"Big Bertha," though, was most notable for its disturbing content, reflecting Taylor's penchant for giving equal time to the darkest depths of human nature. "Bertha" is a robotic carnival creature. A wholesome 1950s family -- a couple and their daughter -- comes out to the fun fair to play, but after feeding coins into Bertha's slot, slips into depravity; by the end, the father has raped and killed his pig-tailed young daughter. Even a lighter work, "Company B," a set of jaunty dances like the jitterbug to the music of the Andrews Sisters, has its dark elements: Look closely amid the joyful dances and you see young men as soldiers, shot and crumpling to the ground.