Bonnie And Clyde's Impact On Society

Today, it is seen that during the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt had led America out of the economic disparity throughout his bold actions and promises that fueled the hearts of numerous Americans. However, President Roosevelt was not the only figure to be considered as the ‘hero’ that swept the country out of its misery. There were several people who helped contribute to the change in America’s culture and to the improvement in society. During the Great Depression, two notorious, lovestruck criminals, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, had lasting impacts on much of the nation’s law enforcement, society’s values, and the growth levels of entertainment and economy. Together, the couple led several Americans out of the Great Depression

in various ways, both directly and indirectly.

When we see criminals out in the roads today, we automatically assume that those outlaws will not benefit our society. Those who commit crimes such as robbing, murdering, and kidnapping are all actions that are bad for our community and our future. However, back in the 1930s, when America had been struck with misery from the economic crisis, there were two heroic figures who gave several benefits to the Americans who suffered from the Great Depression. Two notorious, lovestruck criminals, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, had lasting impacts on much of the nation’s law enforcement, society’s values, and the growth levels of entertainment. Together, the couple had led several Americans out of the Great Depression in various way, both directly and indirectly.

Suffering from joblessness and poverty, most Americans had found ways to escape from their misery and troubles through entertainment, such as escapism and social criticism. People were intrigued with movies, newspapers, books, comics, songs, and TV specials that showed them the events happening around them, which led to the excitement in their lives and leading them to forget about their concerns. As a result, when Bonnie and Clyde were flashing their names on the headlines of newspapers for their bold deperations, most people have seen Bonnie and Clyde as heroes. The couple was unlike other criminals and their figures stood out as icons during the era, for they were notoriously well-known for being escape artists. Bonnie and Clyde were considered as a legend for driving around all of the southeast, committing crimes of a total of 12 murders, several robberies, and numerous of hostage-taking. It is believed that the two were different because they stole and robbed only when they truly needed to do so. Bonnie and Clyde “only stole five to ten dollars at a time, and only $2000 at most.” (Impact on Americans) And it was their audacity that made them gain the attention of millions of Americans, as well as the era they had displayed their presence.

However, it was due to the Great Depression that Bonnie and Clyde were looked at with an auspicious manner. In the 1930s, it was said that “Americans felt hatred toward banks and businesses because of their own economic failure, and Bonnie and Clyde’s robberies allowed them to live out their own fantasies.” (Impact on Americans) Researchers have also claimed that “their crimes seemed to many emblematic both of the frontier spirit of the West, and of the new freedom made possible by the mass productions of the automobile.” (Bonnie and Clyde_Encyclopedia)

As for the growth of entertainment, the entertainment and economy industry had prospered when -years later- people started to create movies that reflected on the importance of Bonnie and Clyde. Even during the Great Depression, Bonnie and Clyde had appeared on several newspaper headlines, movies, books, comics, songs, and TV specials that boosted the entertainment industry. It was even said that, “brandishing high-powered machine guns and driving the newly invented Ford V-8s, Bonnie and Clyde are mythologized as Robin Hoods of the poor and destitute who had been failed by the American political and financial institutions.” (80 Years Later, Retracing the Real Life of Bonnie and Clyde) Their bravery to commit the crimes they've made and their ability to maintain their romantic relationship, had captured the hearts of Americans who were engulfed in the misery of the Great Depression. In doing so, Americans positively viewed Bonnie and Clyde as those who taught them to appreciate the values, morality, and sense of boldness in society at that time.

Bonnie and Clyde greatly influenced much of the poor and destitute people, as they were one of the figures to lead Americans to the realization of society values. Bonnie Parker, who was born in Rowena, Texas and raised by a poor widow, and Clyde Barrow, who was the son of a tenant farmer and born in Ellis County, Texas, were individually well aware of the struggles of poverty and lack of wealth. It was because of this poorness, that Clyde had been exposed to the criminal feel, which had benefited the poor class. Researchers have said that, “ Growing up in Dallas in the back room of his father's filling station, Clyde’s first brush with the law came in 1926, when he was arrested for a automobile theft as a result of neglecting to return a rental car.” (80 Years Later, Retracing the Real Life of Bonnie & Clyde) The majority of Americans, particularly the middle and lower class, saw how Bonnie and Clyde were a benefit to their society, since they proved themselves as ‘good people’ and strong figures who pursued their own dreams.

Bonnie and Clyde were ‘heroic’ because of their thought out plans to carry out their goals. Although the two were breaking the laws, Bonnie and Clyde were able to change their lives, and somewhat achieving a successful life full of luck and freedom, despite their roles as criminals. It was said that, “Bonnie and Clyde lived in a time when people were stealing to survive. They knew countless people sent to prison for petty crimes.” (80 Years Later, Retracing the Real LIfe of Bonnie & Clyde) This proves how the Great Depression greatly affected Americans and how viewing Bonnie and Clyde’s actions in a positive manner was more than reasonable.

