There are many killer films, but no one is like Killer Joe. In many cases, killer films mainly described the cool killer who killed the enemies in cold blood, got things done in minutes, and showed their dazzling skills to Kill and rob. Killer Joe is a killer film combined with family tragedy and ethics that make the film different. In the film, a young man in trouble, a ramshackle father, a retarded sister, an unmerciful stepmother, and a feminine and handsome killer, become the protagonists of the story. The open story is that the son in trouble incites his father to employ a killer to kill his mother to get her insurance money, but the story behind is really worth scrutiny. Directed by William Friedkin, Killer Joe stars Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Gina Gershon, and Thomas Haden Church.

There are two plots that associate the girl Dottie with Chinese martial arts.

The first is that the brother, Chris, meets his naked sister Dottie in his dream. Dottie plays with a lizard, and then comes to his room. Suddenly, Dottie takes off her pajamas and stare at him. Then Dottie poses a Wing Chun posture and disappears.

The second is that Dottie studies Chinese martial arts from TV. After talking, Chris and his father decide to kill his mother, and they invite the killer Joe to come for the negotiation at home. When Joe comes, he knocks at the door, but on one answer. Joe opens the door himself and finds that Dottie is at home by herself, and she is studying at home the Chinese martial arts from the Chinese motion film in TV. She studies seriously, and every gesture and motion are full of joy.

The Chinese martial arts are to underline the poor girl.

People would feel so bad and uncomfortable for Dottie’s story. Dottie is only 12 years old, abandoned by her mother, and lives with her brother and father in an abnormal family. She seldom goes out, as if she is in house arrest. From the film we know that Dottie is mentally abnormal. The brother Chris has an illicit relationship with his sister Dottie, and makes her pregnant. When Chris and their father hire killer Joe to kill the mother, Dottie is appointed as retainer by Joe and becomes his sex dolls. In the end, desperate Dottie shoots her brother, father, and Joe. So to speak, this handicapped girl experiences several terrible things that most people would never experience even one.

First, the Chinese martial arts plots are to underline the poor girl’s situation. We all know that film art comes from life, but above life. That is why art is called art. The desire, aspirations, and vision that cannot be completed in real life can be met through the film art forms. That’s the movie charm. But we all know that stories in film are not true, and something like Chinese martial arts in the film are not true, either. The Chinese martial arts after artistic adaption are for motion shows, and enrich the delight to watch the film, which is fit for both Chinese and other kinds of martial arts in the film. It is a basic common sense that you cannot learn martial arts from the film or TV. The film implies the girl’s tragedy with the learning martial arts from the film plot.

Second, the Chinese martial arts are the careful selection for the film, and it is determined by the practice feature of Chinese martial arts. There is a unique practice phase of non-confrontation single-man exercise called routine exercise in Chinese martial arts practice. People will practice in the fixed motion mode that was set as regular mode by former master. The routine exercise sums up and hints the smart forms to attack and defense. But the forms must be told, and then you know how to use it. I think the routine exercise gives the film people the inspiration, because when people practice routine exercise alone, waving their hands, kicking their legs, it looks like idiot in unknowing people’s eyes, just like the girl studies martial arts alone in front of the TV.

But, does it say that Chinese martial arts are fit for abnormal people in the film? I don’t know. It is just a speculation.