The real Bonnie and Clyde

The idea of love on the run is romantic, exciting and makes for great cinema! This sub-section of the road movie genre has changed and developed greatly since its early beginnings in films such as Fritz Lang’s  1937 classic, You Only Live Once. Inevitably we find ourselves cheering on the couple in question, regardless of what they’ve done and who they’re running from. But why are they so appealing?

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

– “They’re young, They’re in Love, They Kill People” (Tagline)

Based on the real life story of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, this 1967 hit film, staring Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, tells the tale of how they met, stole Bonnie’s mother’s car, hit the road, and went on a wild journey. Their actions over the next two years turned these ordinary twenty-somethings into extraordinary, iconic outlaws.

The story unfolds in the early 1930s, the depression era in America, a time of financial and, to an extent, moral bankruptcy. The disillusionment of the people in the government, the economy, capitalism and the set ideologies of the time, led to an increase in crime.

Our young couple never set out to kill people…they were simply two small time crooks whose misadventures spiralled out of control and lead down a deadly path. From the start to finish of this film we see the couple’s crimes progress from misdemeanours to manslaughter. In fact we never see Bonnie kill anybody (nor is there any evidence or reports that the original Bonnie Parker ever even shot her gun!), it’s simply a case of guilty by association.

We witness this snowballing effect and we’re there every step of the way as they go from just an ordinary couple in love, tip-toeing on the wrong side of the law, to being on America’s list of notorious public enemies. We get to know the couple, see that they are human, not murderous monsters, and are given further insight into the character of Bonnie, her feelings for Clyde and her reactions to what they are going through, through the use of her poetry. The lines used in the film are extracts from real poems written by Bonnie Parker and are effective in making the viewer sympathetic to the character in the movie, and also to the original young poet.

Faye Dunaway as Bonnie and Warren Beatty as Clyde in the 1967 film

There’s lots of untruths to these write-ups
they’re not as ruthless as that.
their nature is raw;
they hate all the law,
the stool pidgeons, spotters and rats
They call them cold-blooded killers
they say they are heartless and mean.
But I say this with pride
that I once knew Clyde,
when he was honest and upright and clean.

(Extract from The Trails End, by Bonnie Parker)

The same can be said for the public of the time. The fact that they were a young couple drew much media attention and made them appealing characters in the eyes of the public who got to know them through the press. People liked, and indeed still like, the idea of a young couple in love rebelling against the norms of society, sticking it to authority. We too hope that they get away with it. The fact that the film is based on a true story makes the viewer even more invested in the young lovers’ fate, and in the inevitable end of their wild journey. This I feel is central as to why we love this pair of lovers on the lam!

Natural Born Killers (1994)

Whilst many comparisons can be made between Mickey and Mallory Knox (the couple on the run in Natural Born Killers), and Bonnie and Clyde, they are essentially very different, as are the reasons for their appeal. Just like Bonnie and Clyde, they fall in love at first sight through a random encounter, steal a car and take to the road, thus beginning their criminal adventure. But there is no escalation from misdemeanour to murder for this pair.

Woody Harrelson as Mickey and Juliette Lewis as Mallory in Natural Born Killers

The next crime the viewer sees them commit, the gruesome murder of Mallory’s parents, is no accident but rather the violent start of a pre-meditated killing spree. They spare her little brother to act as witness, to spread the word and glorify the names and actions of Mickey and Mallory Knox. As the film unfolds the couple commit murder after murder, showing no remorse for or emotions about what they have done.

I think if you asked many fans of this film why we find ourselves helplessly rooting for the couple, they might just answer something along the lines of “because they’re just so cool!” For some reason, everything about this couple –  from the way they talk and dress to the way they effortlessly kick ass –  comes off as being super slick and ultimately alluring.

But can this justify their often horrific actions? The carefully crafted storytelling techniques no doubt have a role to play here. Director Oliver Stone cleverly contrives the story and its narration, and consequently manipulates our minds. For the duration of this movie, for reasons we’re not fully sure of, we suspend our rightful moral beliefs and surrender our support to chaos and crime. From start to finish this film draws you into a crazy overly-stimulating world of violence coupled with cool. It’s shot and edited using a lethal mix of techniques: animation, rapid editing, back projection and various camera angles combined masterfully. Research has proven that constant stimulation can have a powerful effect on the human psyche and the relentlessly graphic imagery used here, particularly in scenes of violence, is often simply too much for our brains to process coherently – as a result the viewer slips unconsciously into the film and is not thinking as clearly as normal.

But perhaps more simply, we see clearly that Mickey and Mallory are madly in love and feel happy for them during touching romantic scenes, such as their wedding on the bridge. They seem like a match made in heaven (or hell) as they are both as crazy and dysfunctional as each other. We empathise with them when we learn of their troubled abusive backgrounds. At these tender times, the film would have us believe that they are not totally inhumane murderous villains.

Mickey and Mallory get married

Our reasoning for rallying behind the couples discussed here, among others, vary widely: in some cases (such as Spielberg’s Sugarland Express), we’re given a deep insight into the characters motivations and we understand their plight, in others (Thelma and Louise) the couple in question are trying to outrun bad situations in their lives, as much as trying to outrun the law, and then there are the couples (like Bonnie and Clyde) who are endearing to us – that we hope will make their way out of trouble to find resolution and peace.

When going to see films like these it’s fun to check our morals at the door and get on board with the couples adventure. But it’s also important to understand why we feel the way we do and question cinema’s effect on us – at least so we can be sure to realign our moral compass when we get back to the real world!