Who gets to 'do' revenge?

Who gets to 'do' revenge?

From It's Been a Minute by NPR

June 5, 2026 · 25 min

About this episode

Brittany explores the themes of revenge and justice in films featuring female protagonists, discussing societal perceptions and the portrayal of masculinity.

Who gets to Kill Bill ? As in, who’s allowed to seek revenge when they've been wronged by a man? That was the question at the top of Brittany’s mind after seeing Alesha Harris’ Is God Is , a film following twin sisters on a quest to kill their abusive father. The film has been a surprise hit, but there’s a subsection of men who felt this portrayal of a ‘bad’ Black man was in poor taste. That made Brittany wonder: in the pantheon of vengeance films featuring female protagonists, what does it mean to seek justice? And what does catharsis look like when the villain is sometimes patriarchy itself? To help answer those questions and more, Brittany is joined by film critic and programmer Jourdain Searles and staff culture writer at Slate, Nadira Goffe . Want more about women in film? What women want: to embrace their inner monsters The new "final girl" in horror; plus, who's afraid of a horny hag? Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to…

People in this episode

Host: Brittany

Guests: Jourdain Searles, Nadira Goffe

Topics covered

  • revenge
  • female protagonists
  • justice
  • patriarchy
  • film criticism

Keywords

  • revenge
  • female filmmakers
  • patriarchy
  • film analysis
  • catharsis

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Is God Is, Kill Bill

More episodes of It's Been a Minute

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the It's Been a Minute podcast page.