Compared to the 1930s, today, we have several different values that are kept within society. An example of the change in values is the acceptance of women's roles and rights in society. Although today several women are treated with equality in most situations, during the Great Depression, women had still faced challenges because of their gender that was overpowered by men. Although the 19th Amendment, which granted women’s rights to vote, was passed and women began to gain a freestyle life, the gap between men and women was, unfortunately, quite big. Because of this gap, Bonnie had dwelt with some difficulty as a woman. However, this very reason was how she gained much respect and fame from numerous of America's later on. Researchers said, “Their romantic partnership affected their criminal status, and as an armed woman when marriage rates plummeted, male unemployment rates were high, and pundits decried a crisis of masculinity, Bonnie simultaneously inhabited the gun-toting role more familiar to men and played the role of the supportive girlfriend, highlighting the cultural contradictions of American womanhood.” (Bonnie and Clyde_Encyclopedia) Bonnie could be looked at one of those women who had influenced the rest of the society, especially women, that people could do anything.

With that being said, Bonnie and Clyde were good people at times when the country most needed it.

It is hard to say that the couple were not kind because of all the things they contributed to society. Once, Bonnie and Clyde offered a 15-year old boy for a lift to drop him off the airport, which he desperately needed to go. They asked the boy, whose name was James, “how people in this area felt about the gangster, Bonnie and Clyde.”(A Ride with Bonnie and Clyde) The boy answered by saying that everyone liked them, and when the couple asked “Why?,” the boy told them things they only wanted to hear, saying “because Bonnie and Clyde were always bringing food and money and helping those that helped them.”(A Ride with Bonnie and Clyde) Although they only heard what they wanted to hear, it was true that Bonnie and Clyde helped out society, proving the fact that they were good, caring

people.

Most of Bonnie and Clyde's actions were based on carrying task that were only necessary, helping out the poor, and sometimes committing crimes for revenge.

“By 1930, Clyde was incarcerated in the Eastham Prison farm on a 14-year term for automobile theft and robbery. Known as the “Murder House” or “the Bloody Ham,” Eastham was notorious for its tough working and living conditions, as well as guards who would beat inmates with trace chains and perform random spot killings, all of which was substantiated by the Texas state legislatures and the Osborne Association on U.S. Prisons which ranked the Texas prison system as the most worst in the nation in 1935. During his time at Eastham, Clyde transformed from petty criminal to emotionless killer when he murdered Ed Crowder, a man who had been sexually assaulting himself since he entered the prison. Clyde’s drive in life wasn't to become a famous bank robber, as he sometimes labeled, it was to take revenge on Eastham.” (80 Years Later, Retracing the Real Life of Bonnie and Clyde) This shows Clyde’s character and the kind of experience he's had to become the criminal he was. Clyde had only killed the man and committed all the bank robberies for revenge, more than using the money for his own pleasure. Another evidence that Bonnie and Clyde were good people, was how “Bonnie had never shot anyone but herself, though injured and wounded several times by officers, during her two year run with Clyde.” This clearly shows Bonnie’s

conscience that she cared about the morals in society, something that affected America’s culture as well.

A part of society’s values trail off to society’s moral sensitivity, which sparked many Americans to become influenced in Bonnie and Clyde to understand the feelings of other people and develop a sense of empathy. It was especially due to their death, that had turned the hearts of Americans to reconsider the roles of Bonnie and clyde to society, other than criminals. The film, “Bonnie and Clyde” released by the Warner Brothers in 1976, heavily impacted the filmmaking industry that also affected much of American’s views on the moral issues. It was said that, “It was the first time in American film history that a movie showed to the audience in color, such unbridled violence in such a graphic, close-up detail.” (VINSON: Bonnie and Clyde: How they Forever Changed American Culture). As a result, violence was newly displayed in theaters, and have become more common today. Such detailed violence, led Americans to take pity for the two criminals and began to think about the moral issues of intense murder. Love and Death: The Story of Bonnie & Clyde said, “Before dawn on May 23, 1934, a posse composed of police officers from Louisiana and Texas, including Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, concealed themselves in bushes along the highway near Sailes, Louisiana.” As a matter of fact, the officers unloaded over 130 rounds of bullets into the bodies of Bonnie and Clyde. And after having to watch the film of Bonnie and Clyde, numerous of Americans became sensitive to how Bonnie and Clyde should've been kept alive and questioning the ruthlessness of the police officers who killed them. However, because of this dreadful shootout, America’s law enforcement became stronger, in regards to ending the chase of Bonnie and Clyde.