Tarantino's Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill

 

As Pai Mei, the famous kung-fu master, trains The Bride (Uma Thurman) in martial arts high atop an oriental mountain pass in Kill Bill: Volume 2, finding any relevance of the South in Tarantino’s works seems doubtful, but look no further than Kill Bill (both volumes) and Pulp Fiction to find Southern stereotypes at their best. In Kill Bill, The Bride (Uma Thurman) seeks revenge on her former assassination squad for the murder of her unborn daughter. Bill, the squad leader, assists in crashing her wedding rehearsal while putting a bullet in her head that sends her into a four-year coma. Upon waking years later, The Bride succeeds in hunting down all four members of her squad, but not without difficulty. In the end, The Bride finds Bill and the daughter she once thought she lost forever. Unflinchingly, The Bride never strays from her path of revenge and kills Bill.

Two characters shape the entire image of Southern culture within Tarantino’s Kill Bill: the hillbilly trucker and Budd. While the Bride lays in a coma, a male nurse, Buck, sells her body for sex to, no other than, a hillbilly trucker. Similar to Deliverance, the Southern male is portrayed on a level more evil than monster. In this instance, rape in order to show dominance cannot be the case since the Bride is in an unconscious state – she cannot resist. Here, the rape of a woman who is unable to defend herself is an outrage. On the other hand, Kill Bill: Volume 2, presents the dimwitted Southern hick, Budd (Michael Madsen). Budd is first seen telling Bill that he pawned his priceless samurai sword for $250. The entire conversation takes place at Budd’s trailer while he sips on a liquor bottle. Ignorant fool, drunkard, and trailer trash are all Southern stereotypes that fit Budd. He goes on to talk very harshly and perversely about The Bride while she lies on the ground bleeding out from the shotgun shells he put in her chest. Finally, Budd is taken advantage of in a business trade with Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah). The cowboy is an easy target because his peers view him as ignorant and dimwitted.

An earlier film by Tarantino, Pulp Fiction, also has one of the most powerful scenes that portray the South in negative ways that followed, again, in Deliverance’s footsteps. The film contains multiple stories; however, the main Southern stereotype comes with the conflict of Butch and Marsellus. A washed-up boxer, Butch (Bruce Willis) is chased through the city streets by Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) after Butch’s refusal to throw a fight breaks a business deal between the two. Both end up in a fistfight on the floor of Maynard’s pawnshop, where Maynard proceeds to tie them up at gunpoint before calling his hillbilly friend, Zed. The two are taken down to the basement where Butch is left with “The Gimp” – a man chained up in a full-body leather suit -  while Marsellus is taken into the next room and raped by Zed.  

Marsellus’s race is imperative in this scene. Tarantino portrays the Southerns as monsters who are consumed with such hatred that they rape a black man who comes across their path. Apart from John Boorman’s wild canoe trip, Pulp Fiction’s hillbilly monsters take advantage of criminals, which allows the audience to sympathize with criminals over Southerners. People who view this outside of the South see films like Deliverance and Pulp Fiction and, undoubtably, would never want to be left alone with a Southern man. Meanwhile, during the majority of the rape scene, the camera is held upon Butch and the dangling “Gimp,” who works as a symbol of the mask put up by the South to cover up their dark, sadistic desires. The hillbillies serve as a contrast or foil to the once rivals, Butch and Marsellus, who overcome their mutual differences in order to unite against the greatest enemy of all - the Confederate hillbilly (rebel flag is dawned in his pawnshop) and redneck sherrif.

Regardless of which film is viewed, Pulp Fiction or Kill Bill, Southern men serve the purpose of glorifying every other character they interact with. They are the antithesis of good and honest men. The Southern monsters unite black and white no matter what their differences because these men rape black men, take advantage of those who are defenseless, racially disgrace those who are different, and are ignorant drunks as depicted in modern films such as Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill. Regardless of the situation, Southern pride is set against all other entities represented in these films. The South is more than “backwards” in Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill; it is inhumane to the utmost. -

Brandon Landis

 

Sweet Home Alabama

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For my film review of the South, I picked the movie Sweet Home Alabama starring Reese Witherspoon, Patrick Dempsey, and Josh Lucas. The film follows Melanie Carmichael, a southern belle turned Yankee, as she attempts to break away from her small-town Alabama lifestyle as a leading fashion designer in New York City. After accepting a marriage proposal from New York royalty Andrew Hennings, she returns home to confront her husband Jake Perry, who never really signed the divorce papers from the get go. So as not to spoil the ending for those of you haven’t seen it, it is a typical chick flick in which a woman finds herself, love, and happiness. Obviously, that just means she chooses her Southern guy over the Yankee.
                The movie addresses the South (specifically, Alabama) as an old-fashioned, slower world by comparing it to the modern, faster world of the North. For instance, within the first five minutes of the film, Melanie’s southern accent is pointed out and, subsequently, mocked by her co-workers. This, in turn, leads the audience into believing that a Southern gal is out of place in the big city. In fact, Melanie even says that she “needs a passport to get out of here (Alabama).” Later, Andrew’s mother makes it clear that Melanie’s southern roots are what keep her from understanding the lifestyle of New York City elite. The mayor, upon examining the two regions, states, “We’re not better. We’re not worse. We’re different.” Her town implies that Melanie’s southern background limits her understanding of social discourse and propriety that would be necessary as Andrew’s wife in a bustling city.
                The movie further explains the South as out-of-date by the quick visual images that flash across the screen when Melanie initially returns to her home state. First, her parents’ home and lifestyle are stuck in the past: her father drives a beat up truck, they live in an old house with a dirty porch, and they have an old recliner proudly displayed in their living room. Meanwhile, in the north, families have modern appliances and furniture and keep a clean house, both literally and figuratively. Furthermore, southerners are constantly concerned about money. These images propose that all southerners lack the necessary funds to build them up financially or southerners are too simple minded to explore the options given to them through modern advances. Later, the town itself shows a lack of progression with a rusted, poorly maintained water tower. The women in the town wear clothes and do their hair and make-up as if they are still in the 80s. This is especially evident with Melanie’s fashion forward style of new, modern woman. A northern woman is concerned with the latest trends and is on top of the “who’s who” list, while a southern woman, isn’t. When Melanie first comes to the bank looking for an ATM the clerk states that an ATM would mean “losing personal contact with the customers.”  The north has ATMs, thereby, allowing people to focus on other, more important tasks.
                Finally, we can compare the two male leads: Jake, a good ole boy from the South, and Andrew, the man of prestige. Jake is a man who lives life by his own rules; so, he is wild and free. Andrew, meanwhile, does what society dictates without taking the initiative. Jake owns a dog, has plenty of beer in the fridge, speaks his mind, and wears dirty jeans with plaid shirts. Andrew, well, he doesn’t. He drinks champagne, follows a script, and wears suits. Jake gives the impression of the south as an untamed place of mischief. Likewise, Andrew symbolizes the “do good, be good” mentality of the north.
                Based on my observations of the movie, I will conclude that Sweet Home Alabama depicts the South as a place steeped so heavily in tradition and so focused on its past accomplishments that it cannot move forward.  - Corinne Beckinger