The Resurgence of Revenge.

I've been wondering lately what the resurgence of the revenge film says about the state of American culture. I remember a teacher in junior high describing the film "I Spit on Your Grade" to me as the epitome of everything that was cheap and base about 70's shock films. Just the title is a parody of the genre and yet in the past two years we've seen remakes of "Last House on the Left", "I Spit on Your Grave" and "Straw Dogs", which was just released on video, just to name a few of the higher profile examples. I think part of the trend may be driven by the return of "grindhouse" films like, well, Grindhouse by Tarantino and Rodriguez as well as the "Kill Bill" films.

But somehow I get the feeling that there is a political and cultural similarity between the 70's and the late 00's. The war in Vietnam and the war in Iraq. The economic recession. The extreme polarization of the electorate. There's also a general attitude of angry bitterness on both sides of the political spectrum as well as a sense of alienation.