One of the first and most significant films in American New Wave cinema, Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde (1967), revolutionized the movie industry by producing a motion picture mixed with graphic violence, humor, and moral ambiguity. With a similar revolutionary idea, Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers (1994) used every cinematographic opportunity to disclose the incestuous relationship between crime, the media and pop culture. Although both films operate with similar themes such as undermining gender ideologies,…, and…;ultimately, Natural Born Killers acts as a development of Penn’s 1967 film, by displaying the characters Mickey and Mallory, as more aggressive and extreme versions of Bonnie and Clyde.
Bonnie and Clyde narrates the story of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, a criminal couple who, during the Great Depression, became famous for both bank robbery and their exceptional ability to escape from authorities. Throughout their journey, they are joined by a mechanic called C.W. Moss, Clyde’s brother Buck, and Buck’s wife Blanche, whose presence created tensions between Bonnie and Clyde. By the end of the movie, when the conflicts between the couple are repaired, the police succeeds in ambushing the gang, causing the death of Buck and injuring the rest. Bonnie, Clyde and C.W. Moss escape, but it isn’t long until the police creates another ambuscade, finally, getting Bonnie and Clyde killed, which leads to the end of the movie.
In Natural Born Killers, Mickey and Mallory Knox go on a killing rampage, murdering anyone at random. The couple “made in hell” both came from abusive homes, a point used by the media as an attempt to explain and understand their psychotic urge to kill. After three weeks of numerous cold-blooded murders,...
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...ing any interesting material they can find on the subject. In Natural Born Killers, the director Oliver Stone uses the examples of cases such as the O.J. Simpson trial and the Menendez trial to explain the public’s ongoing fascination with tragedy.
The ending of Natural Born Killers is similar to Bonnie and Clyde‘s, both characters remain together forever. Only instead, Bonnie and Clyde meet their ultimate freedom after falling into a trap and getting killed by hundreds of gunshots, whereas Mickey and Mallory’s fate was to settle down and start a family. The fact that Mickey and Mallory make it out of the riot alive somehow manages to glorify them as criminal masterminds. But just when they seem to show a slight portion of sympathy after a chain of murders, they kill the one person who seemed to understand their bizarre and psychotic beliefs: the journalist Gale.
This examination will look at the short story “Killings” by Andre Dubus and the main characters in the story. The story begins on a warm August day with the burial of Matt and Ruth Fowler’s youngest son Frank. Frank’s age: “twenty-one years, eight months, and four days” (Dubus 107). Attending the funeral were Matt, his wife Ruth, their adult children and spouses. Matt’s family is extremely distraught over the murder of their youngest son/brother, in their own way. There are implications of wanting to kill Richard Strout, the guy accused of being the murderer: “I should kill him” (107), as stated after the service. This comment is considered a fore-shadowing of what is to come in the thought progression of Matt and Ruth.
People simply wanted justice, and justice entailed not wanting murders to continue living, especially when the crime committed was of such hostility as the one that Dick and Perry committed in In Cold Blood. Even those who stood against the killing of anyone had to concede to the disposal of these despicable human beings. One of the jurors even went as far as saying so in court to prove his
Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker burst upon the American Southwest in the Great Depression year of 1932. At the time of Clyde’s first involvement with a murder, people paid little attention to the event. He was just another violent hoodlum in a nation with a growing list of brutal criminals, which included Al Capone, John Dillenger, Pretty Boy Floyd, and the Barker Gang. Not until Bonnie and Clyde joined forces did the public become intrigued. The phrase “Bonnie and Clyde'; took on an electrifying and exotic meaning that has abated little in the past sixty years.
One well-known serial killer is Gary Ridgway. Ridgway was born in February of 1949 in Salt Lake City, Utah. His early life can be viewed as an indicator to his la...
The "Killings" is a short story written by Andre Dubus. Andre Dubus' short stories often portray tragedies, violence, anger and even tenderness. Throughout the story, Matt’s language constantly displays his deep affection for his family. After the death and funeral of his son Frank, his other two children quickly move back to their normal lives which displays that Frank was the only family nearby. His morals become quickly altered through the cold-blooded murder of his son and end with the act of murder.
Richard Wright’s novel Native Son and Oliver Stone’s film Natural Born Killers are works that focus on the act of murder. Native Son deals with the large impact that race has on the way society sees both white and black communities. Natural Born Killers shows how one’s past and the media one is exposed to can affect ones view of violence. Throughout both the novel and film killing becomes natural to the characters due to the way society has conditioned them.
The Boondock Saints movie exhibits and demonstrates many possible causes and reasons for social deviance. One example of this is shown in the Subjective view of deviance through a Constructionist Theory. The Subjectivist believes that a deviant person is a conscious, feeling, thinking subject and that one should understand the experience of that person. From a Constructionist perspective, deviants are actively seeking meanings in the deviant activities. The brothers in the movie are seeking meaning from their killing. They believe that they are on a mission from God, and that they will be protected and blessed for doing this.
