The Dragon Lady
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
Asian ‘Dragon Lady’ portrayal has been the norm in Western cinema history, yet modern filmmakers still find it captivating for the plot. Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Vol. 1 is recently a well-known example of this trend. Kill Bill was developed around The Bride’s journey of vengeance on the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, her old gang. O-Ren Ishii is her first target, a half Japanese half Chinese once world-class assassin turned Tokyo yakuza leader. O-Ren was built up as a sadistic killer dominating Tokyo’s crime syndicates. The most iconic Dragon Lady trait — the cold-blooded and aggressive woman unleashing her hatred on people disturbing her — was revealed when O-Ren chopped off the head of her own lieutenant when he dared to bring up O-ren’s heritage as a negative. A legit explanation for this conventional portrayal in modern settings is indeed Tarantino’s fondness for ‘over-dramatized Kung-Fu movies’ (IMDb 2005); so it can just be a director’s trademark. Nonetheless, American images are believed to be global images for its dominance in the global film industry (Prasso 2005), perhaps a well-known film director like Quentin Tarantino should be more careful in associating Asian women with their frequently misperceived traits.
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