Is Tarantinos portrayal of female empowerment authentic, or is it simply another spectacle crafted for audience entertainment?

<p dir="ltr">This paper examines the portrayal of female empowerment in a selection of Quentin Tarantino's films with a focus on Kill Bill, that is often praised for its portrayal of strong women. The focus of this study questions whether the perceived empowerment is real or exists just to please viewers. To explore this, I focus on Feminist movie theorists Laura Mulvey, Simone De Beauvoir, and Judith Butler. Their work helps to analyze whether Tarantino’s films truly break away from sexist ideas or if they still follow traditional ways of presenting women. For example, Mulvey’s concept of the male gaze is key to understanding how women in these films are shown in ways that appeal to male viewers, Judith adds to this by explaining societal gender roles and Simone explains how women are “the other” in relation to men. This thesis argues that while Tarantino challenges how women are shown in movies, his style often turns their empowerment into a spectacle, balancing between breaking old stereotypes and reinforcing them.</p>