Castatrice

“I don’t want to be a eunuch” (to Nadeki, “Pink Panther”)

Other elements of what film theory has termed the “monstrous feminine” are also present in some of Nadeki’s parts.  In “Pink Panther,” a motorcycle-riding, denim-clad Nadeki barks orders at her female gang and spews vitriolic remarks about men, marriage and society.  When she’s tied up and almost sexually assaulted, she’s actually wearing more clothing than at other points in the film.  Retaliatory justice is swift, sometimes castrating (literally), and lethal.  Not stopping at dismemberment, Nadeki’s character “Wang Fu-nan” also bites one of her assailants on the face.  The castration symbolism of this act (that Nadeki also performs in “Killer Angels”) is acknowledged by film theory.  Consequently, it represents a distinctively abject action that distances the character performing it from typical heroic traditions.  Consider the prominent female action performers of Chinese origin in HK cinema – and their male counterparts.  Their characters typically do not bite others in the face.

One may also cite the castration symbolism of choking.  Long a staple of exploitation fare that depicts sexual violence, choking may have particular symbolic significance when it constitutes female-gendered aggression.  This is seen quite clearly in the archetypal HK rape-vengeance film “Her Vengeance” (1989), but otherwise choking is seldom part of the repertoire of the heroines of GWG films.  Once again, exceptions include Yukari Oshima and Nadeki.  In “Beauty Investigator” (1992) Yukari garrotes three men, including a sexual assailant.  In “Angel” she uses a grappling hold to trap Elaine Lui’s head in the crook of her leg – itself provocative.  Nadeki uses the same chokehold with her leg to dispatch the chief sexual assailant in “Satyr Monks,” and uses a knife-hand strike to the male hero’s neck in “Erotic Passion.”
Further instances of conspicuously gendered role attributes include Nadeki’s part in “Erotic Passion” in which she – together with another martial artist, Sharon Yeung – were cast in supporting roles as the antithesis of the torrid eroticism of the other female performers.  Military style boots and pants, short jacket and beret complete the image.

Such devices both excite and subvert by pairing female gendered performers with the behavior and symbolism of occasionally more deviant or taboo actions that are typically gendered male.  Violation of taboo evokes primal emotion, but not necessarily in ways that advance a meritorious social agenda.