Quentin Knows

We went to see Quentin Tarantino's new movie, Kill Bill. It's a masterpiece. It's comedy, drama and tragedy but, most importantly, Quentin shows that he knows what women know about themselves. Shakespeare knew in the Taming of the Shrew and Ridley Scott knew in Alien but Quentin doesn't let the viewer ignore the reality through subtlety. Women are cold and ruthless.

I am likely jaded by my years in an all-girl Catholic school and being born into a family with 3 sisters and no brothers where this lesson is learned quickly lest you find yourself in a hell that only girls can inflict upon each other. There have been some recent books on this wisdom that guys are either too stupid to notice, choose to ignore or capitalise on: Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls [ Hidden? Only if you're willfully ignoring it ] and Woman's Inhumanity to Woman. A bitch is just a more overt version of the passive-aggressive picture of sweetness and light over in the corner looking demure. Guys fight and then go out for a beer but girls fight until hair flies, blood is drawn, and the wound salted.

When Uma is at the home of one of her would-be assassins and the other woman offers her coffee, anyone who understands the nature of women knows that one of them isn't going to leave that house alive. It is also interesting how Bill and another female assassin view mercy differently. Bill thinks killing her in a coma would be wrong in spite of having shot her in the head while pregnant and in a wedding dress while the woman thinks it would be the ultimate mercy -- a significant difference in cold and ruthless. The most wonderful tip of the hat is GoGo who is a Catholic school girl in complete uniform while eviscerating guys with her 'instrument'. Yes, Quentin understands.

I have always held the opinion that a special ops force of trained and equipped Catholic school girls and nuns would be a formidable foe against most any opponent and I'm very happy to see that Quentin Tarantino illustrates that assertion very well. :)