‘Kill Bill: Vol 1’ (2003) – Challenging Censorship
‘Kill Bill: Vol 1’ (2003) – Challenging Censorship
How ‘Kill Bill: Vol 1’ challenges censorship through the artistic aestheticisation of violence.
Cult
Ashley Barnett
This essay is going to discuss how ‘Kill Bill: Vol 1’ challenges censorship through the artistic aestheticisation of violence. Regulations regarding film release have been in place since the dawn of home entertainment systems, enforcing laws and protocols about what can be viewed and by whom, this caution of who can view certain materials is heightened when talking about films with graphic content such as violence or sex. Violent films have been an obsession for both aficionado and casual film viewers for many years, horror and violent releases have been highly observed by boards of classification, in order to monitor what is being released to the public, but within recent years, more and more hyper violent films are being made available for general viewing. Even though clarified by eighteen ratings, some hyper violent flow through to wide audiences due to their artistic aestheticisation of violence, ‘Kill Bill: Vol 1’ (2003) is a hyper violent film, that has had large commercial success and is also gathered a cult following, producing fan art, comic series and spin offs. ‘Kill Bill: Vol 1’, is one of many films which challenges censorship to push the boundaries of what is acceptable, questioning if the time has come in which audiences can be presented with more and more graphical and taboo subjects and clarified by Francis G. Couvares, “In our day, battles continue to rage over the representation of sex, violence, crime, ethnicity, and other controversial subjects..” (COUVARES, F. (2006) p.22). ‘Kill Bill: Vol 1’ tests the means of censorship through its aesthetically pleasing yet slightly sadistic presentation of violence, certain scenes in which if viewed separately seem to just be blood filled slaughter fests that have no true charisma and could be seen to be just as offensive and disturbing
How ‘Kill Bill: Vol 1’ challenges censorship through the artistic aestheticisation of violence.
Cult
Ashley Barnett
This essay is going to discuss how ‘Kill Bill: Vol 1’ challenges censorship through the artistic aestheticisation of violence. Regulations regarding film release have been in place since the dawn of home entertainment systems, enforcing laws and protocols about what can be viewed and by whom, this caution of who can view certain materials is heightened when talking about films with graphic content such as violence or sex. Violent films have been an obsession for both aficionado and casual film viewers for many years, horror and violent releases have been highly observed by boards of classification, in order to monitor what is being released to the public, but within recent years, more and more hyper violent films are being made available for general viewing. Even though clarified by eighteen ratings, some hyper violent flow through to wide audiences due to their artistic aestheticisation of violence, ‘Kill Bill: Vol 1’ (2003) is a hyper violent film, that has had large commercial success and is also gathered a cult following, producing fan art, comic series and spin offs. ‘Kill Bill: Vol 1’, is one of many films which challenges censorship to push the boundaries of what is acceptable, questioning if the time has come in which audiences can be presented with more and more graphical and taboo subjects and clarified by Francis G. Couvares, “In our day, battles continue to rage over the representation of sex, violence, crime, ethnicity, and other controversial subjects..” (COUVARES, F. (2006) p.22). ‘Kill Bill: Vol 1’ tests the means of censorship through its aesthetically pleasing yet slightly sadistic presentation of violence, certain scenes in which if viewed separately seem to just be blood filled slaughter fests that have no true charisma and could be seen to be just as offensive and disturbing
Bibliography: Cavallaro, D. (2006). The animé art of Hayao Miyazaki. Jefferson, N.C., McFarland & Co, p. 19. Couvares, F. (2006) Movie Censorship And American Culture. 2nd ed. Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press, p.2. Dillon, S. (2006). The Solaris effect: art & artifice in contemporary American film. Austin, University of Texas Press, p. 128. GRØNstad, A. (2008). Transfigurations. Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press. Hills, M. (2005). The pleasures of horror. New York, Continuum, p.91. Tasker, Y., & Negra, D. (2007). Interrogating postfeminism: gender and the politics of popular culture. Durham [N.C.], Duke University Press, p .152-153. Symonds, G. (2012) Aesthetics of Violence in Contemporary Media. London: Continuum, p.235. Filmography Kill Bill: Vol 1, 2004 The Dark Knight Rises, 2012. [Film] Directed by Christopher Nolan. USA: Warner Bros.