Patrons of the motion picture industry in the US have been voicing in recent years a desire for a more stylistic and technically original aesthetics. This movement has manifested itself most noticeably in fans of the action-adventure genre. A pair of hip, young film directors have responded with stark portraits of a society negotiating its collective attitude about the past. Curiously, the films of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez present allusions to the popular culture of the past juxtaposed with graphically violent images. Theorists have stated that when dealing with the past, “points of uncertainty and ambiguity will inevitably arise” Davis 79 . Tarantino and Rodriguez go much further. The two directors call into question the very extent to which society can trust in the existence of a stable past. They subvert the notion that nostalgia establishes “reassurance and direction” Harper 27 in the contemporary individual by replacing an idealized past with a pastiche of stereotype and gore.