Rapist No. 1 action figure

Get your very own plastic rapist, courtesy of NECA toys and Quentin Tarantino.

Published April 17, 2007 6:03PM (EDT)

If I were to write a list of current movies that I am unlikely to see, "Grindhouse" would probably be right at the top. A double feature involving a zombie flick and a slasher film in which a stuntman kills women with his "death proof" stunt car? I would rather stare at a wall for four hours. (I'm not kidding. I would actually rather stare at a wall.)

Commenting on the misogyny of these films is hardly worth the trouble, so here's something different: Thanks to the toy company NECA, you can buy your very own "Grindhouse" Rapist No. 1 action figure, based on Quentin Tarantino's character in the zombie flick "Planet Terror." (Click here to see Tarantino showing it off on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!")

I'd like to point out, just for absurdity's sake, that one of the toy's vocal critics is none other than Perez Hilton, who comments about the toy on his blog (tagline: "Celebrity Juice. Not From Concentrate"). "We're sure Tarantino would say, 'Relax, it's just a joke,'" says the blog. "Because rape is so funny, right?"

Hilton did make a mistake: He asserts that the toy is available through Toys 'R' Us, which is actually not the case (a search on its Web site for "rapist" returns the question, "Did you mean 'rapid'?"). But as theGarance.com points out, you can comparison-shop for it at Bizrate.com.

Still, as far as the overall message of the doll goes, for once in our lives, we'd have to agree with Perez's judgment.


By Catherine Price

Catherine Price is an award-winning journalist and author of Vitamania: How Vitamins Revolutionized the Way We Think About Food. Her written and multimedia work has appeared in publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, Popular Science, O: The Oprah Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post Magazine, Salon, Slate, Men’s Journal, Mother Jones, PARADE, Health Magazine, and Outside. Price lives in Philadelphia.

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