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Women on Film: Uma Thurman Shows Us How to Fight Like a Girl


Sometimes, the safest way to exorcise your demons is to watch Uma Thurman fight.

It is physically impossible to stay angry in the face of kittens. Violence is not the solution to life’s problem. A calm, zen-like approach is best for extremely frustrating moments. Good thing we have kittens.

Now all that being said, sometimes you still just want to scream, punch, and kick your problems away. So for anyone looking to exorcise her aggressions within the confines of a safe, lawsuit-proof arena, may we present Uma Thurman and Daryl Hannah in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Vol. 2. Check out these two adversaries of equal skill and strength working off some serious vengeance issues.

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 are an homage to the spaghetti western. But Tarantino does not intend his epic to be read as a manifesto of feminine violence. “This movie does not take place in the universe that we live in,” said Tarantino of the films. “In this world women are not the weaker sex. They have exactly the same predatory hunting instincts as the men, the same drive to kill or be killed.” No word on how much predatory hunting the Los Angeles director does in his day-to-day life, nor is it clear how he can speak towards the inner drives of women.

Rather, this fight between Thurman and Hannah is as appealing as any cinematic clash would be, male or female. Modern femininity isn’t defined by how many diapers you can change in a day, or how closely your lipstick shade matches your nails. It’s defined by women handling themselves as they see fit.

In this case, Thurman’s Beatrix Kiddo is avenging the death of her fiancé, friends, and (she thinks) unborn child. Yes, it involves an unfortunate use of a spittoon. Yes, it’s not practical or well-thought-out to run around attacking your enemies with a Hanzo sword. And yes, this kind of fighting can only be tolerated between equally-proficient partners. But it’s satisfying to see two women handling themselves. Even if they exist in a universe not intended for our own.