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Does he look like a bitch? a.k.a. She's got the look a.k.a. Get the picture? a.k.a. Back to the suture Identification and interpretation in Kill Bill University of Gothenburg Department of Cultural Sciences Film Studies, Master Dissertation submitted 2/6-2015 By: Martin Ricksand Supervisor: Boel Ulfsdotter Abstract SUBJECT: Film Studies INSTITUTION: Cultural Sciences EXAMINER: Ola Stockfelt TITLE: Does he look like a bitch?A.k.a. She's got the look A.k.a. Get the picture? A.k.a. Back to the suture: Identification and interpretation in Kill Bill AUTHOR: Martin Ricksand ESSAY: Master SEMESTER OF VENTILATION: Spring, 2015 In my essay I examine how the identificatory process of a spectator watching a cult film is altered When the film in question has a female protagonist and a high level of self-reflexivity (and other typically post-modern traits, such as pastiche and referentiality). I compare and combine different theoreticians who analyze these phenomena in order to see how the convergence of the elements create neW, unforeseen effects that so far have not been explained. Identification and self-reflexivity have been studied seperately, but I show that when combined, they sometimes produce neW effects, and even though the result does not alWays differ fundamentally from when one watches a 'traditional' film, the process through which this result is attained is sometimes altered. KeyWords: Self-reflexivity, identification, interpretation, Quentin Tarantino, pastiche, irony, Kill Bill, cult, gender. Table of Contents 1. Introduction......................................................................................................................................1 1.2 Purpose and research question...................................................................................................3 1.3 Theory and method....................................................................................................................3 2. Previous research..............................................................................................................................4 2.1 Identification..............................................................................................................................4 2.1.1 Grodal and cognitive psychology......................................................................................4 2.1.2 Christian Metz and the mirror phase..................................................................................6 2.1.3 Laura Mulvey and the male gaze.......................................................................................9 2.1.4 Teresa De Lauretis............................................................................................................10 2.1.5 Carol Clover: Female protagonists in exploitation movies..............................................11 2.2 Richard Dyer and pastiche.......................................................................................................13 2.3 David Bordwell and interpretation..........................................................................................14 2.4 'This time it's personal' - My interpretation of the phenomena................................................15 2.5 Previous research on Tarantino................................................................................................16 2.5.1 Eve Bertelsen...................................................................................................................16 2.5.2 Michael Rennett...............................................................................................................19 2.6 Previous research on Kill Bill..................................................................................................20 2.6.1 Lisa Coulthard..................................................................................................................20 2.6.2 Anneke Smelik.................................................................................................................20 2.6.3 Maud Lavin......................................................................................................................20 2.7 John Fiske................................................................................................................................22 3. Theoretical perspectives.................................................................................................................25 3.1 Teresa De Lauretis...................................................................................................................25 3.2 Lisa Coulthard..........................................................................................................................28 3.3 Anneke Smelik.........................................................................................................................29 4. Analysis..........................................................................................................................................31 4.1 Texas wedding chapel massacre..............................................................................................31 4.2 Vernita Green a.k.a. Copperhead.............................................................................................32 4.3 Hospital sans hospitality..........................................................................................................34 4.4 O-Ren Ishii a.k.a. Cottonmouth...............................................................................................35 4.5 Budd a.k.a. SideWinder ...........................................................................................................36 4.6 Elle Driver a.k.a. California Mountain Snake ........................................................................38 4.7 Bill a.k.a. Snake Charmer .......................................................................................................40 5. Discussion ......................................................................................................................................42 5.1 'It's complicated...' - The spectator's relation to the self-reflexive cinematic illusion.............42 5.2 'I'd never do that with a woman' - crossgender identification .................................................54 6. Conclusion......................................................................................................................................60 Summary.............................................................................................................................................63 Sources...............................................................................................................................................65 Appendix............................................................................................................................................68 1. Introduction One topic of conversation I have been bothering my friends and acquaintences with is the subject's relation to the filmic text, the identification with characters, or lack thereof, and one's interpretation in relation to the text as such. Opinions vary, and the academic texts treating the subject shows that it is, mildly put, complicated and full of nuances. At first glance it is difficult to ascertain whether the spectator is aWare of the external positioning in relation to the events portrayed, or if she is temporarily oblivious to the artificiality of the text. If the latter is true, it is still unclear what this means more specifically, for instance whether the spectator identifies with one/several character(s) to such a degree that she adopts their portrayed emotions entirely. Things get even more complicated when the text makes no attempt to adopt the qualities of suture claimed by 'conventional' narrative films, and when the spectator and the protagonist are not of the same sex. A text that adresses the vieWer without trying to tone doWn or hide its own construction seems to require a radically altered approach, especially when the protagonist is female in a genre whose audience consists primarily of men, which implies that it is not evident which practice of interpretation and identification that this would entail. 1.1 Disclaimers I will talk about cult movies, a sometimes vague and polysemic notion that can be problematized and deconstructed, but that is not the purpose of the essay. I wish to explore certain effects of cult movies, but adopt the point of vieW of Umberto Eco (as developed by Barry K. Grant) without any further examination of the concept as such, as this is not pertinent to the questions the essay will adress. Eco notes that cult movies must have an element of imperfection, and preferably a degree of intertextuality and use of archetypes. By intertextuality he means '[...] stereotyped situations derived from preceding textual tradition […]'1, and by archetype '[...] a preestablished and frequently appearing narrative situation [...]'.2 The cult film does not have to be universal, its appeal can be limited to a cultural area and/or historical period. Still, Eco thinks that it is important to keep in mind that the notion of cult does not indicate whether the use of clichés is deliberate or not.3 Post- modern movies deliberately use different topoi as a means of coping with the spectator's putative familiarity with them. Barry K. Grant goes further in the attempt of defining cult, picking up where 1 Eco, Umberto 'Casablanca: Cult movies
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