How far do the American films you have studied for this topic express similar messages and values to one another?

 

As these films were over two decades apart from each other and mainly focused on the cultural life of their time, different messages were implied, however the general themes of both films are the same. Both Terrence Malick’s ‘Badlands,’ published in 1973, and Oliver Stone’s ‘Natural Born Killers,’ which was published 21 years later in 1994. The contrast between the two nevertheless, is the way their messages are exposed and given. Malick uses the subtlety of misé-en-scene to explore the themes of The American Dream and dysfunctional societies/families, whilst Stone’s use of gore, violence and massacre is given to provoke his message of the media glorifying murder in his audience.

                Both films focus on the input of the media at their times, the similarity of this was that both pairs of protagonists wanted to be remembered and famous. (As did everyone in society at the time of production.) The character of Kit was constructed from Charles Starkweather, the true serial killer on which the movie is based on, whose persona reflected that of James Dean. This theme of fame and the need for recognition is also shown in the opening sequence of NBK where after Mickey and Mallory are seen murdering the diners and waitress, Mallory tells the last survivor to remember who caused the deaths, ‘You tell them Mickey and Mallory did it,’ you hear her repeating to him. These dark, satirical messages that Stone presents so blatantly are a contrast to the ways that Malick’s light use of themes express his melancholic messages which are woven into his film.

The narrative voice of Holly throughout the film gives the audience a window into Kit’s personality towards people. His unsociable behaviour is seen not just through him, but through animals that he associates with throughout the film. This relationship of animal to human is also apparent in NBK. Oliver Stone uses snakes all the way through Natural Born Killers. It is obviously, at the very root of its implication, intended to portray Mickey and Mallory’s characters. This constant use of non-diegetic snake’s hisses, cartoon paintings, and the couples’ wedding rings is condescending and downright patronising to the viewer. There is however in all this directness a more meaningful message Stone is portraying. He wanted to ridicule the media in their persistent attempts of subliminal messages, he mocks the American government and their biased ways, but also through the consistent animal imagery there is in Natural Born Killers, he teases and torments the simple minds of society, the people who actually believe the media are his victims that he so wants to mock and this is why the film is so satirical.

Set apart from one another by over two decades, ‘Natural Born Killers’ and ‘Badlands’ may have different values in American culture and may focus on different narratives, but both films do indeed explore the impact that the media has on society and the way in which they control us.

What is the significance of setting and/or place in your chosen American Films?

From the very first shot of ‘Badlands’ we see Kit, the protagonist as a young male working as a garbage man. This particular occupation implies a very strong meaning to his persona. It suggests that right from the beginning Kit is regarded as trailer trash. On the other hand Holly is presented as being naïve and innocent living the so called ‘American Dream.’ This is portrayed through the mise-en-scene of the film with the white picket fence and the large house with a spacious garden. As Holly was living in the American Dream before Kit came along, it sparks the question of why she fell so far below of what she was before. Love for Kit would seem the obvious answer and so the importance of where she grew up and lived would therefore be meaningless and insignificant. Nonetheless, her relationship with her father was virtually non-existent and the lack of friends she had would also cause her to run away from home with the one who completed who she was as a person. In ‘Natural Born Killers,’ Mickey is seen to be working as a butcher which gives the idea of how much Mickey is linked with death, the murder of animals leads to the murders of many people. The difference in the relationships between ‘Badlands’ and ‘Natural Born Killers’ is that Kit is shown to be the immoral character with Holly acting as the innocent one, whereas, due to Mallory living with an abusive father, both Mickey and herself are shown to be the guilty protagonists.

                Genre theory states that films that fit into a specific genre will have repetition of certain themes throughout the film. This is extremely apparent with ‘Badlands’ and ‘Natural Born Killers.’ Death is the key theme which is portrayed throughout both films. From the moment we see Kit interact with the dead dog lying on the side of the road shows us of where his path may lead, as with Mickey’s appearance in Stone’s satire sitcom, where he is shown to be a butcher covered in blood. The contrast that is so prominent between NBK and Badlands are the places where each couple ends up travelling. We see Kit and Holly desert society and live in the woods just like wild animals, on the other end of the spectrum, Mickey and Mallory stay with society and yet still behave like wild animals. It is this reason why there are so many more killings in NBK than there are in Badlands due to only the mere fact of more people at Mickey’s and Mallory’s ‘pleasure.’

                I believe that Oliver Stone’s ‘Natural Born Killers’ is a way of stating that no matter where you are, what you are doing or how little it is, the media are there, they pick out the weakest and strongest and focus on their lives. For this reason, setting is not the key substance in why Mickey and Mallory behave the way they do after her father’s death. On the contrary Kit was almost destined to be immoral and ruthless due to his job and childish ways, and Holly was always to be cold and emotionless as a result of her lack of human interaction.