Kill Bill's Twist on the Catfight

The number of women who fight in TV shows and movies pales in comparison to the amount of fighting men who have been featured. Does this mean that the women featured are less strong, less capable of fighting, and perhaps even less exciting to watch than men? Quite the contrary, actually, for it seems that "fighting girls" are such a novelty compared to "fighting guys" that girls who brawl in hit shows and films get a significant amount of attention due to their typically flashier moves and more graceful actions. The audiences love--and are awed by--watching girls fight ("I can't believe she just did that!") and scriptwriters love to include these fight scenes since they know the audiences will eat them up. The problem that frequently pops up, though, is that these supposedly strong women are also depicted as sex symbols who never seem to get more than a scratch on them.




The fight scene above is from the movie Kill Bill Volume 2 and it features The Bride (the film's main protagonist) facing off with one of her revenge targets, Elle Driver. First of all, there are several things that immediately separate this particular fight from other popular fight scenes:

1) Woman vs. woman
2) Both women are fully and modestly clothed.

As the scene unfolds, several other things happen that make it clear that this isn't your average catfight:

1) Both women punch hard, kick hard...and fight hard.
2) Both women love their swords.
3) Both women become quite bloody.
4) Both women remain fully clothed.

Even though there is still some of the hair-pulling and name-calling found in typical catfights, Kill Bill basically overthrows the accepted meaning of the word "catfight," as the fight scene between the women overlaps with much of a fight scene commonly seen between men. Who says women can't be sexy when they're fully clothed and bloody while fighting? Violence shouldn't have to be overly sexualized just because women are involved, and Kill Bill shows that perfectly.

Killing Us Softly

During our last class, we discussed the issue of women's portrayal in media as well as society's consequent pressure on women to be perfect. Even throughout the comics we have read, all the female characters had a seemingly perfect body, all having attractive features. Regardless of what one's views may be on this idea, I'm sure we have all experienced some sort of insecurity at one point or another in our lifetime. Regardless of what this insecurity may have been or what may have triggered it, whether it was the model being portrayed in advertisements or the perfect character in a comic, I think we can all agree that the feeling of inadequacy, imperfection, and ultimate failure that resulted from such insecurities really, really sucked.

If you have an extra 45 minutes to spare, I would highly suggest you take the time to watch these following clips because we've all been there:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ujySz-_NFQa

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4-1xCf3I7U

Throughout these videos, Jean Kilbourne (the speaker) updates her Killing Us Softly series, reexamining how she believes advertising distorts the ideals of femininity. She does so in a humorous, but very accurate way that allows one to see the link between pop culture and sexism, eating disorders, and gender violence. In pointing out these relationships, Kilbourne doesn't "bash men" or the companies who's advertisements these are, but continues in her attempt to launch a movement to promote media literacy as a way to prevent these very problems.

Do you agree and think our society has a problem with what it deems as ideal? Have you seen this through the comics we've read thus far? Is there any way to escape such ideals that are seemingly everywhere? And do you think creating videos such as this one truly helps educate society and brings about reform, or is it just a waste?

So, the next time you're staring at an an ad or reading a comic in another FWS feeling guilty for not having such perfect abs, such silky hair or such clear skin, remember that "failure is inevitable because the ideal is based on absolute flawlessness, and the most important aspect of such flawlessness is that it can not be achieved. No one looks like [the person] in the ad - not even the [person, him or herself.]"