Bad Trend Alert

Wandering around in my usual haze on Halloween Night, I saw many women dolled up in eye patch, blond wig and tight nurse’s outfit. I have to admit, as a practicing heterosexual, I rarely, if ever, have problems with a lady, dressed up like a nurse. This time, however, the 18-22 year old women were not there only for my benefit, but were rather celebrating Halloween as Elle Driver, a.k.a. California Mountain Snake, a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad of Kill Bill fame. Depending on the formulations, she was accompanied by some variation on Cottonmouth, Copperhead, Black Mamba and Cottonmouth’s bodyguard Go Go Yubari. This is a Bad Thing, because the movie’s inspiration is 50 years of B-grade movies, a heritage lost as the movie becomes the newest trend. Since they are often unaware of its background, these trendy devotees run the risk of trivializing the history so key to auteur Quentin Tarantino’s passions. Woe on those of us whose private, beautiful passions have been swept up like so many proverbial pogs to be flipped and discarded. This is not just a Halloween-induced travesty; Kill Bill is making such huge waves that trendsetters are bringing it to the very forefront of popular culture. Now, Kill Bill must fight a “Battle without Honor or Humanity,” to determine if it will be forever admired as one of the greats, or just another Pet Rock.