“All the water in the ocean can never turn the swan’s black legs to white” (Titus Andronicus IV:ii) Vengeance begets vengeance, and Shakespeare mastered this condition in his play Titus Andronicus. Historically, the nature of the payback remains static because it always promises a reaction of some caliber. The course entitled American Values in Film challenges the student to seek out themes that frame life in the United States. Retribution and violence are a constant in this society and therefore, a look at an American’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s play on the subject is worthwhile. Julie Taymor completed a four- year project of reinventing the bard’s “blood genre” for the American audience. Opening first on Broadway, Taymor’s production of Titus displays a world undefined by period or convention. The only certainty is that the players have murder on the mind. In 1999, Taymor’s direction culminated in a 5.1 surround sound 35mm digital- videodisc. The result is a study of violence and its fate for all vengeful characters. Julie Taymor’s Titus is an interpretive body of work committed to the world of our students; subsequently, the student will find this play far more engrossing because it is housed in the theater of their time, the Special Edition DVD in glorious 5.1 surround, as opposed to a theater of the vanished past. Firstly, the student will be asked to recognize the American iconography laced throughout the piece. Secondly, the student will draw inferences, or meaning to the presence of the icon and its contribution to the work. This unit provides current research on the conditions of Rome and her struggle with the barbarians. In addition, more research provides a profile of the most treacherous of barbarians, Attila the Hun. With this historical component, the students will design 21st century American iconography for the life and progress of both the fictitious Roman Titus and the legendary Hun, Attila. This unit provides an index of those scenes most relevant to the study of Titus, thereby saving time and effort on behalf of the teacher. It also takes into consideration the danger of displaying violent imagery, so the scenes were carefully selected with the high school student in mind. A myriad of approaches can be attempted with this work, but I have selected the Marxist approach to criticism because the maltreatment of the barbarians as colony led to civil unrest and disobedience. Vengeance stemmed from the unrest and violence ensued. Life in America has been marked by the exploitation of the minority figure. Hopefully, the classroom discussions will lead to questions about modern society and our perceptions of ourselves as well as our neighbors.