empowerment that they could be able to have their identity and dignity back, especially for the injustices that other people did to them.

The main theme of the movie is about revenge, which is seen by the way Beatrix killed all those people who have hurt her. Beatrix was avenging not only the physical violence and abuse that she experienced but also the lost of her child. The movie is giving the message that people can only redeem their self and fight for their right by using violence. However, although I agree that people, especially women should empower themselves in order to pursue equal treatment and fight for their right, I strongly believe that violence is not the answer. There are peacefully means in order to fight for women rights such as advocacy campaign, public awareness, negotiations, lobbying, and many others. Violence will not result to anything productive because this kind of method will only make the situation worse than before.