Black Mamba: The Female Badass

What defines a real “Badass?” Most will agree that this label applies to a tough and rebellious individual who follows his own path. However, this term is inherently masculine as it involves rough qualities associated with a powerful male. In Jack Katz’s analysis in “Ways of the Badass,” he refers only to males when he deconstructs the persona of this strong character. Despite this imbedded conception, can a female be considered a badass if she possesses the associated qualities? In Quentin Tarantino’s action film Kill Bill Volume 1, the main character seeking revenge through many brutal murders is not a man, but a strong and dominant female. Using Katz’s three levels of the ways of a badass, this female badass persona can be proven through the toughness, detachment and aggression portrayed by her character.

As suggested by the title, the main plotline of Tarantino’s film revolves around killing Bill; despite the bluntness of the title, the movie goes beyond merely focusing on this one event. The nameless main character, given the titles of “the bride” and “Black Mamba,” narrates the story, guiding the audience from her past experiences and background knowledge, through her present actions. The plot begins with the murder of the main character at her most important time of her life: her wedding day. Her previous ties with the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad and its leader, Bill, catch up with her when she decides to escape her past and start a new life. However, on that bloody wedding, she is the only one to survive, remaining in a coma for four years. After waking up and realizing the brutal events on her wedding day, she later realizes that something more important than her structured life was taken from her: her unborn baby...

... middle of paper ...

...such thing as a real female badass? The answer to this once-debatable question is “yes,” as the once stereotypical vulnerable female character of the Bride transforms to represent the epitome of the badass through her alternate persona, Black Mamba. She overturns the assumption that real badasses are male by depicting all aspects of Katz’s tiers of being a badass. Black Mamba shows her toughness through her physical appearance and through her knowledge in offensive fighting and martial arts, generally male dominated sports. The process of becoming independent and detached develops from her broken past, which portrays her alien persona. With both of these qualities, she becomes mean and displays little sympathy for her victims. From her breaking point in the hospital to the end, she retains these badass qualities, proving that she, as a female, is a genuine badass.