Bonnie And Clyde: The New Hollywood

Bonnie and Clyde was one of the films in 1967 that helped propel the “New Hollywood” in the direction it is now and was also voted for best picture. Bonnie and Clyde was centered on Clyde Barrow, portrayed by Warren Beatty, and Bonnie Parker, portrayed by Faye Dunaway. Bonnie and Clyde were wanted fugitives, wanted for robbery and murder. This film had a little bit of everything that defines the “New Hollywood.” There was a strong female role in Bonnie, the separation gap between old and the new generation was shown, had an abundance of violence and no real hero. These factors were beneficial for the “New Hollywood.”

The baby boomers were the sons and daughters of World War II veterans. The veterans went to war when they were in their late

teens to early twenties. There was guidance in their life, Bonnie did not have. The film starts off with Bonnie sitting around in her room, looking bored. She looked like she was searching for something to do and that is why she left with Clyde. Bonnie was employed as a waitress and was bored. In class we learned that she dropped out of school in 8th grade. A reason for this was that she was smarter and school was not challenging. Clyde figured this out relatively early and ran away with her after he robbed a local grocery store. Just like The Graduate, which also came out in 1967, a main character was seen just a float, nothing really to do, so the character does something they normally wouldn’t do.
A second wave feminist’s movement was occurring during the sixties.

Women were expected to be at home and take care of the family. World War II changed that, when the men went to war overseas, the women stayed in the States and worked. Women were also not given strong lead roles in films. Bonnie played a very strong role in Bonnie and Clyde. She was a fugitive on the run and a felon. She was often seen in the film totting a gun and shooing at police. Bonnie and Clyde also showed the generation gap between the veterans and the baby boomers. Bonnie was the baby boomer generation and Blanche, played by Estelle Parsons, and was the veteran generation. In one scene it clearly depicted the gap. The house that the group was staying at was surrounded by police officers and a shootout ensued. Blanch starts running around the house and landscape screaming and then you see Bonnie wielding a machine gun, shooting right back at the police officers. The older generation of women were always depicted at helpless and in distress in older films and Bonnie showed the new generation, where she was able to take care of herself.

The violence in Bonnie and Clyde was gruesome. Bank tellers were shown to get shot in the head from point blank. Police officers were shot at and shown to not be the hero. Then the final scene, which today is still one of the most violent endings to a film, Bonnie and Clyde were gunned down by a multitude of police officer’s unarmed. Bullet holes were shown all over both of their bodies and all over the vehicle they were driving. Violence was never displayed so bloody and not much today can match what was seen in Bonnie and

Clyde.
The movies before 1967 always had a hero. There was never an anti-hero. Every criminal was given its due justice. Bonnie and Clyde changed that. The whole movie was set around felons and portrayed the police officers, who are always shown as being heroes, as the bad people in the movie. When watching the film, I never saw Bonnie and Clyde as being bad. In one scene, they held up a bank and Clyde asks a man at the teller window, if that money is his or is that the banks and he lets him keep it since it is his. The final scene portrays the bad guys as really being the good guys, when Bonnie and Clyde are going back to their hideout and they see someone changing their tire and pull over to help. With no warning a hail of gun fire, from the police, rains down on them and kills them