Kill Bill Volume 1 - The Female Assassin

Jason Bourne, The Terminator, The Hitman. These are only some of the infamous assassins depicted in films of recent decades. They all share common characteristics: they are men, men that are fearless, coldblooded, and iron-willed. In Quentin Tarantino’s two-part masterpiece, Kill Bill, the conventions of a typical assassin are anything but conformed to. The films follow a former female assassin who mercilessly seeks revenge on her ex-colleagues.

In the following scene, the protagonist’s mastery in wielding a sword is almost ironic, as she out-jousts almost a hundred men using what is universally accepted as a phallic symbol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbAzWvTbrbA&feature=related

The “Crazy 88” are almost effortlessly dispatched by a woman, who by societal standards should be meek, feeble, and defenseless in face of life-threatening danger.

In this scene, O-Ren-Ishi (played by Lucy Liu) chairs a meeting involving important leaders of the Japanese Yakuza in Tokyo. When one of the members of the table brings into question her divided nationality and in doing so calls her a “bitch”, O-Ren-Ishi is quick to mitigate the situation by severing the man’s head, and thus aggressively asserting her power.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prDCDmchtTg

It is significant to note the seating arrangement of meeting that takes place in the scene, with O-Ren-Ishi, a woman, at the head of the table. This breaks away from established norms in the hierarchy of power between genders, which usually entitles men to be in a position of absolute authority or leadership.