Wild Sound

This weekend when I had WAY TOO MUCH work to do I happened to notice in my living room that one of the apes had rented some DVDs. I unfortunately checked the titles rather than scurrying back to my room to get my work done, and discovered they were two films I hadn’t yet seen–Kill Bill V.1 and Master and Commander. So of course I took a 4-hour chunk of precious time and sat down to watch both of them, one after the other. Work was postponed and didn’t make the deadline, but I survived.

And the two films, in retrospect, go together nicely…both orgies of masculinity and cajones, though in one it’s appropriated by women and exaggerated to a ridiculous degree, and in the other it’s an all-male testosterone orgy that is, ultimately, nearly as ridiculous despite the fact that it takes itself seriously. Or perhaps because of it.

I’m not dissing either film, really. Ridiculous need not be an insult. I’m all for macho films, and I appreciate that Master and Commander didn’t muddy up the waters (pun not intended) with the presence of women and expose itself to inevitable allegations of misogyny. Straight shot of testosterone, neat.

Filed by cynthia rockwell at 2:16 pm under Uncategorized