Gina Marchetti, in her essay "Action-Adventure as Ideology," argues that action- adventure films implicitly convey complex cultural messages regarding American values and the "white American status quo." She continues to say that all action-adventure movies have the same basic structure, including plot, theme, characterization, and iconography. As ideology, this film genre tacitly expresses social norms, values, and morals of its time. Marchetti's essay, written in 1989, applies to films such as Raiders of the Lost Ark and Rambo: First Blood II. However, action-adventure films today seem to be straying farther away from her generalizations about structure, reflecting new and different cultural norms in America. This changing ideology is depicted best in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers (1994), which defies nearly every concept Marchetti proposes about action-adventure films; and it sets the stage for a whole new viewpoint of action in the '90's.
Clyde Barrow was a trouble maker from an early age. His life in the nineteen twenties consisted of cracking safes, robbing stores, and stealing cars. It was not long after that when he met an innocent waitress, Bonnie Parker, at a mutual friend’s house. Their attraction was instantaneous (20th Century History.) They began robbing together, along with their gang whose membership was constantly changing. Together they would be nearly unstoppable. When Clyde would be put in jail, Bonnie was right there to aid him in escaping. This was the very beginning of the dynamic duo.
What drives a person past insanity? What drives an individual to feel no remorse, but rather a psychological relief in murderous acts? Consider all the different types of people on Earth as well as the lifestyles and situations these people are raised up in. As much as it’s desired to think the world is filled with people who carry no such thing as a bad bone in their bodies, that thought process is simple deception. The fact is that psychopaths and sociopaths hide among others in everyday environments - neighbors, teachers, family members, doctors, friends, or even the local mailman. Psychopaths are declared as people who suffer from a mental disorder causing aggression and abnormal behaviors such as their “lack of
Bonnie Parker grew up with a normal childhood went to school every day was an above average student. She was born in Rowena Texas on October 10, 1910. Her father Charles Parker was a brick layer, but he died when bonnie was only four. After her father’s death the family moved in with her grandparents by Dallas Texas. She met Roy Thornton and soon after they got married, but Thornton got in trouble with the law and sentenced to five years in prison leaving bonnie on her own. She had a waitress job but was unhappy after Roy left. Until went to visit a friend in West Dallas where she then met Clyde Barrow. Clyde was born March 24, 1909 in Telico Texas. Clyde Barrow’s father was Henry Barrow who was a share cropper. He was one of eight children in the family. Clyde’s academics was anything but consistent. When his father quit farming the family moved to West Dallas which was were his dad opened a service shop. Clyde started high school but that was short lived he dropped out of school. Bonnie and Clyde met in West Dallas at a mutual friend’s house .Bonnie’s life prior to their crime spree was completely normal for a teenage high school student job at a café, showing no signs of becoming a notorious robber. Clyde on the other hand was the complete opposite. After dropping out of high school he went out with his brother selling stole...
Richard Strout was married to Mary Ann, who was most likely fed up with his hot temperedness that always seemed to get him into fist fights. She separated from her husband and while they were going through the process of divorce, she began a new relationship with Frank Fowler, killing all hope of reconciling her marriage with Strout. In return Strout became enraged not only in losing his wife, but their sons, who now spent their days with this new man who was taking on the father role in their life. Whether it was his love for his wife and children or pride, it drove him to the only solution he could find, and that was to kill Frank. “Richard Strout shot Frank in front of the boys…Strout came in the front door and shot Frank twice in the chest and once in the face with a 9mm automatic(100).”
What are the root causes of a person becoming a serial killer? There have been many different serial killers over the past years, but only one is the infamous “Green River Killer.” Gary Ridgway was dubbed the “Green River Killer” because many of his first victims were found near the Green River in Washington. There are many factors which contribute as to why a person turns and takes their anger out on other people. Some people have a normal childhood with a loving family, while some are not so lucky. A loving family is built around the parents, but if the parents choose violence over love, then that is what the child will grow up only knowing. Gary Ridgway is an American serial killer who killed over sixty women within a twenty year period.
Edmund Kemper, a serial killer who killed his grandparents when he was fifteen years old once said "It was an urge. ... A strong urge, and the longer I let it go the stronger it got, to where I was taking risks to go out and kill people." Many people may ponder the question why serial killers feel the need to kill in the first place. Most psychologists say there is not one solid reason. Just like every snowflake is unique, every person’s motive for killing is unique.
The dark, ominous alleyways of London’s East End divulge a very gruesome history of women “ripped up like [pigs] in a market” (Grose). The area, once littered with the torn up remains of brutally murdered prostitutes, looms over the city as symbol for the story of one of the most notorious serial killers: Jack the Ripper. The case enthralls and captivates people’s minds even today, over 100 years later (BBC). This begs the question of how serial killers become part of history, an answer found in extensive media coverage. Time Magazine describes the phenomena Jack the Ripper left behind as a “rich legacy” and a “multi-million dollar industry,” eerily analogous to today’s coverage of serial killings (Grose). Jack the Ripper’s case provides an early example of the issues that arose with the advent of the serial killer—issues that still exist. The press has a unique role to play in serial killer investigations, but the line between helping and hurting society is often blurred. While the press has a responsibility to inform society of such serial killings in order to keep them informed and safe, publishing killer communiqués crosses ethical boundaries concerning the investigations and society.